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Monday, June 11, 2007

Ex-Fire Chief Houlton has parting shots for Mayor and union

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posted by Bob at Monday, June 11, 2007

6 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

Fire chief has parting shots for mayor, union
Leaving for Milwaukee, Holton says critics ganged up on him from the beginning
RUBÉN ROSARIO

Article Last Updated: 06/05/2007 10:04:17 AM CDT


St. Paul ran Douglas Holton out of town. Milwaukee welcomed him back with open arms.

Maybe it's just me, but something is not right with how this all played out.

Holton, a Milwaukee native and St. Paul's embattled former fire chief, sure landed pretty. He was officially sworn in Monday as fire chief of his hometown's department, which is twice the size of St. Paul's.

St. Paul's bravest also should be happy. They wanted Holton gone - labeling him an autocratic, "abusive'' micro-manager and a poor leader - and they got their wish. End of story. Right? Well, maybe not.

Holton had a few things to get off his chest recently before he headed east. And if much of what he told me is true, it should raise troubling questions about the future direction and leadership of this most crucial public safety agency.

In a nutshell, Holton accused Mayor Chris Coleman, who won the union's support during his successful bid for mayor, of putting questionable mandates into play in an attempt to force Holton to quit, or to create reasons to terminate him.

Holton, appointed in 2003 by then-Mayor Randy Kelly, had a little more than two years left on his contract when, in May, he accepted Milwaukee's offer to be fire chief. He could not have been let go without cause.

"Coleman made his bed with the union. From day one. He promised them that he was going to get rid of me,'' Holton said during a two-hour chat. "He will never politically admit it. He will never publicly admit it.''

Holton said Coleman also forced him to demote the department's two assistant chiefs. He also said the mayor gave him the names of two "union friendly'' underlings to replace them with, people Holton felt were not qualified for the posts.

Through spokesman Bob Hume, the mayor rebuffed Holton's criticism, saying he worked with Holton for 16 months to improve the department and that the suggestion the department's current leadership is unqualified is an affront to the new leadership team.

"The chief would be better focused on leading his new department, rather than disparaging his old one," Hume said.

Things got so bad at the end, Holton said, that he hired a prominent Twin Cities attorney, Doug Kelley, to protect his interests and begin exploring whether he was a target of constructive discharge or termination. The legal term describes a situation in which an employer intentionally creates "intolerable'' working conditions to force an employee to quit.

"They told me whom to hire, they told me whom to fire, and they told me how much to pay them,'' he said.

Holton said he responded to a number of union demands in the past two years. They included full staffing of fire rigs, unlimited overtime, e-mail and Internet access, helmets like those issued by the New York City fire department, new trucks, equipment upgrades and summer polo shirts.

Spokesman Chris Parsons, an officer with International Association of Firefighters Local 21, said he and his fellow firefighters were not the source of the department's difficulties.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Parsons said. "(Holton) put on a good show, and that's all it was. We are finally a part of the labor-management process, but we don't make the final decisions."

Holton said he knew he had two strikes against him when he came to St. Paul: Not only was he the first black fire chief in the city's 125-year history, he also was the first outsider to take the job. The union's president, Pat Flanagan, and Parsons, who is black and the union's secretary, have steadfastly denied Holton's race was held against him.

Holton said relations with the union nose-dived when Holton was blamed for doing nothing to stop Kelly from laying off 14 firefighters because of budget cuts.

"I came on in August of 2003,'' Holton said. "The cuts were done in January of 2003. I wasn't even chief, but I got tagged for that.''

Holton said all 14 positions were ultimately restored, and three were added, by the time he left three weeks ago.

In May 2006, a Milwaukee insider called Holton and asked whether he might be interested in coming back in the near future. Holton said he might.

Back in St. Paul, Holton countered a growing budget deficit by having some firefighters take vacation days if they were scheduled to work and the department already had 111 people on duty. The union went ballistic. Coleman ordered Holton to stop the practice, even if the budget kept running into the red. Overall, the city faces a $16 million deficit.

Six months after Coleman took office, he gave Holton a negative performance review, the first, Holton said, of his 30-year career.

"He based it on the fact that he thought my relationship with the union had gotten so bad that I wasn't being objective,'' Holton said. "And I told him that I was making decisions that I thought were best for the taxpayers, and yes, making decisions that were unpopular with the union.''

