By Brandon Formby
The Dallas Morning News
IRVING, Texas — Some of Irving’s top elected and appointed officials on Wednesday lobbed at one another accusations of undue political influence over city operations, attempts to make clandestine deals and assessments of poor leadership.
The allegations came as tensions long simmering within the fire department boiled over into public view in an Irving City Council work session packed with about 150 firefighters.
The political drama and bickering unfolded as the council discussed Fire Chief Mario Molina’s decisions on how to discipline three fire department employees.
Molina said he believed that Mayor Herbert Gears and council member Roy Santoscoy tried to put political pressure on him to reduce his disciplinary recommendations for an assistant fire chief and a battalion chief. Molina said he fired the battalion chief and recommended demotion for an assistant chief because they made or did not stop discriminatory comments about another employee’s age.
Officials also discussed Wednesday a firefighter who resigned when faced with termination for taking pictures of dead bodies at a crime scene in 2009 and disseminating them throughout the department and to friends and family.
The chief’s decisions on all three matters have angered other firefighters and members of the Irving Professional Fire Fighters Association. That group’s political arm is considered a formidable force in city elections.
“I’ve been asked to reconsider my decision for the greater good,” Molina said.
Molina also said that City Manager Tommy Gonzalez at one point told him to “hold tight” on personnel matters shortly before the mayor contacted him about the matter.
Gears is up for re-election in May and is challenged by former Mayor Joe Putnam and former City Council member Tom Spink. Spink filed for the post Wednesday.
Molina said Santoscoy told him that if he didn’t scale back his disciplining of the two unnamed fire department employees, the firefighters’ political action committee would back Putnam.
Molina also said Santoscoy told him that Putnam promised to fire Gonzalez and Molina if he got the committee’s support.
When contacted by phone Wednesday, Putnam said he has concerns about how the city is run but denied making any such statement. He said he has not sought support from the association or individual firefighters.
“I would never during the course of a political campaign state that any employee ought to be fired, because that’s the city manager’s job,” he said.
Firefighters association president Roy Todd Harvey said the group has made no such assertions. He also said the association is not seeking the removal of Gonzalez or Molina. He said he doesn’t know Putnam.
Harvey said association members were concerned that the chief’s actions were a form of retaliation. Harvey said the two employees involved in the age discrimination allegations had made comments in an association meeting that they lacked confidence in Molina as a leader. Harvey said the employee who was fired and the one who resigned had otherwise clean records that dated back decades.
He said firefighters showed up Wednesday not because they are against being disciplined, but because they wanted the severity of the decisions handed down to be looked into. He said morale was low under Molina.
“We’ve seen better days,” he said.
Gears on Wednesday made accusations of his own against Molina. He said the fire chief and his wife met with the mayor and told Gears that Molina would go easy on the employees if the mayor helped him secure a long-term contract.
Molina said he mentioned that having a contract like Gonzalez’s would give him more job security.
“We are here today because I didn’t continue down that path,” Molina said.
Gears also said the chief was a poor leader who upset firefighters by coming down too hard on the employees.
Santoscoy said he spoke to Molina as a friend and was not trying to pressure him. Molina affirmed that Santoscoy did not try to get him to reach a certain conclusion.
The council took no action against Molina. Wednesday’s agenda item only allowed discussion.
Council member Rose Cannaday told Molina to consider whether he can continue to lead the department in the wake of the push-back from his ranks. Cannaday is being challenged in May by Julie Grant.
Gonzalez originally scheduled the matter to be discussed behind closed doors. On the agenda, it was listed as a personnel issue involving Molina. Molina then exercised his right to have the matter heard in public.
Molina’s attorney on Wednesday likened questions Gears raised about the integrity of the age discrimination complainant to blaming the victims in sexual assault cases.
“The mayor pretty much socked it to old folks,” said Steve DeWolf, Molina’s attorney.
The council also met in closed session Friday to discuss Gonzalez’s contract. Afterward, Gears said he will continue to exert pressure “to do what’s right by our employees.”
Copyright 2011 THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS