Few surprised by grand jury report.

[ChiefReason]

Anyone else see the FH.com article on former Augusta, GA and DC chief Ronnie Few? 124 pages of blistering text and 300 more to boot.
Seems Ronnie was a legend in his own mind. There was that thing about his AA and him having a slush fund. Money going to friends in the way of new jobs instead of towards raises for the jakes.
Come on; it's time to pile on Ronnie one last time.
Who's first?

[oldE6man]

No surprise about Ronnie. 'Nuff said there. I would like to take a different tack here. Now that Ronnie and his other 'chiefs' are headed out of DC for points unknown, it it important to ensure that this same travesty is not repeated. DC Mayor Anthony Williams has acknowledged that hiring Few was a mistake, and has hired the Oldani Group, apparently an executive search firm, to conduct the search for a replacement.

HELLO??!!!! Mr. Mayor, before you spend more of the taxpayer's money, isn't it a fair question to ask whether or not a search is necessary? I would think that a more intelligent course of action would be to evaluate the senior staff currently employed by the department first. If that evaluation does not identify an acceptable candidate (and I believe that there are a number of people within the agency that are as good, if not better, than any potential candidates from other departments), then an expenditure of public funds for a 'nationwide' search is appropriate.

Don't saddle us with another Otis Latin or Ronnie Few. The city cannot afford to have the Fire Department spin its wheels for the better part of a year while a search is conducted, a candidate vetted, hired, and confirmed, then he or she learns the ropes of the most political city on earth.

[CJMinick390]

Unfortunately, oldE6man, it seems like intelligence has been lacking in DC City government for some time.

Based on what I've read about the situation, you're absolutely right. Although "Chief" Few certainly deserves to be raked over the coals (and it appears that he will be), it is probably more important for the Department to move past all that as quickly as it can. I wish all the brothers in DC good luck. You all certainly deserve to catch a break.

[JimMccarthy]

I must say my mouth was agape with wonder while reading the first ninety or so pages of the Grand Jury pronouncement.

I felt I must be really reading a novel, not a recap of the life and times of "A Legend In His Own Mind" Chief Few.

The Huevos of that M***t!

Hope he gets relegated to Senior Dog Catcher somewhere very, very warm!

I hope and pray for my Brothers and Sisters of DCFEMS that they soon get the Class One Chief that they so richly deserve.

Keep safe, all

Jim Mc, RN-C, FF/EMT
Sous Chef and Saucier, IACOJ Food Service Division

[glowpop]

I can't believe that the guy ordered and actually wore an all white class A uniform for his daughters wedding.

Can we say ego?

[Steamer]

Come on oldE6man, you're talking about DC. To promote qualified people that know the department, the city, and the operational needs of both makes far, far too much sense. It's much easier to re-invent the wheel. And as a bonus, it's inefficient, too. Watch 'em shine and slap themselves on the back after they're done. Then they'll scatter like **** roaches if they ultimately screw up. Government at it's finest.

Look at the bright side...at least they didn't hire a consulting firm to find a consulting firm to hire a chief.

You guys don't deserve this crap.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

I just finished reading the Special Grand Jury report.

This report should be a mandatory read for anyone taking any Chief Fire Officer course.

To use the term "chief" to describe Ronnie Few is a disservice to anyone who wore and still wears the uniform.

The Reign of Ron Few can be likened to Reich of Adolf Hitler. Think about the parallels...

Germany in 1933 was in shambles. The Augusta Richmond County FD was in shambles after the consolidation.

Hitler came out of the woodwork and promised to restore Germany to greatness. Ron Few came out of East Point and promised to return the Augusta Richmond County FD back to greatness.

Hitler hired his cronies from the National Socialist Party. Few hired his cronies from East Point and EDI.

Hitler had Leni Reifenstahl to make him look good. Few had Katrice Bryant.

Hilter gave special favors to the Aryan race. Few gave special favors to the African American race.

Hilter imprisoned or executed those members of his staff and military who did not agree with him. Few demoted, suspended or terminated those who did not agree with him.

Hitler had Heinrich Himmler. Few had Carl Scott.

As the German war machine broke down due to heavy losses, a lack of maintenenace, fuel and parts, a misuse of personnel and a lack of proper training of personnel, Hitler still threw lavish parties and praised himself and told the German people that "all was well". As the Augusta-Richmond County Fire Department broke down due to lack of leadership, maintenance, fuel and parts, a misuse of personnel and a lack of proper training for personnel, Ronnie Few threw lavish conventions and told the South Eastern Association of Fire Chiefs, the Georgia Association of Firefighters and Fire Chiefs and all those who served under him and those he was supposed to be serving that "all was well".

