Newton County axes fire chief and an investigator following FOX 5 I-Team investigation

COVINGTON, Ga. - Newton County has fired its fire chief, three weeks after the FOX 5 I-Team uncovered an apparent conflict of interest involving his department's rescue dive team.

The decision to terminate Chief Mike Conner’s employment came down Thursday. A fire inspector who sold tens of thousands of dollars in equipment to the department’s dive team, even though he was a dive team member, also lost his county job.

The county did not give specific reasons for the terminations in its announcement Friday.

"This action was a result of a detailed investigation conducted by the County Manager," a written statement sent by a county spokesman said. "Newton County is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards to ensure the trust of the community's most valuable resource, the residents."

Mike Conner, Newton County's fire chief since 2017, was fired by the county on Thursday, three weeks after the FOX 5 I-Team revealed an apparent conflict of interest involving his department and a local scuba store. (FOX 5)

Conner had led the department since 2017, having formerly served as a battalion chief for Rockdale County. On Friday, Conner’s name had been stripped from the Fire Services page on Newton County’s website.

As chief, Conner had pushed for the Newton County fire department to have its own rescue dive team – divers tasked with pulling drowning victims from lakes or rivers, or searching for important evidence of crimes.

The county already had a dive team, though, a joint team with the City of Covington that has operated for decades. Conner's new team had all the best gear, including wetsuits, knives, ropes and even a new rescue boat.

Last month, the FOX 5 I-Team revealed who got paid for all that equipment.

Glenn Mikos, a Newton County fire inspector, is seen here at a Lake Jackson boat ramp with an inflatable rescue boat, purchased from his scuba store by the county for more than $4,800. (FOX 5)

Records obtained through open records requests showed more than $140,000 spent on gear and training for fire department dive team members – all of it to the same company, without any other bids. That company, Into the Blue Scuba, is owned by Glenn Mikos, a fire inspector and one of the members of the Fire Services dive team.

"I can say that, in my opinion, that it’s a conflict of interest and it’s unethical," Denise Williams, a member of the Concerned Citizens of Newton County watchdog group, told FOX 5 last month.

Newton County’s Code of Ethics says, "No official or employee shall acquire or maintain an interest in any business that is engaged in the sale of property, goods or services to the County…" 

The I-Team tried to talk to Conner last month about his department’s business arrangement with one of its own employees, but he didn’t return calls and wouldn’t meet a reporter in the lobby of fire headquarters.

Reached by phone Friday, Conner hung up on a reporter.

Overseen by Glenn Mikos, members of the Newton County Fire Services dive team train in the waters of Lake Varner on Sept. 12. (FOX 5)

The I-Team also tried to talk to Mikos, but when reporters tried to speak with him outside his store last month, he drove away in his fire department truck and parked across the street. Then Covington police arrived. An officer confirmed to FOX 5 that it was Into the Blue Scuba that summoned police.

On Friday, Mikos said he was forbidden to speak publicly about the matter at the time. He also said that "multiple people" had approved him doing business with the county, declining to elaborate.

This week, one county commissioner said Newton County needs a new department to scrutinize purchases and raise red flags. Currently, that’s handled by the finance department.

"If you don’t have any checks and balances, something’s going to fall through the cracks," Commissioner Alana Sanders said. "That’s why we have to have somebody checking behind the checker."

For now, Newton County will no longer purchase dive equipment from one of its own firefighters.

"As Newton County begins the search for its next Fire Chief," the statement from the county said, "the hard-working men and women of the fire services will continue their unwavering commitment to ensuring that safety is its number one priority for the community."