Firefighters at Monday’s Austin City Council meeting had mixed reactions to Neil Fedson’s announcement of a compromise to the question of staffing at the Austin Fire Department.

Tuesday, October 03, 2000

Firefighters at Monday’s Austin City Council meeting had mixed reactions to Neil Fedson’s announcement of a compromise to the question of staffing at the Austin Fire Department.

While pleased that the department is not headed for any drastic cuts in the number of full-time staff, a prepared written statement from members of the Austin Fire Fighters Association Local 598 pointed out that there remain "unresolved issues that need to be addressed."

Two of those issues, union secretary Paul Behn pointed out in a conversation with fire committee members Neil Fedson and Gloria Nordin after the meeting, are morale and management problems at the fire station, as well as the desire of the majority of the firefighters – both full- and part-time – for more full-time positions in the department.

His statement marked the first time the firefighters have spoken openly of the personnel conflicts that have plagued the department. In response to a statement by Fedson that "the atmosphere at the Fire Department had to change, whether it was the fault of Fire Chief Dan Wilson or the firefighters," Behn said the council should consider the number of firefighters who have complained about the morale and management at the department.

"We’ve had a grievance in the works for over a year concerning harassment," Behn said. "… I think the display of the fire chief Wednesday (at the council’s work session on public safety) was a good indication of what we go through every day."

Training coordinator Jim Drake commented that the problems at the department were well known throughout the city.

Wilson, who wasn’t at the meeting, declined comment this morning on either the fire committee’s decision on staffing levels or the comments from his staff after the meeting that management and morale at the department were issues that need to be addressed. He said he was waiting to get the official news from the city on staffing before he would comment.

Nordin said after the council meeting that she thought the problem with Wilson, who has been fire chief since the early 1990s, was not his ability, training or knowledge of fire prevention and suppression, but rather in working with personnel. She stressed that the firefighters and their chief need to find a solution together and start working as a team.

"We feel the same way," Behn said.

Union President Jim Mattice was at the meeting in place of Fire Chief Dan Wilson, and couldn’t comment on the issue, but the prepared statement from the union finished by saying that the firefighters were "willing to meet with council or their committee to find solutions to these issues."

Behn said the union still was supportive of attempts by citizens to investigate the possibility of taking the issue of Fire Department staffing to referendum or initiative, in spite of the fire committee’s intention to adopt a plan that would keep the department at its current staffing level of 10, possibly 11, full-time firefighters, plus up to 35 part-time paid on-call firefighters.

"If the citizens want the status quo, that’s fine," he said. "If they want additional staff, we need to know. I hope people will continue to let their council members know what they want."