Absecon, NJ Deputy Fire Chief Refuses To Accept 30-Day Suspension

This is a follow-up to yesterday’s coverage. Here is a link to our previous comprehensive report, if you missed it:

Read More: Absecon, NJ Deputy Fire Chief May Be Suspended/Terminated

Dale Conover, a Deputy Chief of the Absecon Volunteer Fire Department acknowledged on-air this morning that he did not accept, nor honor a 30-day suspension that was handed out to him by Absecon Volunteer Fire Department Chief Roy Talley.

Conover expressed on-air that this suspension came from the Absecon government and that the Police Chief and Volunteer Fire Chief were not responsible for it.

Absecon City Council has maintained that they have had no involvement in the matter. Yet, Conover asked this question on-air. “If City Council was not involved, how did the City Solicitor get involved?”

Conover makes a good point. The local government would have had to request its solicitor to get involved. The solicitor could not get involved without a direct request from the local government.

In the March 4, 2022 letter to Conover, from the Absecon Volunteer Fire Department Chief Roy Talley suspension letter, Talley states:

“After consultation with the City Solicitor and the Police Chief, it was determined that a suspension of 30 days was warranted for inappropriate posts on Facebook. I understand you reserve the right to challenge this when you return from vacation."

Former Absecon City Councilman Chris Seher also appeared on-air today with Conover.

Seher was even more blunt in his assessment of Absecon City Council. “There was no due process. They made a determination without Dale Conover being given the opportunity to be able to properly defend himself."

Seher announced on-air that the “City Council is lying. It was City Council directing this."

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Conover also revealed that he believes that a member of the Absecon Volunteer Fire Department turned him in to the local government, telling them that he “violated his suspension, asked the city to check [a] video of him on fire department premises and to check the dispatch logs,” said Conover.

Conover stated that he was disappointed that a fellow firefighter would do this.

Further, Conover stated that he has received confirmation that Absecon City has received from “an anonymous citizen,” who had been compiling information, which included a copy of a Conover Facebook post which announced that “Roger Stone would be appearing on 'Hurley in the Morning.'"

Conover advised that he has not been provided with the information compiled by the “anonymous citizen.”

Conover asserts that the local Absecon government is trying to deny him his number right to free speech.

We asked Conover about his expectations regarding the likely next steps against him from the Absecon City Council.

Conover acknowledged that he expects further discipline for his failure to accept their 30-day suspension.

Developing.