commentary & labor firegeezer on 19 Aug 2008 05:05 pm
Firefighters Banned In Roanoke
WELL, THEIR BLOG IS, ANYWAY.
The Roanoke city firefighters have a members’ blog http://www.roanokefirefighters.blogspot.com/ administered by one of their Lieutenants, Rhett Fleitz. You may recognize Rhett as the publisher of VAFireNews.com, an online fire news report that covers the state of Virginia.
The Roanoke firefighters blog is a city-wide coffee table where all things RFD are discussed. Such things as recent fires, recreational activities, members’ welfare and scuttlebutt. You get the idea. Lately there has been a lot of chatter about some administrative decisions that affect the firefighters and some unpopular moves by the city higher-ups that have an impact on the fire department as a whole.
Apparently, allowing the firefighters to think and express themselves is embarrassing to the fire chief and the city council. So in a fit of petulance, the chief has banned the blogsite from the city computers, including the ones in the firehouses.
Fire Chief David Hoback
Taking this small-minded measure will certainly not improve labor relations within the department. Nor will it make life any easier for a beleaguered city administration that is trying to keep its own employees from freely sharing their thoughts with one another. It won’t work, I am sure of that.
If you’d like to express your opinion, you can go to the FF’s blog HERE and show your support. Or you may wish to write to Fire Chief David Hoback and tell him directly. His email address is: David.Hoback@roanokeva.gov
This commentary represents the editorial opinion of the Firegeezer.
on 25 Aug 2008 at 4:29 pm 1.Jackson Professional Firefighters said …
They will have problems blocking the site from my PDA! What a load of manure! I have been reading their blog for about a year now and I wondered how long it would take to upset the administration. These firefighters are right to be upset with some of the decisions that have been made by the administration. This will not make things any better!