The union representing more than 3,000 Los Angeles firefighters on Friday issued a letter to Fire Chief Christine Crowley, condemning an anonymous letter accusing her of mishandling the Palisades fire, which caused widespread destruction. I renewed my support.
Unified firefighters from Los Angeles Local 112 condemned a letter circulated this week that said Crowley had “failed” Los Angeles residents and lost their fire department. The letter purported to be from “retired and active LAFD top officials,” but did not include names or signatures. Confidence in Mayor Karen Bass.
In a one-page letter to Ms Crowley, the union’s 10 directors said “anonymous disgruntled people” were campaigning against her. They also praised Crowley, the department’s first female chief, for her “willingness to fight” for her staff and budget.
“While you may not have agreed to everything, you are the only fire chief in recent decades to repeatedly request sufficient resources,” the union’s letter said.
Crowley’s strong endorsement is the latest chapter in the ups and downs that have engulfed city leadership since the Palisades fire, which destroyed more than 3,500 structures and killed at least 10 people.
Last week, as the fires continued to burn, Crowley gave a television interview in which he claimed the department’s response to the emergency was being hampered by $17 million in budget cuts. In one appearance, she said the city of Los Angeles, and by implication Bass, had failed her and her agency.
The city’s top budget analyst and some City Council members pushed back, saying the fire department’s budget would increase by more than 7% after pay raises for firefighters and vehicle purchases are taken into account. The fire department’s specific activities did not impact its response to the Palisades fire.
In the days that followed, Crowley was the target of an anonymous five-page memo on fire department letterhead that claimed to be from “the chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Fire Department” and claimed that the memo was from the Palisades Fire Department. He accused Crowley of “arguing and accusing him” during the incident. He continued to rage. No previous Los Angeles Fire Department chief had ever taken such action, the letter dated Monday and circulated within the department said.
“Secretary, please focus on your current duties and responsibilities, which should be focused on mitigation and stabilization of the Palisades Fire,” the letter said. “Your rant about the budget and your statement that ‘the city failed LAFD’ was ill-advised, ill-timed, and took us away from the most important issue: the Palisades Fire.”
The unsigned letter accused Crowley of several other issues, including personnel complaints, city payroll issues and allegations that officials failed to adequately prepare for the fire.
It was not immediately clear how many, if any, Fire Department employees were involved in writing the letter. On Thursday, the Association of Chief Executives of Government Agencies, which represents dozens of command staff, chimed in with its own letter praising Crowley’s “courageous leadership and advocacy.”
“Your recent actions have highlighted a truth we all know all too well,” said the one-page letter signed by union president Robert Nelson. “Our ability to protect and serve depends on adequate staffing, resources, equipment, and facilities, and data analysis shows that the Los Angeles Fire Department is understaffed compared to other major cities. ”
Nelson could not be reached for comment on the letter, which was sent Thursday and later provided to the Times by the General Firefighters Union.
Bass spokesman Zach Seidl, asked about the spate of correspondence pro and con with Crowley, referred the Times to comments the mayor made last weekend at the city’s emergency operations center. After meeting with Crowley in person, Bass said she and the chief are “focused on these fire operations” and are working “in lockstep.”
Crowley said he has received tremendous support in recent days from both current and outgoing chiefs. The chief also said he was “deeply digging” into the issues raised in the letter.
“Again, I don’t know who these people are, and to be honest, it doesn’t matter to me,” she said. “I have received that feedback and am considering it.”
On the same day the Palisades Fire broke out, the Eaton Fire struck the Altadena area, destroying more than 7,100 buildings and killing at least 17 people. Altadena is not part of Crowley’s mission, as it is on the outskirts of the city of Los Angeles.
Criticism of Crowley is not limited to correspondence. Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said he views Crowley’s media blitz last week and her claims that the city failed her agency as a “fireable crime.” Ta.
Guerra, who also runs the Loyola Marymount Los Angeles Research Center, said Crowley broke ranks with other city leaders during the crisis and was exactly the kind of unity needed. . What’s more, he said, Crowley did so without first consulting his superiors.
“To me, I don’t think she’s ready for prime time in terms of city hall politics or budget politics,” he said.
Genesia Hadley Hayes, president of the Los Angeles Fire Commission, said she too received a letter attacking Crowley, but did not know the names of the people behind it. He said the questions raised in the letter needed to be taken up by the committee “one at a time”.
“Do you think that’s fair or not? At this point, I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not going to say whether I think these claims are true because they are claims.”
Hadley Hayes, who was appointed to the post by Mr Bass, said she agreed with passages in the letter that said Mr Crowley was pointing fingers and should have focused on his job.
“I believe she should have been focused on dealing with the emergency,” she said. “I agree with that. As for the other allegations in that letter, I’m not going to get into that conflict with anyone.”
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