By Astrid Galvan
The Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Firefighters arrested on suspicion of first-offense DWI will no longer be immune from losing their jobs.
Effective immediately, city officials will stop honoring an agreement with the local firefighter’s union that kept those firefighters on the job. Instead of termination, they faced demotion and lost $1 of hourly pay but were eligible to have it reinstated after a year. They also had to complete a counseling program.
That deal was struck during the administration of former Mayor Martin Chávez and now has been rejected by the Berry administration.
“It’s clear that this pilot project was a miserable failure because it has not stopped the number of DWIs,” Public Safety Director Darren White said Tuesday.
“We want to protect the public’s trust,” said Fire Chief James Breen. “That’s why we’re tak- ing this stand.”
The change comes amid controversy over the number of firefighters busted for suspicion of DWI within the past year.
The most recent case involves 29-year-old Michael Gutierrez, a six-year veteran arrested on suspicion of DWI shortly after leaving a Northeast Heights strip club on March 16.
Gutierrez resigned Monday, officials said. He had been suspended at least twice during his six-year tenure, once after an arrest involving an altercation and the other for using vacation time he had not accrued. He also had been arrested for suspicion of DWI several years ago, although that charge was dismissed.
He was the eighth firefighter since January 2009 to be arrested on DWI charges.
The former agreement between the city and the firefighter’s union, signed Oct. 16 by former Mayor Martin Chávez shortly after he lost his re-election bid, states that firefighters can stay on the job after a firstoffense DWI arrest.
Representatives from the firefighter’s union did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Under the new rules, firefighters arrested on suspicion of DWI will be subject to a department investigation in addition to any criminal investigation.
Department officials will determine whether there is merit to the accusations. If so, firefighters will be fired, regardless of whether charges are eventually dropped or the employee is found innocent.
The department’s investigations will take no more than two weeks, officials said.
White said the city’s legal team expects the union to challenge the decision, but he said of the agreement, “there is nothing on this that is binding. It provides for a first-offender protocol.”
The agreement started as a pilot program in November 2007, according to documents. The memorandum Chávez signed stated the pilot program had been effective by allowing department administration to discipline while providing “means of rehabilitation while protecting the city’s valuable investment in firefighters.”
Berry had concerns from the beginning.
He asked that a review of the policy be a top priority and said he favored a zerotolerance rule.
“Any time one of the men and women who serve are accused of breaking the law, especially DWI, it saddens you because you know that we’re held to a higher standard,” White said.
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal