Confident amid controversy: New emergency services department chief takes helm in a rocky time

Recent allegations against retired chief

Vaughan said after he was hired as the new chief, he was informed there was some impending investigation into former Chief Mac Hohenberger. There was some warning, as 46 firefighters had filed a lawsuit against Hohenberger in August alleging he misappropriated their pensions. But Vaughan said he and the rest of the Emergency Services District staff weren’t aware of the gravity of the allegations.

“They knew there’s been something not right,” Vaughan said. “Maybe surprised at the depths of how bad it was — especially in terms of the retirement stuff, which is just unfortunate. They’re taking the brunt of that. But it’s almost like they ripped the Band-Aid off and the healing process can finally start.”

Hohenberger served as chief of the Argyle Fire District from 1999 until his retirement last year. The Argyle Fire District merged with Emergency Services District No. 1. Hohenberger told the Denton Record-Chronicle in 2020 that the merger would help with funding, because it had been “unpredictable and not always stable.”

Hohenberger is accused of misusing $490,000 in fire district funds — including pensions of Argyle firefighters, for personal credit card bills — and of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Labor.

When the FBI raided the Argyle Fire District’s administrative office and arrested Hohenberger, administrative staff realized the situation was graver than they imagined, Vaughan said. The new fire chief said district staff told him they would understand if he no longer wanted to take the position.

But Vaughan said he’s not one to walk away from a challenge, and there wasn’t anywhere to go from here but up.

“I told them, ‘If I could ease any uncertainties, I am fully committed to being here,’ to let them know there’s one less uncertainty,” Vaughan said. “After talking to my family about it that evening when the news broke out, we just made a decision. It was the right thing to do, and we’re ready to call this area our home.”

He said everyone within the district has been doing everything they can to make this right and to continue providing excellent service to the communities of Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Corral City, Lantana and Northlake.

“I’m proud of them and commend them just for their resiliency and continued dedication,” Vaughan said. “This has had no impact at all on our ability to provide the services we provide to the community. The wheels keep on turning. They keep making calls or doing their day-to-day operations.”

While the emergency service hasn’t wavered, Vaughan said there are a lot of administrative issues to solve between the alleged mishandling of funds and the Argyle Fire and Emergency Services District merger.

Vaughan’s first steps as chief

Because of the merger, Vaughan is technically the first official employee of the Emergency Services District rather than the Argyle Fire District. He said he thinks that fact shows the EMD is progressing to a new era.

“We have a villain story, but we need a story of hope,” Vaughan said. “This is a new beginning.”

Much of Vaughan’s first four months as chief will consist of establishing more robust administrative and financial processes. Fixing the district’s budget is the first step, he said, as he can’t ask the county for resources until he knows what the true budget is.

Vaughan said he’s not a finance expert — his master’s degree is in public administration. So he doesn’t want to have the same singular level of control over the district’s budget as Hohenberger allegedly had.

“I don’t want that much power,” Vaughan said.

He said the district’s Board of Directors is working to employ forensic auditors and negotiate with an attorney to make sure the retirement accounts and budget are fixed. The administration team is small, Vaughan said, so they are looking to contract out work such as human resources. Plus, there are plans for a new employee handbook and retirement system.

All these changes are intended to make the administrative processes more robust and take them out of the hands of just one person, or a small group of people, to increase transparency and accountability.

This not only prevents potential mishandling but will ensure payroll and other budget processes still function if someone gets sick or is otherwise incapacitated.

“We’re going to put procedures in place to keep something like this from ever happening again,” Vaughan said. “... When you don’t have redundancies in place — what if I was in a car wreck, and I’m the keeper of all that? It’s not just checks and balances. Now, there are some redundancies, too, to put in place.”

Apart from finances, Vaughan said he’s prioritizing strengthening ties with the community and its leaders. He said county commissioners have been very supportive of his goals.

Vaughan also wants to develop trust and transparency with the district’s employees. He is meeting with personnel at fire stations to gather feedback on what employees like about their jobs and to determine where there is room for improvement or any other concerns they might have.

Long-term goals and planning

Once the bureaucratic difficulties are behind him, Vaughan said, his next goals are forecasting for future growth and assessing equipment needs.

Denton County is rapidly growing, and so, too, is the demand for emergency services. Vaughan said call volume increased about 21% in 2021, and while some of that is due to the winter freeze, call volumes were just about as high in 2022.

The area’s rapid growth “is amazing for the economy and the county but does cause a strain on infrastructure — fire departments being one of those infrastructures,” Vaughan said.

The new chief said the district is developing strategic plans to assess projected growth, manage its resources and meet the demands of citizens. Within his first year, his team will work on a community risk assessment along with an internal SWOT analysis to assess. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

As they look into future planning, Vaughan expects the district will need to build a few more fire stations over the next decade.

Additionally, the district is taking note of the type of structures developers are building in the area. For instance, as more apartments are built, the district will need different equipment — such as a new ladder truck — to respond to fires in taller buildings.

Vaughan plans to inventory the district’s equipment. Because funding wasn’t exactly where it needed to be, Vaughan said the district might need to play some catch-up in getting equipment it needs.

“There’s been some things that weren’t taken care of and things that should have been purchased that haven’t been purchased,” Vaughan said. “It was, ‘We don’t have any money.’ Well, where’d the money go? That’s my question.”

Vaughan is also paying attention to recruitment and retention. Public safety positions as a whole have suffered from employee vacancies, and with the recent allegations, Vaughan said there is some concern it could affect recruitment and retention.

Dallas-Fort Worth is a very competitive marketplace, he said, and the fire department has to compete for resources. But the district is working on ways to be more competitive. For example, it recently raised salaries. And despite the controversy, retention is good.

“One of the things that attracted me to this organization and to Denton County EMS District 1 is they have not had anybody leave on their own free will in like three years,” Vaughan said. “They’ve done a good job. They have a good culture and a good family. They’re very close-knit. They work well together, and I’m impressed by that.”

Vaughan’s goal is to have the district not just be a leader in the region it serves, but also to be considered a premier organization in the North Texas area and the state.

The bright side

Along with retention, Vaughan said there are many other areas where the Emergency Services District is excelling. He commended the district on its proactiveness and community involvement, especially in its CPR program.

“Particularly their teaching CPR is something I want to expand on,” he said. “I think that one of the most critical things we can do to educate the public is in CPR. Everyone saw the Buffalo Bills game recently and that’s just a perfect example of saving lives. A lot of times it’s not that people can’t do it, but that they’re intimidated by it.”

Additionally, Vaughan said for a department that is on the smaller size, the district is doing a lot of good, and it attracted him for a reason.

“At Denton County EMS District 1, I commend them for what they do in trying to be a leader in EMS,” Vaughan said. “Firefighter/paramedics are the tip of the spear in providing safety in our communities. My promise to them was that I would do everything in my power to work with our community leaders to keep the tip of that spear sharp and pointed in the right direction.”

Most of all, Vaughan said, the people of the district excel in their unwavering dedication to keep doing what they do best. To quote former baseball player Carlton Fisk, Vaughan said it’s not what you achieve, but what you overcome.

“This is a time when there could be a lot of pointing fingers,” Vaughan said. “But what has amazed me through all of this is everybody — internally and externally, the county, mayors — everybody has come together to make this right. You can accomplish so much more working together than you can individually. … It has been tremendous.”