HORSESHOE BEND, Idaho — In May, a jury will decide the fate of a Horseshoe Bend City Councilman who's accused of grand theft after he allegedly stole money from the volunteer fire district while he was fire chief.
Until then, some people in the small community are still frustrated Curtis Corvinus is serving on council.
They started a petition to recall him and filed it for approval with Boise County on Wednesday.
In the town of less than 1,000 people, everyone knows each other. And everyone talks.
"Everybody knows who the firefighters are. The chances are they're real good friends with at least one or two of them, community wide," former Boise County Commissioner and former volunteer Horseshoe Bend firefighter Ryan Stirm said.
Stirm says he was hanging out with a fire captain last spring when they learned someone took thousands of dollars from the fire protection district.
"You're taking from a community of people that are giving what may be the last of what they have," Stirm said.
When he learned his best friend, Corvinus, was accused of doing it, Stirm says he was shocked. He didn't believe it at first until he says evidence came out pointing to Corvinus.
"Why would you take from the one thing that gave you some kind of positivity in your life?" Stirm added. "You're defeating the purpose of what you were trying to accomplish by doing the job to begin with."
Not only do they fight fire in a very fire-prone area and respond to crashes on Highway 55, Horseshoe Bend Fire Protection District firefighters also hold community events for kids and help families during holidays - all for free.
He says it took years to build up the fund that money was allegedly stolen from.
"We're a lower income community by nature; we have a lot of retirees, we have a lot of people that require assistance here, and our department is not paid."
Court documents show Corvinus is charged with felony grand theft.
KTVB reached out to him multiple times through email in September of 2022 when we first reported the story and again this month. We have never heard back from Corvinus.
KTVB also contacted the attorney listed as his public defender but, as of Thursday night, had not heard back from him.
In complaints filed in 2022 the Boise County Prosecutor's Office said Corvinus misused more than $3,600 of public money when he was fire chief between November 2021 and March 2022.
Prosecutors say he used money from the department's 'burnout fund' to pay for personal expenses and did not deposit charitable cash donations.
"Pretty much everyone in this town at some point or another has managed to donate to that fund and then you're taking it," Stirm said. "You're taking it from your friends. You're literally stealing it from your friends."
The new fire chief told KTVB in the fall that he discovered the theft when a check bounced last spring.
He posted on the department's Facebook page in April of 22 - not naming Corvinus specifically - but saying a member fully admitted to using department money for personal use.
"It was pretty easy to figure out because [Corvinus] was the only one with the card," Stirm added.
According to Idaho's court database, Corvinus' trial was pushed back from the end of April to the end of May. It is now set for May 25 and 26 at 9 a.m. in Boise County. A jury will decide whether he's innocent or guilty.
While he was removed from the fire protection district, Corvinus still holds his seat as a Horseshoe Bend city councilman. That has some people, including Stirm, furious.
"The major portion of your responsibility as a city council member is to be fiscally responsible. And obviously you're not completing that duty."
Idaho Code § 59-901 states that an office can become vacant "upon the office holder's conviction for a felony or other public offense involving a violation of his oath of office." An office can also become vacant if the official resigns in writing.
The Horseshoe Bend City Attorney Anthony Pantera told KTVB in September that, "Neither of those conditions have happened. Mr. Corvinus has reportedly been charged with a felony, and under Idaho's Constitution is presumed innocent until proven guilty."
Therefore, Corvinus is still qualified to hold his elected position.
When asked if the mayor would do an interview, Pantera said they have no further comment at this time beyond the statement previously provided.
"We want him to resign from city council," Stirm told KTVB. "We can forget about it if you resign, he can move on with his life, then the rest of us can do the same. But until then it's a constant topic around town and around the community.
"I can speak for most of us when I say: We're kind of tired of dealing with it. It's been like a year now," Stirm added.
Stirm says it comes up in many of his conversations due to the fact that he and Corvinus - and their families - were once very close.
Those who want Corvinus to step down want to make the decision for him at this point. A few people started a recall petition and got enough signatures to turn the petition in to Boise County for approval.
For a city official recall petition to be certified, 20-percent of registered voters in the city must sign it.
If enough people sign it, per Idaho law, the recall process kicks in. That officer would then have five business days to resign. If they choose not to, the Secretary of State calls a special election.
Public officials up for recall lose their job if the majority of the votes cast in the special recall election are in favor of a recall and if the number of votes cast in favor of a recall equal or exceed the number of votes cast for them in the last general election.
If the recall election fails, the public official can still hold their position.
KTVB asked folks who support Corvinus in a Horseshoe Bend community social media group to provide their perspective for our reporting. One woman named Jennifer Leonard provided the following response:
"I support Curtis. I understand he made a very bad decision and he should have stepped down on his own earlier in the investigation it all comes down to morals ..all and all he's a good guy and a solid friend he made a horrible decision to take the money and they not step down on his own but at the end of the day it's not for me to cast him..
I don't in any way condone what he did or didn't do I just feel like it's a moral thing this should be a "Curtis decision"."
"There's a disconnect there between people and city government to begin with. That's just inherent. Then when something like this happens and there's no real way to enforce any kind of penalty or enforce any issue then it makes it a little harder for people to understand. And it makes them trust a little bit less," Stirm said.
But Stirm hopes, one way or another, the town of 1,000 can move past one person's alleged actions and that trust can be restored.
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