ditto...disgusting...can't read the article its so disturbing.

What is more interesting is that a Fire Captain was denied entry into the Firehouse.

So he did something so serious it required he be locked out of the Firehouse, yet he was allowed to retire? Something stinks here!

Frank - I assure you we were well aware of Fiorelli being a retired firefighter before anyone mentioned it in the comments yesterday. Unfortunately, we can't base our stories on what our commenters have to say (although they are often correct); we had to have this confirmed by the fire department before we could publish it as fact, which is what we did here.

Was thinking same thing just last night. If convicted, he better not be receiving a pension.

What is more interesting is that a Fire Captain was denied entry into the Firehouse. So he did something so serious it required he be locked out of the Firehouse, yet he was allowed to retire? Something stinks here!

Yes, I think these two incidents are connected.

It's interesting that The Patch is using Springfielder.com as a source of information and quoting from it. We know who The Patch is, but who is Springfielder.com? Do you (The Patch) know or is it your policy to quote from anonymous sources?

Hi all, I have been working on the story about the land contamination issue. It will be up next week.

Best,
Nicole

I find this odd that springfielder.com doesnt mention it also; The word on the street is that is a of the republicans newsletters. You cant comment on it just like when a republican posts on the patch. They allgedely take advantage of the "freedom of speech" to the max the law allows. They arent breaking any laws but I do also find it odd since the story broke in the local source that the coverage has been minimal at best. Id love to hear the former members on the board from 2012 talk their way out of this one. They promised everyone it would be 1,000,000.00 coming into the town and the tax amount would be minimal. I have a sense that this is a coverup allgedly that someone knew something.

Bart, you and I am sure everyone else knows who is responsible for the springfielder.com. Although he hides behind an anonymous registrar, the content and the bias shows you everything you need to know. This reminds me of the Springfield Rumor Rag that cop used to publish.

Nicole why has it taken 3 weeks to post an article about the land contamination deal combined with the turf field? THIS IS NEWS worthy of front page coverage at the local source but the patch is sitting on the story and the public wants answers.

I'm honestly not upset that my name was mentioned because you were completely accurate in your explanation. What I am bringing to attention is that the Springfielder.com was used as a source of information and an article from it was quoted. That would be acceptable except that the article does not identify the author (writer). It leads to questions of credibility when The Patch uses direct quotes from anonymous sources. As a point of fact, the question The Patch should have asked is what, if anything, the 2012 governing body knew and discussed 'behind closed doors'. Having served on the TC I know that anything discussed in that manner, can and should be made public once the issue has been settled. So why wasn't there any disclosure?

Bart - Get us the info via an OPRA request.

hopefully the guy never sees freedom ever again only if the allegations are true. in this country its innocent until proven guilty. im convinced hes guilty but the court of public opinion isnt how we do matters such as this. im sure they have enough evidence to convict him. if thats the case thats he should never see the streets again. disgusting human behavior by a former firefighter. ( if he is proven guilty)

Why are people so focused on a closed door meeting? If his proclivities were known at the time, he probably would have been suspended. Frankly (no pun) I doubt it was anything more than an internal rules & regulations issue or a grievance. Maybe he opted to pack it in rather than face the possibility of discipline? Happens all the time. I've worked for enough towns to know.

There's nothing to connect the matter discussed at that meeting to the reasons for his recent arrest. Speculate all you want, but it's only speculation.

What is more interesting is that a Fire Captain was denied entry into the Firehouse. So he did something so serious it required he be locked out of the Firehouse, yet he was allowed to retire? Something stinks here!

Stan - Did you miss this?

. The nature of the discussion is not known but sources revealed that Fiorelli was denied access to the firehouse in the middle of August.

He did something so bad that he was denied even being able to step on the firehouse grounds but yet was allowed to retire?

Ditto!

The point is the story has been reported on media outlets all over this area. Who cares what the Springfielder or patch have to say. The media is inaccurate about a lot of things

I believe to escheat his home, he would have to be dead and have no heir or will. He has a wife that may not have known what was going on. In fact, I highly doubt she did. They raised two daughters; I hope this lowlife scum never did anything to them!

I'll say this again. So far, no one has proved any connection between the closed door meeting subject, the "lock-out", and the recent arrest. Think about this. The Captain does something stupid at work. He's suspended. The FD takes away his access card and he's told to stay off the property until his suspension is lifted. The township committee is told that he wants to retire. He can't retire while suspended or while disciplinary charges are pending, so they meet and agree to lift the suspension and acknowledge his application to PFRS for pension. I bet if they'd known about the new criminal case, they wouldn't have let him retire. Just my opinion, but I don't think the township committee didn't "hid" anything. They probably had no idea at the time. The newspapers all say the porn investigation took three months. Work backwards. July is a lot more than three months ago.

