By Maggie Shepard
Albuquerque Tribune (New Mexico)
Copyright 2007 Albuquerque Tribune
BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. — Bernalillo County commissioners have heard concerns that the hiring process for a new county fire chief might not be fair.
Former Chief Bett Clark, who ran the department for seven years, stepped down from the post a week ago.
Mike Jaffa, a longtime volunteer with the Fire Department and head of the volunteer corps that serves alongside the paid firefighters, told commissioners during public comment Tuesday that he is concerned the commission is giving lip service to the hiring search for a new chief and said he suspects commissioners had already selected Albuquerque Fire Department Lt. John Garcia to fill the post.
Jaffa said Garcia has taken leave from the Albuquerque Fire Department and resigned his post with the firefighters union. He also said he talked to uniform shop employees who verified that Garcia tried on chief’s uniforms.
Garcia said all of that is true, but that it doesn’t mean he has been selected for the post.
He said Albuquerque Fire Department Chief Robert Ortega, a longtime friend, offered to buy him a chief’s uniform in anticipation of being selected. If he wasn’t selected, Garcia said the uniform could be transformed into an Albuquerque Fire Department uniform.
“I have not been pre-selected,” Garcia said.
Commission Chairman Alan Armijo said just because someone was trying on a uniform doesn’t mean the post has been filled, and, even if it has been, that is the commission’s prerogative.
A chief is expected to be picked by the end of the month.
Jaffa, who is among estimated 20 applicants for the chief’s job, said he is concerned that, if Garcia is selected as chief, his union background would negatively impact the volunteer base at the department.
Meanwhile, Clark is working on ways to reduce the amount county residents and businesses pay for fire insurance.