by Mary Rupert
A report on the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department was presented tonight at an emotional meeting at City Hall.
However, no action was taken on a proposed ordinance to limit UG employees for receiving payment from third parties for any work they do for the UG, as not enough UG commissioners showed up to have an official UG meeting. Trading shifts and selling shifts was tonight’s issue.
Firefighters and some residents packed into the UG Commission Chambers for the meeting tonight, which was Mayor Mark Holland’s last meeting. The firefighters union had supported Holland’s opponent, David Alvey, for mayor, who won election in November.
Mayor Holland said he was concerned that firefighters were not just trading time, but were selling shifts. Many of them were not reciprocating back, not working another shift in return for it, but instead, money was exchanged for working the shift. Some of this was discovered during a 2015 study of the Fire Department.
Mayor Holland said the last contract negotiated with the fire union included provisions for recruiting and hiring minority employees, and the union gave up control of companies, but the provision was left in for trading time.
“The No. 1 problem with the selling of time is it is absolutely jeopardizing the safety of our firefighters and our community,” Mayor Holland said.
The UG then tracked trading time and selling shifts and recently released the report, he said. According to this report, firefighters were receiving more time off, in total, including vacation and other time off, than police officers. The 24 trades the firefighters were allowed to make become an additional 20 more shifts they can take off, for a total of more than five month off, he said.
Overland Park and Lenexa, for example, have tighter controls on trading shifts, while Kansas City, Kansas, did not have these controls.
“I don’t think we agreed to pay anybody six months or more time off,” Mayor Holland said.
The fire report stated that only six of 391 firefighters traded an equal number of shifts, and that 237 firefighters split $920,000 in taxpayer dollars for time not worked.
Mayor Holland said this trading shifts and selling shifts issue is important because sleep deprivation might occur, and the effects of sleep deprivation are like alcoholic intoxication. He said safety was a concern.
The fire study also goes into greater detail on the issues.
Only the Fire Department is selling shifts, he said, and those practices are not allowed in the Police Department.
“We need to end this corrupt practice in this Fire Department, operate it more like Lenexa, Olathe, and Overland Park, and have tight controls on it, and have safe, high quality of fire service that we have,” Mayor Holland said. “We cannot continue to pay people who are not coming to work. It’s wrong, and it’s unsafe, and this commission is going to have to do something about it.”
During a news conference, the mayor referred to what he said were “intimidation tactics” by some persons in the union. He also said there was a very clear distinction between trading shifts and selling shifts.
Earlier today, the mayor stated he received a threat on social media from a firefighter, which he turned over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
On Wednesday evening, Mayor-elect David Alvey disagreed with Holland’s assessment of “widespread corruption,” saying it was a “gross misrepresentation.” He added the data would need to be studied, and his understanding was that shift trading was revenue-neutral. Alvey takes office on Monday.
Retired firefighter: ‘Sour grapes’
Public comment was not allowed during the meeting, but afterwards, in the City Hall lobby, retired Capt. Mike Quinn, formerly senior operations chief at the Fire Department, said his opinion was “sour grapes.”
“The public voted him out of office, the firefighters helped get him out of office, and now he’s mad at us. He signed the contract,” Quinn said.
“Trading time has been in that contract for 38 years that I know of. It’s always been in the contract. Nothing new has changed,” Quinn said.
Working a 24-hour shift, firefighters might need time off if there is a child graduating from school, the birth of a child, illness, a death in the family, or other events, Quinn said. Trading time has been the way they have done that for as long as he knows, and has been included in the contract, he added.
“I did 38 years and I’m proud of every day I served,” said Quinn, who retired two years ago.
Quinn later got into a discussion with the Rev. Jimmie Banks in the City Hall lobby. Banks, who has served in the Holland campaign in the past, also previously ran for office.
“He’s going out with integrity,” Banks said.
Quinn was offended that the mayor called firefighters “corrupt.” He said the firefighters worked hard for years to get that contract and they’re not giving anything up in the contract. “We earned it,” Quinn said.
A majority of UG commissioners not attending
Only four UG commissioners out of 10 attended the meeting: Commissioners Harold Johnson, Melissa Bynum, Gayle Townsend and Jim Walters. Mayor Holland said Commissioner Jane Philbrook was ill. Other commissioners who did not attend the meeting included Hal Walker, Brian McKiernan, Ann Brandau-Murguia, Mike Kane and Angela Markley.
Mayor Holland said after the meeting he believed the commissioners who were not present were boycotting the meeting, except for Commissioner Philbrook. Mayor Holland said the other commissioners did not want the public to see the truth.
The UG television broadcast of the meeting was canceled because there was no quorum to have an official meeting, according to the mayor. The report is still online at the UG website, under agendas. Some of the commissioners have relatives on the Fire Department, and the relatives are in the report.
Commissioner Townsend, the only commissioner who commented during the meeting, said she would not assume that the other commissioners were boycotting the meeting.
She said she voiced her respect for the Fire Department and those who worked for it. She noted that from her legal and accounting background, on the surface, the practice under discussion did not make sense to her.
She appreciated the firefighters’ concerns and the mayor’s concern, although she said she might not use the term “corruption.” She would look at it as a management practice, she said.
“I hope the incoming mayor would take a look at it again,” Townsend said.
(A phone call seeking comment to Local 64, the fire union, was not returned.)
The end-of-the-year fire report was contained in the UG agenda for Jan. 4, a report of about 1,029 pages that is online at http://wycokck.civicclerk.com/Web/UserControls/DocPreview.aspx?p=1&aoid=1420.
Statement from UG Administrator Bach and Interim Fire Chief Shirley
Tonight, UG Administrator Doug Bach and Interim Fire Chief Kevin Shirley released this statement on the issue:
Trading time is an accepted, legal practice which is allowed under federal law and the labor contract between the Unified Government and the KCK Firefighters Union. The issue facing the Unified Government is when the trading time practice does not follow policies and procedures.
In 2017, the Unified Government Board of Commissioners directed UG staff to examine the issue.
The information gathered will be utilized to review and evaluate the trading time practice making sure it complies with Fair Labor Standards Act provisions and negotiated contract terms.
In the next several months, KCK Fire Department management and Unified Government administration will analyze the data collected, implement administrative changes, and bring recommendations for changes or improvements back to the Commission for consideration.
Any recommended policy changes are subject to collective bargaining and will be discussed during labor contract negotiations with the Firefighters Union for the 2019 contract.
This issue is portrayed by some as the Unified Government versus the KCK Fire Department. This is absolutely not true. The KCK Fire Department is an important part of the Unified Government. Firefighters are valued employees who save lives, while frequently risking their own.
Previous news stories on the issue of firefighters trading shifts, selling shifts and the firefighters’ approved contract with the UG are located at:
Mayor Holland alleges ‘widespread corruption’ by firefighters; Mayor-elect Alvey says ‘gross misrepresentation’
Special UG session to be Jan. 4 on firefighters trading report
Special UG session to be Jan. 4 on firefighters’ trading report
UG contract with firefighters approved
Firefighters say they’ve reached tentative agreement with UG on contract
Firefighters say they’ve reached tentative agreement with UG on contract
Firefighters upset about getting silent treatment at UG fire study meeting
Firefighters upset about getting silent treatment at UG fire study meeting
Fire study calls for 5 percent cutback in personnel, consolidation of four stations, and more funding for facilities and equipment