Yesterday was a long and interesting day. I started my day with a Municipal Policy
Committee about the parking of vehicles in backyards. I finally got out of Council about 9:15 that
evening. We talked about a lot of issues
from funding the new Baseball Stadium, to funding the MAX bus system for FY
2017. But I want to stay on the theme of
Civil Service for the time being. The
AFF is the Firefighter Union and they want to be out from under the protective
umbrella of the city and under the protection of the state of Texas. The reason for this is because they don’t
like Chief Crowson. They don’t like the
removal of overtime down from 35,000 hours to 6,000 hours. They don’t like his policies, nor his
discipline and here is a sample of their rhetoric:
“For too long, we have endured policy changes that adversely
affect many of our members. Members are disciplined
at an alarming rate with punishments far exceeding the circumstances. We witnessed restructuring of the Battalion
Chiefs’ positions, and now a proposed reclassification of those same positions
which will diminish their rights to representation and due process. .. . We have appealed to our elected officials for
change and they have only sympathized with us, claiming many of our issues
should be handled by city management, not them.”
Well very little of this is true. The policy changes, such as the squad concept
are used by many FD’s throughout the United States. The Paramedic Program was just given the
highest award in the nation. These
policies work and save lives. It is time
the AFF gets with the modern age of firefighting. If you don’t like the job then go somewhere
that is not progressive and forward thinking.
In yesterday’s afternoon meeting, all the instances of
discipline were broken down. It was
obvious to see that Chief Paulsgrove administered more discipline to the troops
than Chief Crowson. Concerning the
Battalion Chief’s position, it was clear that a commensurate position at the
Arlington Police Department is the Deputy Chief. The Fire Department is simply aligning itself
and making a new position called a Deputy Chief. This position pays $5,000 more than a
Battalion Chief, and you move from an hourly employee to a salaried position in
management. Chief Crowson is currently
finding plenty of Captain applicants that are applying for this position.
Lastly let me address the AFF’s approach to Council. This is inappropriate! You have a chain of command, use it. You have Meet and Confer, make it work. Council heard your accusations in “The Book”
and the Auditor found them to be false.
She also found your utilization of overtime to be abhorrent. We have looked at the facts of the above
accusations and found them to be false and/or childish. We have conducted a survey by an independent source,
and you have failed to respond. And you
say we have done nothing. Now Civil
Service!
What I think is hilarious about Civil Service is that the
Union that is perpetrating all these problems, believes that if Civil Service
prevails, firefighters will retain their current benefits. Nothing could be further from the truth. You want Civil Service? You will get Civil Service and nothing
more. Good Luck.
