THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010305
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
North Carolina's top fish cop was fired Wednesday.
Fred Swain, 51, had worked for the state's Division of Marine Fisheries for 30 years. Since April 1993, he had been chief of law enforcement, overseeing 47 fisheries officers and patrolling 2.4 million acres of water. In June, Swain received a positive job evaluation with an overall summary rating of ``very good.''
But he knew he was about to get the gaffe.
Shortly before Christmas, Swain's boss gave the long-time state employee the option of quitting or being fired. Swain told Division of Marine Fisheries Director Bruce Freeman he was not about to quit. So Freeman, who became the fisheries director less than a year ago after moving from New Jersey to North Carolina, carried out his promise.
Wednesday morning, Freeman fired Swain.
Wednesday afternoon, Freeman's secretary said Freeman would not comment on the incident.
According to one state official, the fisheries law enforcement chief was terminated from his $53,893 position for ``grossly inefficient job performance'' - a new category ofpersonnel evaluations which the state adopted Oct. 1.
``Basically, grossly inefficient performance is something that would cause harm and extremely serious consequences to the state agency,'' state Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources spokeswoman Debbie Crane said Wednesday from her Raleigh office. ``A meeting took place Monday between Mr. Freeman and Mr. Swain. At 8:30 a.m. today, they met again. Mr. Swain was terminated at that time.
``We cannot comment as to why he was released from his duties,'' said Crane. ``But we had good reasons.''
Reached at home Wednesday afternoon, Swain's wife said the former fisheries law enforcement chief was unavailable.
State Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, said he thought firing Swain was a mistake. ``I don't agree with the dismissal. I believe Fred did a good job,'' Basnight said. ``But we have to move on. I want what's best for the fisheries. I'll support whoever ends up in that position.''
Crane said Freeman has not named an acting fisheries law enforcement chief - and does not plan to. ``The officers will continue reporting to second-in-command law enforcement officer Doug Freeman, as they have been,'' she said. ``We won't have anyone in that position until we hire a new chief.''
Although Swain's most recent review was favorable, reports of tensions between him and state fisheries officials are not new. Marine Fisheries Commission Chairman Robert Lucas, whose group sets fisheries policies for the state, said that over a year ago he had asked Swain to attend a commission meeting and explain a lack of citations in certain areas. ``He didn't come,'' Lucas said Wednesday from his Selma law office. ``I don't know his reasons. But that, in my opinion, is what got this whole ball rolling.''
``A number of commissioners were upset that they couldn't get any answers about what was going on in law enforcement,'' said Lucas. ``Many commercial fishermen have said if we'd just enforce the laws on the books, we wouldn't have to make any more laws.''
Lucas said he supported Freeman's decision to fire Swain. ``I've not been made aware of the reasons why,'' said Lucas. ``That's not part of my job.''
``But it was absolutely not a personal thing with me. I never had a cross word with the man. I think the significance of this is that it's apparent that this administration has decided to leave the running of the Division of Marine Fisheries up to the director. He's in charge,'' Lucas said. ``If we're going to hold Bruce Freeman accountable to the task of managing the resource, he has to have the authority to make personnel decisions.''
This fall, Nags Head Mayor Renee Cahoon approached Lucas at a state Marine Fisheries Commission meeting on Hatteras Island. Cahoon complained about a lack of fisheries law enforcement in Dare County. ``Obviously, that raises a concern with us as well,'' Lucas said.
In early January, Swain said he had never received a written communication from Freeman about what - if anything - he'd done wrong. State law requires that before an employee can be fired for poor performance, a supervisor must submit at least two written warnings. Crane said written warnings are not required ``if you've been in gross misconduct.''
Some anglers and fisheries experts have wondered why Swain was fired when the state is in the midst of overhauling all of its fisheries rules, licenses and management policies. National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Chuck Manooch, who oversees a sub-committee studying fisheries re-organization, said Wednesday afternoon that he ``hadn't heard yet'' that Swain had been fired. ``Although, on paper, we're supposed to look at the division, we've not been given the direction - or the authority - to look at that yet,'' Manooch said, adding that the authority would have to come from Lucas, who also chairs the state's Moratorium Steering Committee.
``The division itself is too large for the sub-committee to tackle,'' Lucas said. ``They just don't have time to overhaul the whole thing.''
Besides firing Swain, Freeman also assigned four other top fisheries officials to new positions and duties. Although the state is funding a $50,000 consultant study on reorganization within the Division of Marine Fisheries - which researchers plan to report on this month - Freeman already moved at least four people.
Former Chief of Fisheries Management Fentress ``Red'' Munden is now a special assistant to the directory who coordinates the development of fisheries management plans.
Jess Hawkins, who was the district manager for Pamlico area fisheries management, took over Munden's old title - and, with it, the No. 2 spot in the division and a raise from $39,509 to $42,295.
Judy Powell, who was the fisheries division's assistant director for administration - overseeing budget and personnel - is now in charge of facility maintenance and the state licensing unit.
Her former assistant, Suzanne Guthrie, now heads the division's new budget and personnal section.
Freeman indicated Wednesday that he doesn't anticipate any additional major staffing changes. ``I know that some division staff have been concerned that their jobs might be affected by these changes,'' he wrote in a press release. ``But that's not the case.'' by CNB