Welcome to the LMRFD History page.

 I am occasionally asked to recall incidents that happened during my employment and subsequent period of service on the Fire Board of the Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District…specifically the period leading up to and following the LMRFD’s insolvency. The older I get, with more years passing, the more difficult it becomes to put the dates and happenings of that period together. This is my final foray into the past… at times most distressing… to document to the best of my ability for those interested in understanding this period of our fire district’s history. It was the “best of times”, as I got to know and work with some real heroes. It was the “worst of times”, as I also got to know and work with some of the most selfish and corrupt individuals I have ever met!

My name is Ellen Reh-Bower. Dave Estenson hired me to fill the position of Secretary to the Chief and Bookkeeper in September 2005. I was later promoted to Office Manager. I watched Chief Estenson pull the rabbit out of the hat, so to speak, repeatedly through the years, where our financial situation was concerned. The Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District was running in the red when I started. According to the story I got, it was due to an error in the Mohave County bookkeeping that shorted the LMRFD an amount I don’t recall. What I do recall is the way that Chief Estenson handled the situation. He was beyond frugal, even miserly in his disbursement of funds. He frequently told us, this is not OUR money we are operating on, it is tax payer’s money; if it is free, you can have it; if it is not then the answer is “NO”! He worked many hours he didn’t get paid for. He successfully wrote many grants to provide necessary equipment for the Fire District. Chief Dave was constantly working on maintenance and repair of equipment himself, excelling in horse trading for parts he needed to patch things up and keep them functioning. When the septic tank at the station backed up, he personally, and with little help, dug it up to clean it out. He was always working on one or another vehicle to keep it on the road. I learned from him what it was to serve a “poor” Fire District. The Board knew they could trust Dave because he proved through the years that he had the Fire District’s best interests at heart. They saw him make many personal sacrifices to keep it alive. They saw him successfully manage his personal finances, as well, including a long term business in town. They knew he was wise, resourceful, frugal and a hard worker, and he put the community’s needs ahead of his own. When the main water lines froze in Dolan one winter, he was out there all day and night helping to dig up and repair breaks. He was one of the heroes!

March 2010 – Consolidation of Grapevine Mesa Fire District into LMRFD begun in 2009, was completed with swearing in of Meadview Board members in March 2010.

June 2010 – Fire Chief Dave Estenson hired Keith Maher as Assistant Chief, training him to take over as Dave prepared to retire.

Mar 1, 2012 – Chief Estenson retired suddenly, due to health reasons, leaving Chief Maher in charge.

May 2012 – Chief Maher reveals ignorance of Fire District finances. Chief Maher was telling everyone to “Wait until June when the money comes in”, in answer to requests for supplies and equipment. I finally asked him what money was coming in June, assuming he was expecting a grant of some kind. He told me, “That’s when our tax money comes in!” Shocked, I told him our tax money comes mainly in October/November and some in April, but in June our Line of Credit with the County comes due for payment in full, and at that time it was between $300,000 and $400,000! He went to the County and negotiated an extension on that with an additional Operating Line of Credit besides for an additional $400,000 or so. 

June 2012 – Chief Maher lies to the Fire Board about $$ owed on operating Line of Credit. Chief Maher prepared the 2011/2012 Budget to present to the Board. I noticed there was no provision made for repayment of the Line of Credit owing to the County. He told me, “Oh, I guess I better fix 

that.” He went directly into the Board meeting (which I was excluded from) and told the Board that the LOC was “built in” to the budget. I learned that later from Board members Nancy Hussey and Suzann Newell. 

June 2012 – Chief Maher walks out leaving Mark Hruz in charge. Both Nancy and Suzann began calling Maher out for overspending and not disclosing the true financial situation of the LMRFD. He walked out mid-shift, abandoning his post, leaving his “Assistant Chief”, Mark Hruz in charge. Chief Hruz was a mechanic with no knowledge or experience as a chief. He seemed sincere and tried his best, but did not curb the spending in spite of Nancy and Suzann reminding him to do so. We learned later that he was also unable to open his emails to get the weekly financial updates and information I forwarded from the County and Bank. He also did not comprehend the same financial information printed out and placed on his desk. He obsessed with “morale” by purchasing expensive paint to re-do the station interior, and solar powered flashlights for “wildland deployment”. 

