Houston Fire Chief: Council Knew About Firefighter Demotions

City Councilman Dwight Boykins’ plan to use an ethics committee meeting to launch an investigation of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s handling of Prop B layoffs ended shortly after it began Monday when Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña rejected his claims the council was not adequately informed of firefighter demotions and fellow council members accused him of political grandstanding.

Several council members said that contrary to what Boykins claimed, they and Boykins had been briefed on the layoffs and demotions before last week’s vote to issue 60-day layoff notices to 220 firefighters. They accused Boykins, who has said he is considering whether to run for mayor in November, of trying to use the issue for political gain.

“To allude that we were caught by surprise is, I think, a little disingenuous,” Peña said, recalling conversations he said he had with Boykins and other council members about the demotions ahead of last week’s vote. “There was no peek-a-boo or an attempt to hide anything. We're talking about people's livelihoods, people's careers. I don’t take it lightly.”

At issue were hundreds of firefighter demotions that were included in the measure to layoff the firefighters, which Peña said will be necessary to cover HFD’s roughly $25 million share of Prop B’s annual cost. He previously said that some cuts could be absorbed through attrition, but is pursuing a change to HFD’s shift structure that would eliminate positions and require demotions.

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Boykins on Friday claimed that council members did not know about the demotions when they voted to approve the layoff notices to help offset the cost of Proposition B, a charter amendment passed by voters that requires the city to pay firefighters the same as police of corresponding rank and experience.

He repeated that Monday, saying the Turner administration “has not been forthcoming about the full scope of its plan” to pay for Prop B, which the mayor has said will cost $80 million annually and require hundreds of firefighters and municipal workers to receive pink slips unless the benefits are phased in over five years.

Turner last week accused Boykins, a one-time ally, of playing “political games” and said Peña had briefed council members about the demotions.

Peña reiterated that Monday.

He also said that roughly 70 percent of those who are demoted still will receive raises under the pay parity requirement, and that Turner has assured him none of the other demotions would be accompanied by a reduction in pay.

The chief’s comments came as Turner, the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association and Houston Police Department continue meeting with a mediator ordered by a state district judge last week. Judge Tanya Garrison ordered the city and unions to continue meeting until they reach an agreement on how to implement Prop B or the mediator declares in impasse.

Turner has said that layoffs could be avoided entirely if the union agrees to a five-year phase-in of the pay raises; the union has said it would ask its members to vote on a three-and-a-half-year implementation if the city promises that no firefighters will lose their jobs.

HPFFA President Marty Lancton maintained Monday that firefighters were kept in the dark about the demotions.

“It took us by complete surprise,” he told the ethics panel.

Amid the months-long deadlock over how to implement Prop B, Peña said he had planned for the “worst-case scenario”: Hundreds of job cuts, and an overhaul of the department’s shift schedule that would require demotions.

Before council voted last week to issue layoff notices to the 220 firefighters, pink slips had been sent to 111 fire cadets and municipal workers.

In addition to the firefighter raises, the city is facing a $117 million deficit heading into the fiscal year that begins July 1. Council must approve a balanced budget before that. Turner has cited that approaching deadline as the impetus for last week’s vote to send the 60-day layoff notices.

“I don’t think people comprehend the urgent and the critical state we’ll be in in the future if we don’t do something different,” Peña said.

Monday’s committee meeting was criticized by several of Boykins’ council colleagues. At least eight attended or sent staff members, though some left before the hour of discussion ended and the panel adjourned without taking any action.

Councilwoman Brenda Stardig and others expressed concern that asking Peña to provide details Monday could interfere with the ongoing mediation. She also was among several who accused Boykins of using the panel for political gain.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we’re having a meeting today about ethics when (Boykins) admitted that it’s not about ethics,” she told reporters. “It is truly about grandstanding and bringing forward the opinions of others trying to steer the public’s opinion on how this should play out.”

Mayor Pro-Tem Ellen Cohen said the panel was “irregular” and “has nothing to do with ethics” before abruptly leaving in protest.

Boykins, who has aligned with the firefighters union over Prop B, maintained that he was merely using the panel, which cannot compel testimony, to get answers about the city’s plans for Prop B.

That, too, was met with ire from his colleagues, some of whom said Boykins had numerous occasions to learn about the demotions before the layoff vote.

Particularly annoyed was Councilman Greg Travis, who told the Chronicle that Boykins had shown up late to one briefing on the demotions and then spent the remaining time asking “stupid questions” and “pontificating.”

“Everything that he’s claiming wasn’t told to people was told to all of us,” Travis said. “We all knew there were going to be demotions.”

“I’m not a fan of the mayor and we hit heads quite a bit,” Travis said. “But when he’s right, he’s right, and when he’s wrong, he’s wrong. This is Boykins trying to trash the mayor.”

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