Groton — Steve Christina, a former president of the nonprofit Groton Ambulance Association Inc., said he's invested too many years into the organization to see it fail.

"I put 40 years in there and I don't want to see it go down the tubes," said Christina, who worked as a paid firefighter for Pfizer Inc. for 35 years and has volunteered for four decades for Groton Ambulance.

He was among 15 members who signed a petition to hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday at the ambulance building at 217 Newtown Road.

The meeting will consider the election of board members and, if nominated, Christina said he'll accept and try to help turn things around.

"I think we can pull through it," he said.

On Thursday, the state Office of the Attorney General said it was "opening an inquiry" into the use of charitable funds by Groton Ambulance.

The association paid its office manager $134,276 according to its most recent tax filing, and previously allowed her and the former vice president of the board of directors to borrow money without written agreements, federal tax records show.

Groton Ambulance provides ambulance services to about two-thirds of Groton, including the city of Groton and much of Groton town.

Ambulance association member Michael Stammel collected 15 signatures to petition for Monday's meeting.

"It became painfully apparent to us that there was a cooperation between two individuals within the management that allowed for certain business practices to go unchecked," Stammel said Friday. "And these practices got us to the situation where we are today."

"The bylaws provide the membership the means to assemble, and we are exercising these rights to handle the business of elections," he added.

The board has six seats and three vacancies.

Christina, who served as president or vice president of the board from about 1982 until the early 1990s, said he'd want to look at the nonprofit's finances, management, personnel, policies and procedures.

He's not been involved in finances for many years, he said.

"I see their budget (on the federal tax forms) but I'd like to hear from the accountants and if the (attorney general) is involved, work with them," Christina said.

An audit would be warranted to give the town answers, he said.

The tax filing shows the association provided loans without written agreements, so it is unclear whether interest was charged or what the schedule was for repayment.

Ambulance President George Timothy Law said on Thursday that the organization required employees to sign paperwork if they borrowed and the debt was paid back through payroll deduction.

Christina served as the ambulance association's board vice president or president from the early '80s through the early '90s. He said it never loaned money during that time, nor was it asked to.

The board had nine officers then, each responsible for a specific area: The secretary took meeting minutes and posted agendas; the treasurer reported on finances; another board member dealt with membership and so on, he said.

All knew what their responsibilities were, they met each month and they answered to the board president and the town, Christina said.

The chairman of the Town Council's Public Safety Committee said he met Christina at a committee meeting earlier this week. Town Councilor Rich Moravsik said Christina talked about a plan to staff ambulances around the clock.

"The bottom line is it will increase or improve the service to the public, and that's our goal," Moravsik said.

In July, he began investigating complaints that the association provided no service on seven Sundays in April and May and did not respond to five calls the last week of June. He requested data for 45 days that began July 9 and end Sunday.

Ambulance president Law said the lack of service was due to a temporary staffing shortage that later was fixed, and he couldn't afford to hire more full-time staff due to the cost of benefits.

Groton Ambulance reported income of $1.63 million in its filing for 2013 and spent about $1.82 million.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @Dstraszheim