August 2012- Chief Hruz responded with “I have resources you know not of”. LMRFD financial situation continued to deteriorate with spending exceeding income. Chief Hruz was rarely in the office and when he was, he was interviewing to hire more personnel. Personnel expenses were already running at 110% of the total budget but he refused to listen to anyone, including Jim Saunders, the Auditor, who ended up in a shouting match with him, telling him he had to stop spending! When I finally was able to speak to Hruz directly and point out that with our current rate of spending and projected revenue, we only had a few months more we could remain operational. He told me, “I have resources you know not of!” I began including personnel and Board in the weekly and other financial information I sent to the Chiefs to give them all a heads up in case the Chief’s “resources” didn’t pan out, so they wouldn’t be totally blindsided. 

January 23, 2013- LMRFD Line of Credit frozen, no further operating funds. 

February 2013 –County declared LMRFD insolvent. When unable to make payroll in January, the LMRFD was declared insolvent. The County Board of Supervisors stepped in planning to close the District down. Chief Patrick Moore presented a plan at a County meeting, showing how it was not necessary to shut it down if it was just managed properly. 

February 2013 - The County Board of Supervisors hired Administrator John Flynn, experienced Fire Chief who had already succeeded in bringing several failed fire districts back to solvency, to act as the Governing body (Administrator in place of the Board). Flynn hired Chief Moore to act as the Managing body (Chief). Together they presented a detailed plan to the County B.O.S. with specific benchmarks to meet in bringing the LMRFD back. They met weekly with the B.O.S. to report progress, constantly under threat of being cut off from further financial support from the County. 

August 2015 - Tony DeMaio was hired by Chief Moore as full time Firefighter/ Paramedic for LMRFD.

April 1, 2016 – Tony DeMaio hired by John Flynn to be interim Chief. Tony DeMaio, making a good showing in the FF/Paramedic position was hired as interim Chief by John Flynn, in preparation for handing the District back over to its Board after a special election scheduled for May 2016. 

May 17, 2016 – New LMRFD Board elected. Flynn and Moore succeeded in their efforts, and a new LMRFD Board was elected at a special election May 17, 2016. The Board was handed a Fire District free of debt, with necessary vendor accounts in place, with enough $$ in the bank to get them through to tax season. Financial management and protections continued in place with James Vincent Group (JVG) to prevent a collapse from happening again. The new Board eventually continued DeMaio’s contract.

Sept-Nov 2017 – Problems with Chief DeMaio began to surface. Discrepancies in ambulance billing policy, which is the purview of the Board but which Chief DeMaio was taking liberties with changing himself, began showing up, which greatly reduced potential revenue for the District. In addition, Chief DeMaio was failing to pursue the re-establishment of services to the public in refusing to reopen the front office at Station 41 while allowing the Administration staff to work from home in Golden Valley and Kingman, and refusing to re-establish the volunteer arm of the LMRFD. He also failed to make long term plans for replacement of aging equipment, relying instead on “emergency expenditures”, acquiring debt, as things broke. Other expenditures made no sense; the station in Dolan Springs got a new paint job to the tune of $20,000 or so, while the roof went unrepaired and leaking and personnel worked with unsafe equipment. A five year projection by JVG, the accounting firm, indicated steady losses at the rate things were going. 