The lowest point, Holton said, was when Coleman summoned him into his office on the day before an independent audit of the fire department would be released and ordered him to demote Dave Pleasants, a 21-year department veteran and assistant chief.

"Dave was an excellent chief who came up the union ranks and basically did not take (crap),'' Holton said. "Since they couldn't get rid of me, they decided to go after the assistant chiefs.''

Holton also said "race and money'' played major roles in the union's decision two years ago to sue for an injunction barring the hiring of a class of 34 recruits, one-third of whom are people of color.

"They didn't want me to fill positions with that class for two reasons,'' Holton said. "A, it would have taken away (overtime) because it was a large class, and B, there were people of color in it ....

"With firefighters, their pension is based on their high five (annual salaries), and overtime, plus premiums. For a union to go to a judge to seek an injunction to stop the hire of more union members? Have you ever heard of that in your life? I never have."

A judge eventually dismissed the union's lawsuit, and the city hired the recruits. But Holton said his departure nonetheless leaves the department with no people of color in top supervisory positions.

"Right now, at the St. Paul Fire Department, their command staff is all white,'' he said. "I challenge you to go across the country and find a fire department of a city of about 200,000 with a command staff that is all white. I don't think you'll find it."

Holton, who holds a master's degree, believes a proposed move by the City Council, at the union's direction, to lower standards for the next fire chief candidate is the wrong way to go. The current standard, which few in the department can meet, is five years of command-level experience and a college degree. The proposal is the focus of a public hearing Wednesday.

At the end of our talk, I asked Holton his views of the department's public safety services.

"The (emergency medical service) is excellent. The men and the women of the fire department are excellent,'' Holton said without hesitation. "I am absolutely confident that the city of St. Paul has a very good fire department. But right now, the union is running the department, 100 percent.''

Ruben Rosario can be reached at rrosario@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5454.

9:35 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

Nothing surprising to me in this article. This entire City is run by a bunch of BIGOTS and a few "yes sir no sir blacks" to help keep up an appearance of non-discriminatory practices.

Let's see we have the RONDA neighborhood a black community razed. We have the Selby/Dale area where blacks were run out in large numbers. Currently the Bigots are chasing blacks out of Frogtown and the East side. This CITY has a very long history of bigotry.

When will the black leadership stand up for their people?

10:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The black leaders never will stand up because every time they do the powers that be shove money at them or give them jobs or opportunities to shut them up. They know where their bread is buttered!

11:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bob,
The community did stand up for Holton and more so the hiring of more firefighters of color. There was action and outrage expressed by some of the ministers, our only Black councilmember(she proposed Fair Hiring legislation which the Mayors Office adopted very recently), the NAACP and Human Rights addressing the hiring process and internal concerns.

You've got to ether pay more attention to what you post here yourself since you posted an article that highlighted Nate Kahliq's concern with the going ons over the SPFD. Kahliq is the head of the Saint Paul NAACP and a former firefighter himself. There were meetings and public input. Where the hell were you?

I amazed at the insight some of you think you have into black community. If you really are interested, call someone who is involved instead of trying to guess from the nightly news because I can tell you that the news doesn't give a damn.

Everyday there are fairness issues being addressed by community leaders that you'll never know about if you wait for mainstream media to report it.

Now in saying all of that, I happen to know the former Cheif and Chris Parsons. Both are good men who had serious issues with the labor negotiations. Randy Kelly left this city in hock basically.

Eric M.

2:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Greases Palms
of St.Paul,MN.
I am happy that all this about the Unions running St.Paul, is on the front burner.
"BOSS HOG"
Mayor Chris Coleman,
and the 7 Slimy
Little Council Piggy's.
All taking their Orders from a Union Mob Boss aka Mafia and the gang of
"Money" Launderers.
As I said for years that everything with St.Paul and its New Homes Build and New Developments and The Bridges Delvelopment is all orchestrated,
by DFL Democratic Unions and Workers and the leaders.
Who Said
Jimmy Hoffa is DEAD?

Bill Dahn
For Ward 2 City Council

http://www.billdahn.blogspot.com

6:35 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

Eric, that is good information to know. Please do me a favor. Invite me when these issue come up..

Then I can report on this information right here fairly!

6:49 PM  

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