It’s been four months since Rachel Fisher publicly alleged that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by Stowe’s fire chief during a yearslong period when he served as a town police officer.
No charges were filed against Kyle Walker after a three-month investigation by Vermont State Police earlier this year. He denies the allegations and has described the encounters as a consensual affair. But the allegations prompted the town to remove Walker from Stowe’s police force in May while allowing him to remain as fire chief and town health officer after a 10-day suspension without pay.
As summer has turned to fall, a group of residents has continued to call for Walker’s ouster, holding weekly protests on Route 100, which runs through downtown Stowe.
Now, advocates are increasing pressure on the town as they call for his removal, including through television ads, participation at a Stowe Selectboard meeting and successfully lobbying for Walker to be barred from school grounds in his role as fire chief, except in emergencies.
Town Manager Charles Safford, who is responsible for hiring, firing and disciplining municipal employees, acknowledged he’s received many emails from residents about Walker’s continued employment.
“People’s expressions and concerns are important to appreciate and understand,” he said. Still, Safford said, consequences are bound by employment laws and policies.
Former U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan, who recently entered private practice and is representing Fisher, has argued that’s not good enough.
“If a person who held the dual position of schoolteacher and bus driver sexually assaulted a student, would you terminate that person as a teacher, but allow them to continue to drive the students’ bus? Let us hope not,” Nolan wrote in a letter last month to Safford and the town’s attorney. “We demand that you fire Walker from the position of fire chief immediately.”
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Walker declined to answer whether he’s considered stepping down. He said he had not seen the television ad about him — it began airing last Monday — and he declined to comment on it.
The slickly produced 30-second spot on local cable urges viewers to protest Walker’s continued role at the fire department. It was sponsored by a group of residents who recently organized under the name Allies for Accountability.
“Walker remains in a position of power as fire chief,” the ad’s narrator says. “This is wrong. It’s dangerous.”
The ad ends with a call to action: “Speak up. Get involved.” The group’s website includes Safford’s email address.
Allies for Accountability’s spokesperson, Scott Weathers, said this first ad buy will run for a month. He said the campaign was funded by individual private donations.
Meanwhile, Safford said he has directed Walker to stay off Stowe Middle/High School grounds unless he is there as a family member or if there is an emergency. The town manager said he made the call after some parents complained about his presence in response to a fire drill in September.
After the drill, the parents emailed the Stowe Selectboard and the Lamoille South Unified Union superintendent to protest Walker’s presence on school grounds, according to Sarah Henshaw, who is a Lamoille South parent and board chair of the Clarina Howard Nichols Center, a nonprofit organization working to stop sexual violence.
“Parents do not feel safe having Kyle Walker around our kids, yet the fire department should be supporting our schools,” reads one of the emails to the selectboard signed by a dozen parents, including Henshaw. “Your inaction has allowed this dilemma. Your inaction has led us to feel unsafe when our fire chief is on our school campus.”
Lamoille South superintendent Ryan Heraty said he discussed parents’ emails with Safford, as well as his own concerns that the controversy would distract from “full focus on our students and our community.”
Walker is to have other fire department personnel handle discretionary and educational activities in schools going forward, Safford said.
When it comes to Walker’s employment, though, Safford suggested that disciplining Walker again would be similar to “double jeopardy” in court: As defendants can’t be tried multiple times for the same allegation, a disciplinary action is generally final unless new information comes to light.
The Vermont Labor Relations Board website indicates that double jeopardy is generally considered an “improper increase in punishment.”
“He’s not an elected official, right?” Safford said. “It isn’t like, hey, there’s the ballot box, how many people are for him and against him? There’s much more involved with a public sector employee.”
However, Nolan, in her Sept. 2 email to Safford and the town’s attorney, argued there has been new information since Walker’s suspension, alleging that Walker “lied to the press” about the duration of his interactions with Fisher.
In a written statement to the Stowe Reporter in May, Walker described the situation as “an isolated event.” In a later interview with VTDigger, Walker said there were 10 sexual interactions over a two-year period.
Fisher read her own three-page statement at a Stowe Selectboard meeting Sept. 27, during which she thanked the people who have supported her, criticized the state’s attorney’s findings in response to the Vermont State Police investigation, and expressed support for other survivors of sexual assault.
In an interview with VTDigger, Fisher said her goals now are twofold: She still wants Walker removed as fire chief, and she also wants to change the environment for other sexual assault survivors who might go public.
“I’d really like to work toward the goal of coming forward to be more of the norm, instead of extremely rare,” Fisher said.
Henshaw said she has been in conversation with Safford and the selectboard about local policy changes that would apply to any future allegations. She is advocating for an anonymous reporting system, as well as a local ombudsman who could handle misconduct allegations outside the existing chain of command.
“I think that our public systems are kind of behind the times,” said Becky Gonyea, executive director of the Clarina Howard Nichols Center. “People want accountability. People want to see change, as individuals and as citizens, but our government, our municipalities, our systems — they’re just not ready.”