July 2018 – Corruption between Board and Administration Dept. began to be revealed. A corrupt relationship between members of the Board and Administration was becoming apparent as the Board Chair sought to cover up for persons involved in a payroll embezzlement. Additionally, she refused to pursue the best interests of the taxpayers in the District, acquiescing instead to the desires of the Chief and Administration. Others on the Board, seemingly unprepared and disinterested at meetings, just followed her lead. At the July 23, 2018 meeting, it was revealed that Chief DeMaio was spending beyond his $5000 allowance without Board approval. It was also revealed at this meeting that the “payroll matter” first mentioned at the February 2018 meeting, was being sent to the County Attorney. That highly unusual situation along with a motion made by Director Terrill that a “letter of reprimand” be placed in Chief DeMaio’s file, for “standards not being met” made sense later when the $24,000 payroll embezzlement over a 16 month period came to light.  NO investigation was allowed by the Board, insisting that it was sufficient that the Chief and his Administrative Assistant had “looked into it”. They were the ones responsible for allowing it to happen, at very least. Many questions continue to go unanswered around that embezzlement. 

September 2018 – Chief DeMaio filed an EEOC complaint against Board member Charlotte Kiffer claiming harassment since Spring of 2017 because Kiffer and other Board members requested the Administration personnel work from the office in Dolan, not from home in Kingman/Golden Valley. Charlotte was pushing for investigation of the payroll embezzlement, as well.  The EEOC report concluded in December, 2018, that DeMaio’s complaint was unsubstantiated, and that he had falsely stated that “all Board members had rated him satisfactorily”, except Kiffer.  Board member Eric Terrill also did not. DeMaio’s frivolous claim cost us, the taxpayers, tens of thousands of $$ in attorney fees.

November 2018 – Board Chair Debra Cass revealed at meeting, payroll embezzlement claim still had not been filed with the County Attorney’s office. Chair Cass stated she would follow up in 2 weeks. (The claim was filed 4/8/19 and summons issued for 10 counts of forgery, theft, and fraudulent schemes/artifices, more than a year after it was “discovered”, and only after I (as newly elected Clerk of the LMRFD Board) made 2 phone calls to the County Prosecutor’s office inquiring as to why nothing had been done. Tony DeMaio finally delivered the “packet” of information required to move forward with the claim.  Incidentally, it was reported at this meeting that the liability insurance for the District increased by $490/ yr. due to having to add a “crime” portion to the policy. We the taxpayers continue to pay for that one and only payroll fraud perpetrated upon the LMRFD in its 40 plus years of operation, under the watchful eye of Chief DeMaio and his Administrative Assistant Karen Jackson, by Philip Picard, an avowed family friend of his. Board Chair Debra Cass worked against her sworn duties as a Fire Board member, to sweep the incident under the rug, protecting the Chief and his AA rather than pursuing proper investigation and prosecution. By the time the case got around to trial during COVID in 2020, Picard had moved out of state and got away with (probation). 

June 2019 – Chief DeMaio “retires”. Following his performance review by the LMRFD Board in March 2019, Chief DeMaio was granted his request to retire in June.

June 2019 – Tim Bonnee hired as Interim Fire Chief

* Re-instated the volunteer program in the LMRFD, a CRITICAL function in our remote location with only a 2 person crew on duty to cover 3300 square miles of Ambulance service in addition to our local fire service needs. Director Cass has consistently fought against our volunteer program.

* Chief Bonnee re-opened the station in Dolan to the taxpaying public, making himself available during business hours, something the Board and previous Chief refused to do.

* Chief Bonnee kept the Meadview station staffed more than has been done previously. 

* Chief Bonnee re-instated regular training schedules for personnel, which had not been done for years, and which neglect put personnel at risk of injury or death, and the District at risk of great financial loss…(of taxpayer dollars, that is).

* Chief Bonnee pursued contracts with businesses outside our Fire District, which pay no tax to support the District, but which LMRFD is responsible to respond to, as available. This was not done for years prior. 

* Chief Bonnee applied for and received grants that have been available to the LMRFD but had not been sought in the last few years prior to his becoming Chief. 

