By Tony Plohetski
The Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN — Three weeks after she became Austin’s fire chief, Rhoda Mae Kerr joined other city officials as they announced a cost-saving plan to reduce the number of firefighters at certain stations at certain times instead of paying overtime.
The proposal drew an immediate protest from fire union officials who said the move would endanger public safety and put firefighters at risk.
Kerr and City Manager Marc Ott backed away from the idea a few weeks later, saying they would decrease the number of firefighters from four to three only as a last resort.
And so began the bumpy relationship between Kerr, the city’s first female fire chief, and many of the department’s 1,100 firefighters. It has escalated in recent weeks with a new policy for driving fire engines — a move Kerr altered again Friday.
“I don’t think I had a honeymoon period,” said Kerr, who took over the department in February. “We were looking for ways to find budget reductions, so I think that can be a difficult situation.”
During the past seven months, Kerr has offered other ideas that she said would improve the department or cut costs during a struggling economy - only to have them erupt into both internal and public controversies. Everything from designing a new department logo to appointing new assistant chiefs has sparked backlash.
Kerr, who came to Austin after working as chief for five years in Little Rock, Ark., has spent the past couple of weeks navigating perhaps her biggest controversy.
She put a new policy in place requiring firefighters to completely stop at all intersections and drive the speed limit when responding to calls.
Under previous rules, firefighters could drive up to 10 mph over the speed limit. They also were not required to stop at intersections but were instructed to make sure drivers were aware that they needed to get through.
On Friday, Kerr again revised the policy to allow firefighters to drive up to 10 mph over the speed limit — only after they consider weather conditions, traffic congestion, the number of pedestrians and time of day. Firefighters still must completely stop at intersections, a policy that is consistent with standard procedures issued by the International Association of Professional Firefighters.
Kerr has said she thought the new policy would increase safety for firefighters and motorists.
But firefighters said the rules will increase the time it takes for them to reach burning homes and businesses or people in medical emergencies.
Inside the department, some firefighters have begun calling for a “no-confidence” vote for Kerr, union president Stephen Truesdell said.
“I think it comes out of people’s frustrations,” he said. “That is definitely indicative that the morale is pretty low.”
Truesdell said the union has no plans for such a vote. He said he thinks Kerr can improve relations with firefighters and strike a working rapport with them.
“I think the way to turn it around is to involve everybody from the bottom up in the decision-making process, or having some way to feel like we are all included,” Truesdell said.
“We are all working on this together to get through these tough times. We want to feel like there is a connection between the fire chief and the rank and file.”
Kerr said she doesn’t take the criticism personally.
“I respect their differences, and I respect their opinions,” she said. “I don’t necessarily always understand them and agree with them. Part of what makes us a strong organization is that there are all of these differences. Has it made it difficult for me at times? Of course, it has.”
Assistant City Manager Michael McDonald said he “supports the chief 100 percent.”
“We knew, regardless of the chief we selected, that the Fire Department is one of our most traditional departments and has been resistant to change,” McDonald said. “Any chief we selected, we knew, was going to have that challenge, and we believe the chief is stepping up to that challenge.”
Mayor Lee Leffingwell said he has been concerned about the chief’s driving policy, but said, “I have supported most of the things she has done.”
“We all want her to succeed,” he said.
In addition to developing budget cuts, Kerr also took over the department several months after contentious contract negotiations between the city and fire union. Firefighters in November shot down an employment agreement, saying it wasn’t specific enough about a proposed hiring process, among other concerns.
Previous Austin fire chiefs also have faced struggles. Former Chief J.J. Adame resigned last year after he was given 45 days to improve his performance. City officials told Adame they were concerned about his lack of command presence and vision for the department.
Before Adame, former Chief Gary Warren announced his retirement in 2004, several months after firefighters overwhelmingly voted that they had no confidence in him.
This week, firefighters cited several concerns about Kerr. Most asked that they not be named and cited a new policy from Kerr that prohibits them from criticizing the department, its policies or members when doing so is defamatory, obscene or “damages or impairs the reputation and/or efficiency of the department.”
Kerr said that such rules have been in place for years and that she only updated them to include social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Truesdell said one of the most consistent complaints is about the degree to which Kerr engages firefighters on important decisions or policy shifts.
For instance, Truesdell said that when Kerr was developing a list of proposed budget cuts for next year, she sought their opinions about a list of 40 options she had put together.
Truesdell said that she should have asked the union to help develop the list and that they had ideas about cost cuts that would not affect staffing.
As it turned out, the Fire Department was spared from having to make deep cuts for next year.
Truesdell said that although union members served on a policy committee that helped develop the new driving rules, they were not representing the union in those meetings.
Kerr said she plans to talk with Truesdell about how to better seek the union’s input on such changes.
“A year from now, there will probably be some other issues, and two years from now, there will be some more,” Kerr said.
“I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunity I have been offered, and I welcome the challenges and look forward to a better, improved labor-management relationships and continuing to move forward,” she said.
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