And more then likely, it's accurate.

Don't use the word 'allegedly' because that would be incorrect.

Since you asked-Yes, I certainly think that if a captain arrested for distributing child porn (which is considered to be a very serious thing these days-usually results in jail) can get his pension I do believe that a person discharged (not arrested) due to defective credentials after 19 years of meritorious service deserves to get his pension. The first requires a judicial determination, the latter an administrative. Why? Very simple the former, as a matter of law is more serious. Do you really consider defective credentials more serious then distributing child porn? He was able to pass the test for the Captains position without even a high school education? He was able to be an Arson Investigator without a High School education? Doesn't it seem strange that after 19 years of service it was time to verify is educational qualifications?

I assume that someone in town had a responsibility to verify his eligibility and sufficient education to meet his responsibilities when they hired him. If not, when they promoted him?
Do those people have any accountability. Are they going to lose their beneifts? I think not.Obviously, Captain Fiorell's life has been ruined and his poor family's lives will never be the same as a result of his conduct. The term alleged is correct

Maybe they should lose their pensions or benefits?

Doesn't it seem strange that after 19 years of service someone decides its time to check his educational verifications?

@Brian "alledgedly' is the correct term. Bilotti always claimed that he NEVER had a copy of his diploma bc his childhood home in Union was destroyed by a fire & all it's contents were destroyed. The Union Fire Chief wrote a letter to verify this at the time of Bilotti's hiring, so why would he supply them w/a fake diploma when an explanation had already been given?The fake diploma was placed in his personnel file to make him look bad.
BUT BUT BUT anybody & everybody who knew anything about this case also knew that it was Frank Fiorelli leading the way to try & destroy Bilotti's reputation. SOOOOO GUESS WHAT??? Mike has his own business, lives in a beautiful home, on the water, with a wonderful woman & has put all this behind him. NOW Frank will be moving into a completely different kind of a HOUSE & will constantly be worried about his BEHIND & every other part of him bc Gangstas don't like perps who hurt children. "ALLEGEDLY"

HELLLLLLLO!!

BILOTTI NEVER WAS ABLE TO PRODUCE A DIPLOMA. HIS HEARING REPORT STATED THAT HE DID NOT EVEN ONCE ATTEMPT TO CONTACT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVE HE HAD A DIPLOMA - HOW EASY WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN?!

Bilotti never had a REAL diploma in his file - as bright a guy he is I know this is astonishing - perhaps he skipped high school altogether because he was so smart.

He claims it was destroyed in a fire - RIGHT! Okay so well what's your next step? You contact your high school. You contact the state department of education. This was not done and therefore Bilotti was CANNED! The credentials required for the job required a high school diploma. Therefore he was terminated. Did he lie? Well I'll let you come to your own conclusion.

You call yourself a friend - obviously Bilotti is going to tell you that he had his diploma and convince you of this using his over abundance of intelligence. Use your head - why would he not contact the state department of education or contact his high school. He didn't even produce a yearbook photo or anything. His excellent job was on the line and he didn't call?!?! Well that's a bit indicative no?

It seems your conspiracy alleges that Frank KNEW he had no diploma, could not produce a diploma, so a FAKE one was created, slipped surreptitiously into his file and then he was outed! This then crippled him emotionally rendering him unable to contact the state, his high school, or ANYBODY to get his diploma. PLEASE!!

That is incorrect in regard to Mr. Billoti.

Maryellen- thank you so much for the courage to speak the truth. I know Mike only casually as an acquaintance until we became close friends after he I was involved in a crash on route 22 when I was rear ended while riding my motorcyle. He was the one who helped me and took the time away from his job, family, and business to go get a trailer, drive to the lot and pick up the wreck and haul it to Bloomfield for repairs. He refused any payment or even reimbursement for gas and tolls! He is a kind compassionate person with high ethical standards who would and still will go out of his way at his expense to anyone deserving help!

@Brian, Your last post is spot on. Thank you for your clarity. Why is he/she hiding behind a made up name that surfaced just to talk about Mike. There was "a group" that was on a mission to ruin a couple of wonderful people's lives. The "powers that be" were led down a path of no return. But slowly & surely this will all unravel & the truth will be known. There were a number of problems that were never addressed including that Frank Fiorelli was allowed to post on the Springfiled forum. That is against Department policy but nothing was done even when it was brought to attention of the proper authorities. It was a sad time for Springfield just like this is a very sad time for Springfield also. I feel so bad for SFD & I also feel horribly for Nancy & Frank's children. I think I'll leave it at that.