* Chief Bonnee, immediately upon beginning his position as Fire Chief of the LMRFD, set about updating contracts, reports, etc., that had been neglected for years, costing taxpayer $$ and potential revenue.

* Chief Bonnee followed up on the payroll embezzlement that took place under the previous chief’s tenure, keeping the taxpayers informed of its progress. Director Cass has repeatedly voted against any efforts to follow up or inform the public of the status of that case, while making excuses for the responsible parties. 

February 2020 – LMRFD Board fired long time Attorney, Accounting Firm and local mechanic, replacing them with Administrative Assistant, Karen Jackson’s choices. Karen picked Nicolas Cornelius to replace Bill Whittington as the LMRFD Attorney. Her friend from Golden Valley, Lovelle Barnett, was chosen to serve as financial oversight in place of JVG; and Martin Swanty in Kingman, where Karen’s husband worked in an executive position, was chosen for LMRFD’s vehicle maintenance and repair.

April 29, 2020 – Chief Bonnee put on unpaid administrative leave, Steve Winn hired as Interim Fire Chief. Chief Bonnee had a personal issue that gave opportunity for Board Chair Cass to facilitate his removal, to be replaced with Administrative Assistant Karen Jackson’s choice for Chief, her friend Steve Winn. There had been claims that Chief Bonnee refused to sign off on excessive OT claims by his AA, and was threatened by Chair Cass with termination if he didn’t do so.

May 8, 2020 – Chief Winn reports may need to close Meadview station, due to financial constraints.

May 29, 2020 - Chief Winn hired with full time contract, avoiding the established 6 mo. “Interim” Chief period and its requirements.

September 25, 2020 – Susan DeLara appointed to fill vacancy on LMRFD Board.

September 2020 – Excessive overtime claims by Administrative Manager, Karen Jackson, approved by Chief Winn. (Reportedly previously denied by Chief Bonnee)

November 20, 2020 – Phyllis Aitken and Douglas Braaten, winners in the Board election, sworn in.

January 2021 – LMRFD Board fired Chief Winn, Re-hired Chief Bonnee, Re-organized Administration eliminating the Administrative Manager position and re-instated JVG Accounting service. The Board re-hired former Chief Tim Bonnee, who had been illegally fired by previous Board members. They reorganized the Administration Dept., eliminating the “Administrative Manager” position, (which was costing us nearly as much as the Fire Chief position!) along with the position of “Financial Clerk”. Savings to the District by reinstating a qualified independent Accounting firm in their place is in the $55,000/yr. range. Newly restored Chief Bonnee advertised for, interviewed applicants and ultimately hired a local person as part time “Customer Service Clerk” for the front office at Station 41. Finally, the pre-insolvency LMRFD policy of “come in to the station and get checked out for free” has been restored, as have regular open office hours. 

January 2023 – Two years of stable Board governance free of personal agendas, with a working Chief who cares more for the community he serves and his personnel than he does for himself, and sound stable financial management have seen the LMRFD grow in all areas. We no longer hear, “We are short staffed because nobody wants to work out here!” Personnel, including volunteers, are appreciated and rewarded as appropriate. Much of LMRFD’s equipment needs are paid for with grants Chief Bonnee applies for. Other needs are paid for outright, with no debt attached. Larger 

expenditures are planned for, prior to emergency status. Regular maintenance extends the life of existing vehicles and equipment. LMRFD continues to answer to and win frivolous lawsuits brought by the disgruntled prior employees seeking to destroy it while enriching themselves. Board meetings are of reasonable length with the taxpayers’ business and interests being attended to. The LMRFD is being elevated to a respected position among its peers. It is in a better financial position than it has ever been, ending 2022 with $183,000 more in reserve than the prior year! LMRFD was applauded by Gabe Buldra of the James Vincent Group for being in an even better financial position than some of the bigger fire districts in Southern AZ. Thanks to a Board and Chief who work together with sound financial advice for the good of our communities!

Submitted by:

Ellen Reh-Bower

February 14, 2023