On January 11, unnamed staff at the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department (WBFD) started an online petition, presented as a vote of ‘no-confidence’ for their fire chief, Josh Haraway. He was hired in March 2022, after the former chief, Glen Rogers, left in November 2021.
The petition has garnered 398 signatures as of Tuesday, January 16. WHQR has confirmed that at least some of the petition’s authors are WBFD staff; however, those staff members wanted to remain anonymous, saying their goal was to ensure the town looked into their concerns.
There are several allegations in the petition; first, those claiming to be full-time staff and members of the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department and Ocean Rescue say they were “dissatisfi[ed]” with Haraway’s performance, calling the petition a vote of “no confidence”.
They accuse the chief of making the town “less safe” and for creating a “culture of fear, mistrust, and authoritarianism.”
The petition says they’ve previously tried to resolve these issues with the chief, but that he had been “dismissive and at times retaliated against employees for speaking out.”
They then proceed to detail eight specific accusations against him: (1) incidences where no fire personnel were left on the island to respond to emergencies; (2) not following FEMA and NFPA procedures about responding to the active shooter on Scotch Bonnet Lane, part of a larger series of shootings across Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach; (3) making sexist and degrading comments toward female staff (the petition claims six of seven female employees have left during Haraway’s tenure); (4) causing another employee to go on leave because of a “hostile work environment” under Haraway; (5) terminating an employee because he asked a state agency about training requirements; (6) mishandling human resource complaints; (7) deploying an emergency vehicle not equipped for beach responses; and (8) showing a lack of support for the volunteer fire program, mentioning several volunteers who have left.
WHQR reached out to the town on Friday, January 12, to see if they had any comments on these allegations or the call of no confidence for Haraway.
Wrightsville Beach Mayor Darryl Mills said, “this pertains to personnel matters so I cannot discuss it. That said, the Board of Aldermen takes the allegations seriously and are taking steps to investigate and appropriate action will be taken if warranted.”
Haraway was also asked to comment on the allegations against him, but did not respond.
Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen has called a special meeting for Wednesday, January 17 at 9:00 a.m. The statute referenced is one that “hears or investigates a complaint, charge, or grievance by or against a public officer or employee.”
