THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 28 lines
About the Oct. 6 MetroNews article ``Pension plan burdens city'': As a retired fire captain and according to your article ``a burden to the city,'' I feel a need to respond.
First I deeply resent Fire Chief Odell Benton being included with other city officials who have never entered a burning building or faced a felon wielding a weapon. You have maligned a man who dedicated over half a century to the safety of Portsmouth. Chief Benton retired not by choice; he was forced to retire due to his age.
Secondly, my leaving the Chesapeake Fire Department, where I had reached the rank of captain, was due in part to the lure of the so-called ``Rolls-Royce'' of retirement. Being a deputy fire marshal for 15 years, I had the opportunity to investigate as well as suppress fires. A fire marshal's duties also include arrest powers, which makes the carrying of a gun necessary.
Your article fails to mention that the same administrators who placed the sheriff and other high city officials under this retirement system are the same now crying that the money could be used elsewhere.
ROBERT E. CHAPMAN
Portsmouth, Oct. 7, 1996 by CNB