By Jeff Proctor
The Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The president of the Albuquerque firefighters union has been suspended for 30 days without pay after a city investigation accused him of falsifying time sheets, raising money while on the clock for then-Mayor Martin Chávez in 2009, and improperly using his city email account.
Diego Arencón, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 244 chapter, could have been fired for violating numerous city policies, Fire Chief James Breen wrote in a notice dated Tuesday.
“AFD and the city have chosen to mitigate the discipline issued due to the fact that, although contrary to the stated rules and regulations, your actions may have been tolerated by the previous administration,” Breen wrote. “The current administration will not tolerate further violations.”
Fred Mowrer, Arencón’s attorney, said his client is being punished for things that took place more than two years ago and were never a problem until Mayor Richard Berry and his team moved into City Hall in December 2010.
The notice of final action accuses Arencón of:
- Attending a national association conference in Pittsburgh in September 2009 without approval from then-Fire Chief Robert Ortega and for documenting the trip as “paid status” on his time sheets.
- Using the city’s email and Internet systems, while on “paid status,” to solicit political campaign funds for and campaign on behalf of Chávez. A September 2009 email shows Arencón requested a $6,000 donation from the firefighter association for a mailer to sup- port Chávez.
- Causing “discredit to the Albuquerque Fire Department and (becoming) a detriment to the proper order and discipline of the organization.”
Breen also wrote that Arencón was not truthful about the allegations during a Nov. 17 hearing.
The city hired a private firm to investigate Arencón, but officials could not say Tuesday how much it cost.
Mowrer pointed out that at least some of the allegations raised in the city’s investigation have been addressed in state District Court. In 2010, Arencón and the union filed a lawsuit against the city seeking an injunction that would permit him to continue devoting his 40-hour work schedule to union business. Judge Theresa Baca ruled in favor of the union on that point.
Berry’s administration also had taken the position — and Baca agreed — that Arencón was not entitled to an $81,000 salary because of his union leadership role. Her ruling rolled back the salary amount to roughly $49,000, the amount before a pay raise ordered by Chávez.
Arencón, while on the witness stand in 2011, apologized for some of the email messages at the center of the case, including one that called 2009 mayoral candidate Richard Romero a “scumbag” and another that boasted that the administration had no way to monitor a union representative’s work on city time.
Baca denied a city motion to reassign Arencón while it investigated the email activity. But the judge did order Arencón and the fire union to avoid using city email for political purposes.
Arencón’s suspension is effective Monday, the same day the fire union is scheduled for a hearing before the state labor board on a claim of bad-faith bargaining practices it filed against the city.
Mowrer said Arencón would be at the hearing acting in his union president’s role.
Copyright 2012 Albuquerque Journal