Thomas MacMIllan Photo
Alderwoman Morrison: “That’s not nice.”
Don’t come in here “threatening” us, an alderwoman said.
We’re not threatening you, two firefighters responded. We’re trying to help you avoid the lawsuit we’re going to file.
That exchange took place Wednesday night in the aldermanic chamber in City Hall, where the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee considered a request from the city firefighters union.
Union President Jimmy Kottage appeared to ask aldermen to form a special committee to look into amending a budget amendment that eliminated a number of vacant captain positions in the fire department and replaced them with lieutenant positions.
Aldermen voted to form such a committee. They also heard testimony from Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts that the special committee may not be necessary.
Kottage (pictured) and union Vice-President Frank Ricci called the captain-to-lieutenant budget conversion illegal and unfair because it would make rookies and veterans compete with each other for promotions. The fire department has said that it’s simply a way to move more firefighters into much needed supervisory positions. Click here and here for complete background on the disagreement.
Kottage and Ricci told aldermen that the amendment will lead to costly litigation for the city, which has already had more than its fair share of firefighter promotions lawsuits. That includes the famous Ricci v. DeStefano promotions discrimination case. The lawsuit went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it ended badly for the city.
Kottage said the union is looking into filing a lawsuit, and a number of individual firefighters are also consulting lawyers.
Some aldermen didn’t take kindly to Kottage and Ricci’s predictions of future litigation.
“You guys come in here, kind of like threatening us,” said Dixwell Alderwoman Jeanette Morrison. “If we don’t do what you say, you’re going to sue us. That’s not playing nice. That’s not nice.”
“No, it’s not nice,” Kottage agreed. “I’m trying to avoid the lawsuit.”
“You would have gotten my attention better” if you’d just asked to form the special committee without all the talk of lawsuits, Morrison said.
“They weren’t threats,” Ricci (pictured) said. The city has lost all the civil service lawsuits that it’s had, costing taxpayers “a remarkable amount of money,” he said. “No one’s making threats here. We’re trying to inform this panel that there’s a better way to go.”
Alderwomen Evette Hamilton of Edgewood and Migdalia Castro and Fair Haven pressed Kottage on when the union would file suit and how many firefighters are on board with that decision.
“My message is getting lost. This isn’t about a lawsuit,” Kottage said. “This is what I’m trying to avoid. You guys are a few steps down the road.”
Lt. Gary Cole (pictured) put a finer point on it. “I will bring litigation if the city does this,” he said. He said he’s already talked to a lawyer.
Cole said it’s unfair to do anything other than to promote firefighters starting with the top ranks and moving down. “It’s about doing your time and earning your spot.”
City CAO Smuts (pictured) told the committee that the city is on the cusp of a breakthrough in contract negotiations that could clear up the whole conflict.
He said the city moved forward with the plan to convert captain vacancies to lieutenant vacancies because it couldn’t agree with the union on the weighting of the captains exam. That disagreement may be cleared up in the oral tentative contract agreement the city and the union have struck.
The terms of the agreement should be put into writing soon, Smuts said. He urged the committee to take no action in the meantime. “Unless there is some funny business going on, we should have it by next [Finance Committee] meeting.”
Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez nonetheless made a motion to create a special committee. If the contract negotiations come through, then the committee is moot, he said. f they don’t, then at least the committee will be ready.
The committee will comprise two people from the current administration, two people appointed by Mayor-Elect Toni Harp, two members of the Finance Committee, and two firefighters — one from union leadership and one rank-and-file. The special committee will be tasked with advising the Finance Committee on what to do about the firefighter’s complaints.
Perez’s motion passed unanimously.