Menlo fire board gets court order for member Steve Kennedy's ID Menlo fire board gets court order for member Steve Kennedy's ID (September 17, 2003)

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

Steve Kennedy, a director on the Menlo Park Fire Protection District board, is now the subject of a court order to enforce a three-week-old directive from his board colleagues requiring him to turn over his badge, ID card and business cards.

In response to Mr. Kennedy's refusal to turn over his identification material, the district pursued legal action, leading to a court hearing scheduled for October 7. The board has hired a process server to inform Mr. Kennedy of the hearing, said board president Peter Carpenter.

"We're not asking the court to throw him out of office," Mr. Carpenter said. "He has some property of the district's which we want returned."

The board is also seeking reimbursement for legal and fire-district costs associated with retrieving Mr. Kennedy's identification material.

"He can stop process at any moment by just surrendering his identification, and he has declined to do that," Mr. Carpenter said. "He is making this increasingly expensive."

The board is meeting in closed session September 16 in part to discuss what Mr. Carpenter said was Mr. Kennedy's violation of restrictions put in place three weeks ago that limit his contact with members of the fire district.

Mr. Kennedy was asked to turn in his badge and other identification material at the board's August 21 meeting -- a special meeting called to deal with several complaints against him. Two days before the meeting, Mr. Kennedy tried to gain access to the East Palo Alto Ikea store, which at the time was not yet open to the public, by using his fire district badge. Badges are issued by the district to all fire board members.

The board reprimanded Mr. Kennedy for using the badge inappropriately, voting 4-1 (with Mr. Kennedy opposed) to require him to relinquish it.

By another 4-1 vote, Mr. Kennedy was directed not to have any contact with fire district staff except for Fire Chief Paul Wilson. That action was taken after Mr. Kennedy admitted he "flipped off" a group of firefighters at the Ikea site the day he tried to enter the building.

Mr. Carpenter said there have been indications that Mr. Kennedy has violated that directive as well.