Hilter was responsible for the death millions of poeple becuase of their religion, their political views, the mentally retarded, gays,
and anyone else he felt as beneath him. Few is responsible for for killing the spirit of not only the ARCFD but the DCFD as well!

In the final days of the Third Reich, Hitler had the bunker mentality. In the final days of the Few Reich at ARCFD, he built a bunker using the people around him then escaped to the DCFD.

Hitler shot himself. Few may shoot himself after everything gets out about what he did in DC.

I think we have to come up with a new term to describe the man...

[size=huge]MEGA
MUTT![/size]

[Adze39]

Thought you might enjoy this, Gonzo!

[blancety]

Gonzo....I thnk its time we talked about a hobby

Very well put.

For the sake of the Brothers in DC, I hope that someone smartens up and they try to fix from within. Why people are obsessed with outside hiring amazes me. Then again, a lot of thing amaze me......subject of a different topic.

Dave

[ember]

Speaking from experience...

Although we are MUCH smaller than DC, we did have a similar situation here with the ousting of our chief and the reappointment of one. The chief had been hired by a firm from out of state. He was suppossed to bring us up to par, and save the District money. There was a lot of alleged mismanagement, and some words by the chief wherein he described everyone who worked for him as "trailor trash" and "stupid". Needless to say, that didn't go over well. There were other things involving money, time off that never seemed to show up on his sick or leave time, etc., etc. etc. We had a lucky brake with him getting caught on tape saying something that I'm sure he regrets. The union was in the process of getting a vote of no confidence against him, and he resigned and left the area.

The first thing the Fire Board wanted to do was repeat thier past mistake. Hire someone from out of the state to come in and fix things. You can imagine the outcry from the citizens of the county when they got wind of that. I'm not sure what made them change thier mind, but they did, and we ended up with an interim chief chosen from the rank and file. He did such a good job that he was then given the position permanently.

In my humble opinion, I think he's done a wonderful job. The first thing he did was get us all our own SCBA masks and update a lot of our equipment.

Just my two cents...

Ember

[ember]

Well, I downloaded the report, and I can't believe the similarities! A check from an apparatus sale went "missing" for about six or seven months, and no one mentioned it. It was for about $340,000. After it was brought up by a union member that the check had never made it to the bank, inquiries were made and it suddenly appeared...on the desk of the finance clerk. There were promotional lists thrown out, a few times in a row. People were allowed to skip rank, including a Lt. who was allowed to apply for a Deputy Chief's position and was subsequently appointed. After the chief left and the new one took over, a "secret" fund of three million dollars was found in the books.

Hmmm....maybe these guys went to the same school...

Ember
Who is still reading.....

[distchief60b]

I read some of the excerts and quit because I was so disgusted. Could someone send me the link?

OldE6man...who is your pick out of the 3 Current Department members listed? Do you think going from the inside will help?

[ChiefReason]

So, basically, the Augusta mayor wrote a glowing report to get rid of Ronnie Few. The Augusta mayor said that Few was a great guy, and knew when he was writing it that he was having problems and wanted rid of them. Enter DC. That took the glowing report and based their hiring of Few on the report. DC cries foul. Augusta mayor's spokesperson Young says that no one from DC called to confirm or discuss the mayor's letter of reference.
It would appear to me that there was some type of fraud committed by Augusta to move their problem to DC.
So, if I'm DC, then maybe I'm suing Augusta for sending them damaged goods.
Ah, the saga continues. Kiwi; I hear he's coming to your neck of the woods. HaH!
IMACOJ and proud of it.

[oldE6man]

It's like Alice in Wonderland, 'It just gets curiouser and curiouser.'

Now we see what Ronnie Few is all about. He submitted a letter of resignation that was effective two months after its submission; that was supposed to be a 'transition' period to assist the interim chief. Well, since the day of his resignation letter, he has done ZERO work for his beloved (yeah, sure) DCFD. On the 'few' occasions that he wanders into FD Headquarters, he sits in his office, period. He has not had a conversation with interim chief Adrian Thompson (which we all consider a positive sign). IN ADDITION to his eight weeks of pay for obstructing (oops, I mean assisting) his replacement, it has now come out that he negotiated an additional 12 weeks of pay as a severance package. That is just another reason to invalidate his contract that he obtained under false pretenses.

As to my personal preference, captstanm1, I would like to see Deputy Chief Beatrice Rudder get the job. She is a black female with a postgraduate degree, nearly 24 years of experience, and she is well respected within the department. She was the first female firefighter in the DCFD, and she was given a really tough row to hoe by most of the men on the job (including me, I must admit). She survived this difficult period, and has developed into a very good fire officer and manager. She is a consensus builder, and appears to have very little ego, which I consider to be a very desirable trait.