Ramblings: Fire-EMS Overtime Pay Scrutinized; Ex-Local Roots Owner Charged; Schools Renew Superintendent's Contract

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Audit finds major fire-EMS overtime

Staff shortages have caused Roanoke firefighters and paramedics to take on significant overtime, costing taxpayers millions more than expected, according to a city audit.

Over the last four fiscal years, the city has budgeted less than $500,000 to cover department overtime. But those overtime costs increased to $2.1 million a couple years ago, and an estimated $1.8 million in the fiscal year that ended in June.

Low staffing levels that started during the pandemic contributed to the mismatch, Municipal Auditor Drew Harmon told City Council’s audit committee last week.

With limited fire academy classes in 2020 and 2021, employees worked more than their usual hours. A simultaneous increase in public safety pay caused overtime costs to balloon.

Since then, city officials say the department has gotten a better handle on the issue, filling a majority of vacant positions by this summer. 

“We’re very conscious about the overtime,” Chief David Hoback said. “We welcome the audit. We learned a lot from it. … We're actually putting some things in place that we can track our overtime a little better associated with recruit schools, and then hopefully submit a budget that is more reflective of what our true needs are going to be.”

There were 258 department employees as of May, the audit says. The agency needs at least 64 firefighters and EMTs on each of its 24-hour shifts.

For the most part, staff were not abusing overtime pay, which is one-and-a-half regular pay, the audit found. However, about 6 percent of employees took certain days off and then worked between those days, resulting in overtime pay that were effectively regular hours.

The audit also flagged that the department had violated policy when some employees taking overtime to keep up minimum staffing levels had worked more than 72 hours in a row through a combination of paid leave and overtime.

Harmon said the audit was requested by former city manager Bob Cowell as the first step in looking at public safety overtime costs. Harmon said his office may do additional audits for the police department and sheriff’s office.

Ex-Local Roots owner charged

Former owner of the Grandin Village restaurant Local Roots, which closed suddenly in July, was indicted last week on criminal charges of embezzlement and failure to collect local taxes.

Abraham Austin Eichelberger was indicted by a grand jury Sept. 3 on one felony count of embezzlement and five counts of failure to collect and account for prepared food and beverage taxes, court records show. The news was first reported by The Roanoke Times.

When The Rambler broke news of Local Roots’ closure, Eichelberger declined an interview, saying he would prefer the publication not write about it. Later, some former employees said Eichelberger owed them money and Eichelberger did not respond to numerous messages.

Eichelberger was arrested Monday, according to online court records. No attorney was listed.

City Treasurer Evelyn Powers said Eichelberger had received monthly delinquent tax notices between December and June. 

“He has not been singled out and we are constantly working the delinquent Food and Beverage tax list each month and sending accounts to the Commonwealth Attorney for appropriate action,” Powers said in an email. “We had multiple attempts to communicate with him and he was told the severity of the consequences of not paying these taxes”.

She said the total amount of back taxes owed to the city is considered confidential, and court records do not cite an amount. The last time prosecutors charged a business owner after Powers’s office referred a case was in 2023. Antwan D. Price of 213 Lux Lounge pleaded guilty in April to four misdemeanor embezzlement charges.

Local Roots was started in 2007 and seen as a pioneer in the farm-to-table food movement. Eichelberger purchased the business from longtime owner Diane Elliot in 2022.

Two local restaurateurs have announced plans to open a new restaurant, Show Pony, in the space this fall.

Schools extend superintendent's contract

Roanoke’s school board decided unanimously Tuesday night to extend Superintendent Verletta White’s contract through June 2028.

White’s annual salary is $264,608, according to the district.

“I would like to thank Dr. White for agreeing to extend her contract for two more years,” board chair Eli Jamison said. “I think the list of achievements is self-evident. … We are so grateful for your leadership.”

Board members have credited White, who arrived at the district in 2020, with creating an “equity in action” plan that has guided programs and capital investments.

Those include a new career and technical education center at William Fleming High School, a new administrative headquarters in the former Roanoke Times newsroom and the transformation of the current admin building into a community center focused on providing services to parents and families.

Recently, White has proposed turning the Jefferson Center into a magnet high school to relieve overcrowding at William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools.

White’s amended contract doesn’t cite a salary figure but says she will receive the same increases and supplemental pay as other full-time administrators.  

In 2022, the school board amended White’s contract to last through June 2026.

Her first contract from May 2020 listed an annual salary of $217,000.