Fergie Wants To Be Fire Chief

THE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, INSPECTOR GENERAL Joseph Ferguson has it in his mind that he should be running the fire department, even though his office has no responsibility for it at all.  In fact, he doesn't run any department.  According to the Office of Inspector General's own website, his mission is:

…. to root out corruption, waste, and mismanagement, while promoting effectiveness and efficiency in City government. The IGO is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City, and has jurisdiction to conduct investigations and audits into most aspects of City government.

He's an auditor.  That's it.  He doesn't manage anything (except his own office) and he doesn't plan anything.  He audits.  In order to shield the IG from political pressures whenever his auditing gets a little too close for a politician's liking, he is appointed for four years and cannot be removed except "for cause."  Job protection.

Back in October, perhaps when his auditing was all caught up for a while, Joe took it upon himself to make some budget recommendations to the city council, even though nobody asked him.  He prepared and issued a grandiose 54-page report titled, Budget Options for the City of Chicago.  (CLICK HERE to read the document.)  This no doubt surprised the city council because they thought it was their job to come up with budget options.  In the report, Fergie recommends that the fire department whack $62 million off their budget by simply reducing their minimum manning of all units to four firefighters.  After all, that's what the NFPA is recommending.  But it isn't what the mayor or the fire chief were recommending, so it went nowhere.

I.G. Joseph Ferguson

Fast-forward to last week, August 3, when IG Fergie was doing his job and uncovered what he thought was a scam on the city being perpetrated by the fire inspectors who use their own cars to get around on their jobs.  He found out that they have been submitting mileage sheets with higher numbers of miles than were actually  driven and had the proof from GPS transmitters in their cell phones.  Last week he publicly recommended that 54 fire inspectors (half the office) be fired and that the fire prevention bureau be moved from the fire department to the building inspections division.

Commissioner Hoff advised Fergie that he (Hoff) will be making the decisions on what disciplinary action will be taken and to forget about putting fire inspections in the purview of plumbers and electricians.

Enter now Tom Ryan, President of the FF union Local 2 who sent the following letter to all the news media for public consumption:

INSPECTOR GENERAL TACTICS LACK INTEGRITY

Since its inception the purview of the Inspector General’s Office has been to investigate waste, fraud and corruption within City departments. However, Inspector General Joe Ferguson has taken it upon himself to expand the role of that office, providing unsolicited recommendations ranging from budget policy to public safety standards. Furthermore, the manner by which these recommendations and reports have been issued undermine the very trust in public service that the office is tasked with endowing.

Last October, Mr. Ferguson provided an unsolicited Budget Options Report to the City Council in the form of a press release. Included in that report was an "option" for the City to reduce staffing on fire apparatuses from five firefighters to four. His report stated that this option was based on the National Fire Protection Association’s recommendation for "a minimum of only four personnel on each fire apparatus." What Mr. Ferguson omitted from his report was the very next sentence of the NFPA Journal interview from which the recommendation was cited: "For special service vehicles, the standard states the apparatus must be staffed with the appropriate personnel to accomplish the tasks that the company will be expected to perform in a safe manner." Additionally, the NFPA makes it clear in the same article that the staffing standard "is currently based on a fire in a typical single-family, two-story, 2000-square-foot house without basement or exposures." The NFPA also states that in areas with "high target hazards" such as large manufacturing districts, skyscapers, hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and special needs facilities there should be a minimum of five firefighters, and in some cases, even six. This High Target Hazard designation of course applies to virtually every one of Chicago ’s 50 wards.

Though Mr. Ferguson has taken it upon himself to advise on budgetary policy, the efficiency of first responders is measured in time, not dollars. On the scene, firefighters conduct their tasks concurrently, not consecutively, and a reduction in staff is a direct increase in time. During a fire every minute is measured by property and lives saved, and this is something that every fire safety expert knows. By omitting this critical information from his report, I believe Mr. Ferguson mislead the public and City Council in an overzealous effort to generate publicity for his report.

This week the Inspector General’s Office leaked details of an internal report recommending the dismissal of Fire Prevention Bureau personnel to the media before a disciplinary review could be conducted by the Fire Commissioner. As such, the Inspector General may have again compromised the integrity of his report. Thankfully, Mayor Emanuel has publicly stated his expectation of the Commissioner to deal with these allegations. The Fire Prevention Bureau provides critical reports and hazard warnings for the buildings first responders are often rushing into. Their work is essential to the safety of rank-and-file firefighters specifically and to the public-at-large, and requires expert training in fire science. The IGO’s recommendation to "fold" this Bureau into the Building Department is a flagrant disregard for public safety. Furthermore, by covertly publicizing this report and recommendation, the Inspector General’s Office has effectively poured gasoline onto a fire. Hopefully these new flames will not jeopardize the abilities of the Fire Prevention Bureau in consistently and continuously executing their obligations to the fire safety of our city.

Tom Ryan

President

Chicago Fire Fighter Union , Local 2

That pretty much says it all.  While calling Fergie out as a publicity hound, Ryan joins the mayor and the fire commissioner in telling him to stick to his spreadsheets.

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