Former Summerville Fire Chief Robbie Lathem retired abruptly after the City of Summerville’s Christmas Party earlier this month.  WZQZ News was alerted that there were issues that surrounded the retirement of Lathem and yesterday, the local newspaper reported that the Summerville City Manager had discovered a “non-city” bank account that was being used by the former volunteer fire chief.

No one seems to know when the account was created and there have been no audits done on the account.  Lathem says that the account was spent for goodwill actions, like feeding firefighters after a lengthy fire call or buying biscuits for the firefighters.  However, he also admitted to buying flashlights and other equipment.  Lathem was quoted as saying “It was just easier that way”.  The city’s attorney and the city manager didn’t see it that way however and were concerned about the intermingling of taxpayer funds and donations to the fire department.

While it’s not certain when the account was created or who created it, when Lathem was confronted about the account on the day of the city’s Christmas party – he chose to retire effective immediately.

At least part of the funds from the unauthorized account included the large donations from the Chattooga County Agricultural Fair that are made to fire department across the county.  The donations from the fair are for the fire departments helping with parking during the fair.

In a letter written to Lathem, the city manager also mentioned that there was no receipts for purchases and funds that were transferred to personal accounts from the unauthorized bank account.