More than 3,000 firefighters have signed a resolution rejecting the leadership of Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña.
The results of the “no-confidence” vote were announced Monday by the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association. Though the vote is non-binding and Mayor Sylvester Turner is the only person who can remove the chief from his position, the vote marks the latest development in the increasingly fraught relationship between Peña and the Houston Fire Department’s rank-and-file.
Association leadership said nearly all of HFD’s roughly 3,900 firefighters are members of in the union, and that the 3,000 signers of the no-confidence resolution represent those who traveled to union headquarters to sign the resolution, rather than the result of a “yes or no” vote.
Peña could not immediately be reached for comment. He pushed back against the criticisms when the vote was announced last month, saying he stood by his work and that he has had an open-door policy since he took its helm. Peña also accused some in the union of using the vote as a political tool in the Houston mayoral election, some of which has focused on firefighter pay issues.
The resolution cited 11 points, including what the union says are failures by Peña to adequately staff or fund the department, and his support for a change in HFD staffing patterns that Peña has said would help save the department money without seriously affecting response times.
The plan would move HFD to a three-shift model, which Pena says would allow firefighters to work the same 20 24-hour shifts that are required every 72 days under the current, four-shift structure. In some weeks, firefighters would work extra shifts. In other weeks, they would have more time off.
In its statement, HPFFA also accused Peña of “open campaigning” against the union over Proposition B, a voter-approved amendment to the city’s charter that gives fire fighters equal pay to police officers of the same rank and experience.
Implementation of the measure has been tied up for months as Turner, the union and others continue to squabble. Earlier this year, a state district judge ruled Prop B unconstitutional.
In a Monday statement, HPFFA President Marty Lancton said the vote showed a clear lack of leadership at HFD.
“This historic vote reflects the hope of Houston firefighters that our fire department can be improved despite the loss of confidence in the fire chief,” Lancton said.
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