Fire Union Head, Council President Critical of Providence’s Headhunting Searches
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Political and labor leaders are questioning the City of Providence using national search firms to hire the next Superintendent of Schools -- and Providence Fire Department Chief.
"I think there are qualified people within the [fire] department that should be considered," said Paul Doughty, President of the IAFF Local 799. "Secondly unless they hire a Fire Chief that hasn't seen the news here, they're in for a big surprise. I don't know of anyone who'd come here with this level of dysfunction and interference by this administration."
Providence firefighters are still embroiled in a protracted legal battle with the city since Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza announced a platoon reduction last year in an attempt to save $5 million annually -- and has seen a spike in callback and retirements since.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocal wrote in December, "The City had announced in November that previous Chief Scott Mello was being demoted, that former Chief George Farrell was brought on to serve as a consultant, and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare would oversee the department. However, no Chief, or Interim Chief, is in place, which Providence Firefighter Local 799 Union President Paul Doughty has criticized. "
"I don't think they've used a headhunter before, but most searches have had a national component, since Providence is the second oldest [fire department] in the country," said Doughty. "But anyone that comes here right now has to be an idiot, as this dysfunction is legendary."
Superintendent Search
City Council President Luis Aponte said that it while it was "about time" that the Fire Department got a new Fire Chief, he questioned how long the process was taking on the school department side.
"I think for fire, they need permanent leadership," said Aponte. "But with the School Department, how much longer will it take?"
Elorza announced in May that previous Superintendent Susan Lusi was resigning after four years on the job; in June he announced Christopher Maher would be serving at Interim Director after coming from consultancy firm Mass Insight Education.
"Remember when the Portland Trailblazers had the opportunity to draft Michael Jordan and they went with Sam Bowie instead -- who broke his leg in the first season? This feels strangely like that. We've got Chris Maher on the ground, doing the work, and we're taking an inordinate amount of time to make a move," said Aponte.
"I hear [Maher's] being courted in other districts. We've got four months left in the school year. Whatever the process is, it's been extended more the once," said Aponte. "Let's expedite the process. I have no sense of how long this will take."
Post-Legal Landscape?
Fire union boss Doughty said that even if the city and the firefighters resolve their legal battle, that he sees issues as still persisting.
"I guess it's up to [the city] in terms of changing things moving forward," said Doughty. "But the focus will continue to be on staffing and callback issues. Meanwhile, [the city] hasn't bought a truck this year, and some of the trucks are practically old enough for antique plates. Ladder 6 is 25 years old. The trucks are inspected and tested, but we worry it would fail at an inopportune moment."
"[The] Brook Street fire station doesn't have a fire alarm system -- the captain of the house notified the administration in 2014. Apparently we're not a priority," said Doughty. "Aside from the labor dispute, there are major issues no one wants to focus on. Clearly there's no attention to firefighter safety. So whether our legal battle gets resolved or not -- it's still going to require money to address the fire department's needs. The new chief will get quick that we have no money."
State Representative and former interim Mayor of Providence John Lombardi said he thought the headhunter searches were "ridiculous."
"Let's go inside," said Lombardi. "It's nice to know you can start as the janitor and become the President. They're basically saying the penalty you have is that you worked all these years. So it's not the right incentive."
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