Members of the Hinesburg Selectboard on Wednesday night joined community members in condemning a Facebook post containing homophobic content that was shared by the chief of the Hinesburg Fire Department.
It’s the first time members of the selectboard have publicly addressed the incident, which has thrust Hinesburg into a reckoning over diversity and inclusion measures and highlighted the lack of a townwide social media policy for municipal officials.
Two weeks after volunteer Fire Chief Al Barber issued an apology that some deemed insufficient, residents and town officials are discussing how to move forward.
“What happened, the posting, is certainly unacceptable in this year 2021 that a leader, any leader, would do this,” selectboard Chair Phil Pouech said. “And so it makes me angry that we’re put into this position.”
The meme, shared by Barber on April 2, depicted two men wearing makeup with their mouths at opposite ends of a banana. It included the caption, “How men that want to ban guns eat bananas.”
The Hinesburg Selectboard met in a closed meeting with Barber on April 21. The next day, the chief issued an apology on Front Porch Forum and deactivated his Facebook page.
In the apology, Barber said he hadn’t realized the meme “had homophobic overtones,” adding, “If I had actually read the entire post I certainly would not have reposted it.”
“I do not have a homophobic bone in my body,” Barber wrote. He said that he has officiated over civil unions and has relatives in the LGBTQ community.
Meanwhile, a public records request reported on by The Citizen revealed that Barber had shared multiple posts containing misogynistic or xenophobic content before shutting down his Facebook page.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Hinesburg Town Manager Todd Odit said Barber was unlikely to face further disciplinary action. But according to emails Odit provided to VTDigger, Barber reneged on an agreement to announce his retirement in the near future.
That agreement came out of an April 28 meeting to discuss the Facebook post, Barber’s apology and a letter of support for Barber signed by members of the fire department, according to the emails. (Odit had started in the newly created town manager position about a week earlier.)
The morning after their meeting, Barber sent Odit an email reversing his decision.
“After thinking about what my parents taught me, what we teach our children and grandchildren which is to take sincere responsibility for your actions, which is what I have done and discussing with Department members I have decided not to retire,” Barber wrote.
An ‘inadequate’ apology
Barber’s apology and his continuation in the role have left community members debating the appropriate next steps.
Some residents called for Barber to step down as chief or resign from the department, but others pressed for alternative solutions to address the harm they say was caused by the post.
Hinesburg resident Karen Tronsgard-Scott, executive director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said in a letter to the editor published in The Citizen that the post has led her and her family to question their safety in Hinesburg because “it is clear that our chief harbors hatred toward members of the LGBTQ community.”
Tronsgard-Scott called Barber’s response “inadequate.” She suggested a list of further actions the town could take, including an assessment of town departments and the creation of a social media policy for town employees.
“I am not calling for the dismissal of Chief Barber because I am ever hopeful that we can unite as a community, even if one of our leaders has caused harm,” Tronsgard-Scott wrote.
Some criticism on social media has focused on the fire department’s response to the situation, suggesting it’s been dismissive.
Others have defended Barber, including his daughter, Katie Charbonneau, an EMT with the department.
“Anyone that knows my dad knows how absolutely ludacris (sic) this situation is,” she wrote on Facebook on April 22. She said her father “is honestly the most gentle and welcoming soul that I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”
Barber supporters have bemoaned how social media can be used against a person, while critics have said that’s missing the point.
“The fact that fire department members couldn’t understand why people were upset about it shows how far removed they are from the damage it’s causing others,” said Ruben Somda, a senior at Champlain Valley Union High School, in an email to VTDigger.
Somda, who is Black and a member of the Hinesburg Racial Equity Group, said they already face racism and “a lingering anxiety regarding whether or not I need to be careful around certain people” in Hinesburg.
According to the group, the fire department has a pattern of using social media in a way that “falls into the category of bullying, hazing and harassment.”
Other residents who spoke with VTDigger said that department members had sent inappropriate messages as recently as last year during a hotly contested debate over whether or not to bring an ambulance service to Hinesburg.
Craig Chevrier, a Hinesburg resident, wrote in an email that messages sent by Barber and other firemen during the debate were “ribald if not downright intimidating.”
Finding a way forward
In an interview on Thursday, Barber denied bullying by the department.
There’s too much happening at the fire department for him to retire, he said, and he wasn’t convinced the selectboard “would honor any proposal that we brought forward.” He declined to elaborate.
Barber said he receives a $12,000 stipend from the town for his volunteer service.
Meanwhile, Odit, the town manager, said at Wednesday’s selectboard meeting that guidelines regarding harassment and intimidation would be included in the town’s new social media policy, currently in development.
Joy Dubin Grossman, Hinesburg’s assistant town manager, will now oversee diversity, equity and inclusion work, and Odit said he has already begun to research how committees focused on intolerance in other towns have operated. Odit also plans to attend the next meeting held by the Hinesburg Racial Equity Group.
Barber said he’s open to working with the town on any measure it puts forward, and that “it’s a painful time for everybody.”
“If we can all learn to do a better job not offending people, and making sure we’re inclusive of everybody, it’s better for everybody,” Barber said.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Craig Chevrier’s last name.
