The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The union representing half of Charleston’s firefighters endorsed Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.'s opponent, saying the mayor embarrassed the city with his response to a June fire that killed nine firefighters.
“Joe Riley has overstayed his welcome,” Roger Yow, president of the Charleston Firefighters Association said Thursday in endorsing William Gregorie, one of three candidates challenging Riley in the November election.
The Charleston Firefighters Association, the state firefighters union and City Councilman Henry Fishburne have called for Fire Chief Rusty Thomas to resign or be fired.
“Joe Riley has embarrassed and disgraced this city with his actions and denials these last few months and his refusal to change for many years,” Yow said.
Riley has stood by the chief in the aftermath of the fire at the Sofa Super Store, the nation’s worst single loss of firefighters since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
State regulators fined the Charleston Fire Department for violating safety standards in the blaze. Riley has vowed the city will contest the fines and citations.
Riley, 64, has been mayor longer than anyone in Charleston’s 337-year history. First elected in 1975, he is seeking a ninth term.
The Riley campaign would not comment on the handling of the fire.
“The mayor’s position would be that it’s not a political issue,” said Lawrence Thompson, Riley’s campaign manager.
The other candidates are police officer Omar Brown and Marc Knapp, who owns a utility contracting business. The union interviewed all of Riley’s opponents before endorsing Gregorie, who recently retired as director of the South Carolina office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“I knew they weren’t going to endorse me, because I’m a Republican and I don’t particularly like unions,” Knapp said.
Brown said the union picked the Riley opponent with the most campaign money.
The union also opposed the mayor four years ago, endorsing his chief opponent then, Jimmy Bailey.
Bailey wrote The (Charleston) Post and Courier this week asking that people support Riley and Thomas.
“Friends stick with each other during tough times and I will stick with them now,” Bailey said. “I ask the good people of this city to rally around the mayor and let him work through this difficult period.”