By Terry Collins
Star Tribune
Copyright 2007 Star Tribune
Minneapolis — The next fire chief of Minneapolis has an explicit order: no sex with other firefighters.
The same goes for assistant chiefs and certain deputy chiefs, while battalion chiefs on 24-hour shifts can’t work in the same district as the firefighters they’re sleeping with.
It’s all spelled out in the “Nepotism and Romantic Relationships” policy, adopted quietly in October. The policy is possibly a precursor to citywide rules.
As the city begins the search for its new leader, the Minneapolis Fire Department wants to avoid any repeat of what happened with its last chief, Bonnie Bleskachek. Her short term as chief was marked by at least three intimate relationships with other female firefighters, allegations of favoritism and retaliation, and a sex-tinged culture in city firehouses, a city-ordered investigation concluded.
Bleskachek said last week that she would sign the settlement agreement that would demote her to a staff captain with no supervisory role, no fighting fires, no severance and no hope of advancement.
In allowing Bleskachek to keep a job in the department, rather than firing her, some City Council members reasoned that they couldn’t prove her affairs and other actions violated city rules.
That’s why the department instituted the new policy in the department’s “Standard Operating Procedures.”
The policy, created by Acting Fire Chief James Clack and top managers, is almost identical in language to consensual and romantic relationship policies at numerous colleges and universities addressing dating guidelines between teachers and students.
No other city department has rules that lay it out in such stark terms. The policy states the fire chief, assistant chiefs and deputy chiefs “may not be initially appointed or remain in these management positions,” if they have a sexual or romantic relationship in the department.
The rule has rankled the fire department’s rank-and-file, the local firefighters union boss said.
“They think it’s strict and over-the-top,” said Tom Thornberg, president of Local 82. “I think it’s an attempt to make a difference, but I have expressed some strong reservations about it.”
Minneapolis Assistant Fire Chief Ulie Seal, countered: “Some may not agree with it. This was in response to the situation we were facing. It is what it is.”
While most organizations have policies on nepotism, such standards on romantic relationships are less common. More than 70 percent do not have formal or written policies addressing workplace romances, according to a poll released last year by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Of those organizations with policies in place, the poll said only 9 percent prohibited dating, while others discouraged it.
One employee relations expert describes Minneapolis fire department’s policy as “definitive."It’s pretty clear,” said Merry Lee Lison, human resources director at the Relocation Center in Milwaukee and a member of the SHRM’s employee relations expertise panel. “There’s not a lot of gray in this particular policy.”
Yet, she wonders how enforceable the policy will be in a department of more than 400 whose work environment includes round-the-clock shifts and cohabitation with colleagues.
Under the policy, a supervisor must tell the chief about a relationship with another firefighter, or face disciplinary action.
“These relationships may be less consensual than the individual in the higher level believes ... especially in retrospect,” the fire department’s policy states. “Such relationships may affect others in the work environment.”
That’s what the city-ordered investigation concluded about the actions of Bleskachek, the first openly gay fire chief in a major U.S. city. As chief, she had a hand in a decision to throw out the results of a promotional exam that her current lover flunked and former lover passed.
Bleskachek adamantly denied the charges.
Her new position as staff captain allows Bleskachek, whose current girlfriend is a fire captain, to maintain her relationship without penalty.
City Council President Barbara Johnson said the fire department’s policy is “firm” yet applicable to its specific concerns.
“There may be a need for some differences in policy between departments,” Johnson said, adding that the city is reviewing all of its policies regarding supervision. “This is probably the beginning.”
Council Member Don Samuels, who took some heat last month for making pointed comments about the fire department’s “uniquely intimate” workplace environment, agrees with the policy.
“We have to take a thorough look at the department’s environment, the length of their work shifts and the co-habitive nature that lends to a higher likelihood of romantic relationships taking place.”
Mayor R.T. Rybak is expected to nominate Clack as interim fire chief and the recommendation could come before the full council as early as Jan. 26.
Rybak said last week that Clack is doing a “great job.” The mayor said he would continue to visit with firefighters across the city to gauge their morale.