May 29, 2008
Charter Commission Review

Chairperson Phyllis Cleveland called the meeting to order at 8:42 AM and mentioned that the fire union representatives Chester Ashton and Thomas Lally will be commenting on the ARFF Proposal.  Cleveland also informed Commission members about the status of Sister Alicia Alvarado, who is presently hospitalized and mentioned about the possibility of replacing her seat, since she will be on a long term absence.

Fire union officials Chester Ashton, President of Fire Union Local 93 and Thomas Lally, Vice President of Fire Union Local 93 presented their comments about the Airport proposal.  The union officials provided a handout to Commission members containing their comments on the administration’s recommendations.  According to Ashton and Lally any fire responsibility at the airport should be under the jurisdiction of the fire chief.  The ARFF proposal would undermine the Fire Chief’s authority on having jurisdiction at the scene of a fire. The ARFF unit would also take jobs away from the fire department and they do not agree with it and see this airport rescue and fire force proposal as a duplication of services.  This proposal should be rejected according to the Ashton and Lally who represent the firefighters union. (See the comments on the handout) 

Ashton and Lally mentioned that the Fire Union objects to the proposal the change the Fire Chief position to the unclassified service for concern that this would open the position up to individuals that are unqualified.  The union also expressed concerns that the proposal would change the current process of selecting the Fire Chief from applicants that have passed a civil service examination.   

Richard Horvath mentioned that you must test for a position if you are in the competitive class, if you are in noncompetitive class you must possess the necessary skills and qualifications for that position.  The union was concerned about whether this would remove the fire fighters from the competitive class. 

The fire union representatives Ashton and Lally mentioned that relative is important because there are specific duties that are relevant to the fire profession.  Cleveland mentioned that relative could be open to interpretation. 

The fire union representatives Ashton and Lally also indicated that they were opposed to modifying the upper level of the fire department; the fire union would like to comment on this at a later date once the Fire Chief and Safety Director have met on this specific proposal. Chairperson Cleveland mentioned that the Safety Director would be back at the table in two weeks and that this proposal to change selection process for fire commanders and supervisory officials will be raised again.

Mabel Jasper mentioned that the proposal does not take the jurisdiction away from the fire division, but would allow the ARFF staff at the airport to be the first to operate suppressing a fire and then the Fire Chief once arriving at the scene would take over.  Robert Triozzi added more clarification to this proposal and raised a question to the fire union representatives if they opposed that proposal.  The Fire union mentioned that the fire division recognizes the skill of the ARFF unit to handle those aircraft emergencies that come up, however for structural fires the fire division has the expertise, on the tarmac site at the airport, ARFF has the expertise to handle this, but for structural fires the fire division has the expertise to handle this kind of incident. 

Ken Johnson raised the question if the union believes that the airport fire rescue unit is not properly prepared to handle a fire incident.  The fire union believes that this is in relation to some of the structural fires that the ARFF unit may not be suited to handle, and that they may not meet the specific guidelines as indicated by the state and national fire agencies.

Ken Johnson mentioned if there is a fire in the hanger, would the fire union want anyone other than the fire division to handle that.  The union mentioned that the right people should be in the fire stations at the airport, those who have the right skill to handle fire suppressions.  The Fire Union also mentioned that the airport staff should not handle a structural fire, because they are not properly trained.  The Fire union believes that they are not notified timely when a fire occurs at the airport.  The other issue is that the director of port control is not a safety officer and lacks the safety training to properly handle this kind of incident.  The fire union also indicated that the ARFF ambulances do not follow the emergency medical protocols of the city of Cleveland, which was another reason why the union had opposed this proposal. 

The Fire Union representatives Ashton and Lally mentioned that the ARFF ambulance unit follows the protocol of Southwest general hospital and not the city of Cleveland. 

There is also difficulty in communication between the ARFF unit and Fire division according to the union. 

Robert Triozzi mentioned how does the charter change undermine the division of fire, and how does having a fire chief at the airport undermine the authority of the city’s fire chief.  Fire union mentioned that the airport director’s major concern is air travel instead of safety and personnel.  The airport director may have other priorities that are not fire related especially if there is a fire incident.  Any fire related decision should be made by the fire chief who has the expertise to make safety determinations in such incidents.

On the lesser scale the airport fire department is allowed to go to structural fires at the airport and investigate fire alarms at the airport, the charter change would allow this to happen.  Richard Horvath mentioned that in event of a structural fire at the airport, the ARFF unit could engage the fire and once the fire dept arrived they would take over the suppression of that fire. 

The Fire union’s contention is that the airport fire dept is not trained to handle structural fires at the airport.  Under the current process they are not trained or certified or experienced in performing those kinds of fire suppression action. 

The Fire union would not want to see the airport fire unit perform structural suppression activities in suppressing airport fires.  Matthew Silverstein raised a question as to why the airport fire rescue unit is not part of the fire department, because if it were it would alleviate the problems identified by the union. 

Chairperson Cleveland questioned why this form of structure was not created in the beginning.  Silverstein mentioned if this kind of structure was ever proposed in the past. The Fire Union believes that under the state, the airport fire and rescue unit stationed at the airport may not be recognized as a fire entity. 

Patricia Britt mentioned if ARFF is accredited by the state and there should be clarification on this. The fire union thinks that ARFF is recognized as a fire brigade.  Matthew Silverstein mentioned if the fire union would still have problems even if the ARFF unit were properly trained in fire suppression. The fire union mentioned that the right people should be stationed at the airport that is properly trained to suppress fires.  If there is one station that could house both the airport fire and regular fire service they would be agreeable to this kind of set-up and arrangement.  Anton Farmsby also sees this revolving around the funding issue and in regards to the ARFF unit would the funding come from port control?  Fire union believes that the port control would reimburse the general fund, which is similar to the same arrangements that are being done for the police officers.

The fire union representatives Ashton and Lally also mentioned that there is a high turnover rate at the airport.

Ken Johnson mentioned that the fire plan at the airport would have to be approved.

Ken Johnson mentioned that we need to know about the safety plan of the airport and what is involved in that plan and how does the federal government fit into this plan.  Robert Triozzi mentioned that he will speak with Director Ricky Smith about the safety plan and if it meets the approval of the FAA.  Triozzi also mentioned that under the present charter there is still uncertainty, and how does this charter changes all of this uncertainty in regards to the safety issues.  If there is a change in the charter do the debates go away?
 
The Fire Union mentioned that it is not comfortable with the clarification language that the fire chief was comfortable with last week in regards to ARFF.

Roosevelt Coats mentioned that the concern appears to be the scope of work and really does not see how this issue can be resolved. 

According to Ashton and Lally, the fire union objects to the airport fire rescue unit because it is not effective and really does not benefit the people of Cleveland.  The union’s concern is that the wrong people are being prepared to respond to structural fires.  Jasper mentioned that there needs to be an emphasis placed on training if the airport personnel need to be trained.  Jasper also mentioned about the fire jurisdiction issue and if there is a fire at the airport then the airport unit should respond and then the fire division would take over once it arrived on the scene.

Robert Triozzi raised a question if the fire union believes that the airport fire staff does not have the appropriate skills to handle a fire.  The union believes that the ARFF unit is not skilled enough to handle the structural fires.  Silverstein mentioned that there appears to be some litigation as to what is going on under the present arrangement. 

Greg Huth mentioned to the union as to whether the personnel at the airport can be trained in order to handle fire emergency at the airport, and if this would satisfy the union’s concern. 

Cleveland mentioned that the civil service subcommittee can take up some of the civil service issues that are present in this particular case, and the commission will review the other issues that the union brought up. 

Horvath mentioned that he has all of the responses from the commission members on the proposed charter recommendations and that next week the commission members can go through all of the recommendations as well as dealing with the undecided members.

Colleen Gilson expressed fear that the commission could get side tracked and suggested a sub-committee handle this and recommended that the union and administration get together and try to resolve their differences. 

Horvath mentioned that the last time this was done by the Charter review; there were some members who had abstained from making a decision.  Ken Johnson mentioned that the amendment that makes the airport fire department an extension of the fire department would solve all of our issues. 

Funding was also brought up in regards to reimbursement.  Johnson made comment that if this were the arm of the fire department there would be better coordination of the fire services at the airport and fire division.  Ken Johnson requested a history of the airport fire department and why it was created and why it is not working now. 

Phyllis Cleveland requested the sub-committee chairs to provide an update on where they are for next week’s meeting.

Cleveland adjourned the meeting at 10:36 AM.