Moore: Elorza’s Demotion of Fire Chief is a Head-Scratcher
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
When Mayor Jorge Elorza announced that he intended to restructure the platoon shifts in the Providence Fire Department earlier this summer, like many others, I credited him for trying to save taxpayer money amidst dangerously high liabilities. We all know the city is drowning in red ink.
But Elorza is making it hard to understand what his strategy to obtain those savings going forward, particularly with his latest move—to demote interim Fire Chief Scott Mello, and place Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare in the position. Meanwhile, he has rehired former Fire Chief George Farrell—a controversial figure—as a consultant to help manage the department.
Mello Demoted
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLook, nobody is going to shed a tear for Scott Mello. Anyone who becomes chief of the Providence Fire Department does so, at least in part, because he is politically adept. So it’s hard to feel bad for people who get demoted for political reasons when the reason they’re in the position to begin with is due to good political maneuvering.
That being said, it’s hard to understand why he was demoted. Pare has told several media outlets that it was due to the spike in injuries in the fire department since the new platoon shift schedule has been implemented.
But it’s difficult to understand how Mello was responsible for firefighters calling in sick or injured. If people claim to be hurt, it’s tough to say they’re not when the doctors are claiming they are. Fire department sources tell me William Trinque was in charge of checking up on and investigating suspected fraudulent injury claims.
Mello was unreachable for comment. Evan England, the mayor’s spokesman, also declined comment.
The Return of Farrell
Farrell, a former Fire Department union President as well, is by-and-large, loathed by the Providence Firefighters. He also has a fractured (to put it mildly) relationship with current Providence Firefighters Union President Paul Doughty. Rank-and-file firefighters felt betrayed when Farrell left his job as union President to become chief.
“One day he was our leader, the union President, and the next day he was working for the administration as the chief”, one firefighter, who asked not to be identified, told me this weekend.
Doughty declined to comment for this column.
Overtime Costs
Farrell also sought an accidental disability pension after he retired about 4 years ago, which was granted and then later revoked. It’s hard to understand how someone who sought a disability pension claiming that they couldn’t perform administrative duties can now claim to perform administrative duties for the city of Providence.
What’s more, the administration is trying to cut down on overtime costs, but overtime costs were a big problem when Farrell was chief as well—another puzzling aspect of his hiring. Farrell, however, does have a reputation as a micro-manager, who would hire private investigators to follow firefighters who claimed to be injured.
And what’s going to happen in injuries continue at the current pace that they’re on now once Farrell and Pare are in control? Is Pare going to take the same responsibility he attributed to Mello for this problem?
Bad Blood
All of this is to say that Elorza’s appointment of Farrell makes it harder for the city to come to a settlement with the firefighters union that would save face for both sides. If anything, appointing a former chief that’s loathed by the rank-and-file union members to help oversee the department may embolden the rank-and-file members, even more so than they already are, to force Doughty to fight this legal battle to the bitter end.
At a time when it behooves the administration to de-escalate the war with the firefighters union, (since it’s the firefighters who seem to have the legal leverage) this move escalates it.
This is not the first move the mayor has made that calls into question whether or not he has a coherent long-term strategy. Upon receiving an unfavorable court ruling in September that allowed the Providence Firefighters Union to go to arbitration over the platoon restructuring several week ago, the mayor initially said he was happy with the ruling. A few days later, the administration was appealing it.
Moral High Ground?
Also, while nobody can disagree with the mayor that the city needs to find cost savings to keep the city afloat, it seems, at times, like the only place where he is fighting for savings is within the fire department. Let’s not forget: the administration has agreed to contacts with the teachers union and the Laborer’s 1033 that contain raises over the deal’s out-years.
While everyone who understands that it’s important for Elorza to fight to control costs in city government, it’s also important for the mayor to understand that he needs to maintain the moral high ground if he’s going to win the battle. His appointment of Farrell as a consultant and demotion of Mello, is not the way to do that.
Russell Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island media, both for newspapers and on political campaigns. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.
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