Cromwell fire commissioner abruptly resigns, cites distress over ex-chief’s departure Cites distress over ex-chief’s departure

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CROMWELL >> Saying he remains frustrated by the resignation of former Fire Chief Stephen Pendl, a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners resigned from the panel on Tuesday.

Mark Langton resigned two days shy of nine months to the day after Pendl stepped down as the department’s chief — and a little more than six weeks before Langton’s term on the board is up.

Langton, the transportation manager for the Middletown Public Schools system, was elected to the district’s governing board in 2013. Without a preamble, Langton stood up during Tuesday’s regular monthly commission meeting and announced he was resigning from the board.

“We had some major conflicts over how Chief Pendl resigned,and I can’t accept it,” Langton said. “It’s just — I won’t let it go,” he said. “This is a situation that derived from oversight — and we haven’t even investigated it.

“And I just can’t be a part of it anymore,” he said, as he turned and walked to the rear of the meeting room at the Coles Road Fire House.

His fellow commissioners had no visible reaction to the resignation. However, just before Langton exited the room, fellow commissioner James Bellamo quietly said, “Thank you for your service.” Then, without further reaction, the commission resumed its regular business.

Following the meeting, commission members declined to comment on Langton’s action.

The only comment of any nature came from Commissioner David Colligen, who said, “We’re not the cause of this. We are just a group of volunteers who are trying to do what’s best for the district.”

During his tenure on the commission, Langton had made no secret of his respect and affection for Pendl.

However, in the wake of Pendl’s resignation — and the district’s continuing efforts to appoint a new fire chief — rumors of Langton’s likely resignation were no secret among commission members.

Pendl, who is likable and outgoing in person, was appointed chief in 2010. He was the district’s first full-time chief. He quickly became the face of the firefighting profession in Cromwell while acting as a goodwill ambassador for the department.

However, Pendl became enmeshed in a confused — and confusing — episode last fall when a firefighter discovered documents being used in the annual audit of the district finances had been left out in public.

The firefighter told a colleague of his discovery. The colleague — who was also a firefighter — then took a cell phone photograph of sensitive personal data that was contained in the documents. He later sent a copy of the photo to Pendl, with a plea asking Pendl not reveal the firefighter was the source of the photo.

Pendl agreed to the firefighter’s request.

But a subsequent investigation conducted by an attorney hired by the district determined that, in his desire to protect the firefighter, Pendl but did not put the needs of the district first and had been less than completely honest.

Pendl resigned on Dec. 18.

Langton and did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking input for this story. Pendl declined comment.