Three mid-level officers with Monroe County Fire Rescue assigned to Key West International Airport face possible termination after an inspection earlier this summer showed one of the trucks was not filled with foam used to put out airplane fires.
But the department's union president says the move is another example of selective discipline being meted out by the fire chief, James Callahan, and his battalion chiefs.
Union President John Hamburger, a former lieutenant in the department who was fired for what Callahan called insubordination last December, said the three captains should be disciplined, not fired, for letting the foam truck run dry. He said far worse violations have occurred with no consequences for certain members of the department.
"Should there be some type of disciplinary action taken? Yes," Hamburger said. "Have there been other safety violations that put people's lives at risk but were overlooked? Yes."
Hamburger also questions why Dale Beaver, the battalion chief in charge of fire-rescue operations at the airport, does not appear to be facing any discipline even though the truck was not filled under his watch.
"He's there 40 hours a week, from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday," Hamburger said. "At some point, he should be taking some type of heat. This should go all the way up to the one who is fully in charge."
Callahan said Beaver is not being disciplined because he "completed an informal inquiry when it was discovered" that the truck wasn't refilled.
The three captains, Eric Sellers, Omar Fernandez and Richard Coletta, went before what is known as a predetermination hearing on Monday. The result of that hearing will be either demotion, suspension, wages lost or termination.
But given the department's record of firing firefighters in the past two to three years, Hamburger said he's not optimistic the three men will keep their jobs.
Hamburger estimates six firefighters, including himself, unfairly lost their jobs following predetermination hearings since Callahan took over the department in 2009.
"I don't remember anyone being fired before two to three years ago," said Hamburger, 30, who was with the department for six years.
Callahan said only three firefighters have been terminated during that time.
Callahan acknowledged that three captains were put before a predetermination hearing but would not comment further on what prompted the request for the predetermination hearings. Sellers, Fernandez and Coletta could not be reached for comment.
"I don't believe it is appropriate to share anymore at this time in order to be fair to the employees and the hearing officer," Callahan said in an e-mail.
But it is that hearing officer, Battalion Chief Gary Boswell, with whom Hamburger and other firefighters take issue.
Boswell is assigned by the department as the investigator who decides whether a predetermination hearing is necessary, Hamburger said. He then takes the role as hearing officer -- the judge who makes the determination about what kind of discipline will be instituted.
"He's the judge, jury and executioner," Hamburger said.
But Callahan said it was Beaver, not Boswell in this incident who requested the hearing. Callahan said Boswell is always the hearing officer because "he is most knowledgeable and familiar of the operation of a fire rescue department as a paramilitary organization."
The hearing officer's decision is technically a recommendation. The county administrator makes the final decision, but Hamburger said he does not recall the administrator, Roman Gastesi, ever disagreeing with one of Boswell's recommendations.
Gastesi did not return e-mailed questions about the hearing process, or whether in other county departments, the hearing officer is a non-biased, non-involved third party. His decision on what type of discipline the captains will face is expected to come sometime in August.
Copyright 2012 - The Reporter, Tavernier, Fla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
