UPDATE: Woodinville Firefighter's Union "No Confidence" Vote in Chief

Here is the statement from IAFF Local 2950 president Greg Ahearn, read at the July 18 meeting of the Woodinville Fire & Rescue Board of Commissioners meeting, where the union presented its in the leadership of Chief I. David Daniels:

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with both Chief Daniels and Chairman Osgood at a local bakery.

During this meeting, which was also attended by Local 2950 Secretary, Dave Weed, and a number of the district’s executive staff, Chief Daniels essentially blamed the majority of the problems currently facing the fire district on me and my labor group.

He then claimed to be, QUOTE: “the best fire chief this district has ever had, and will ever have.” END QUOTE

Members of the board - Chief Daniels - members of his executive team - As the representative and President of Local 2950, and as a member of this organization for 24 years, I am compelled to say: I respectfully, and wholeheartedly disagree.

To be clear, this is not simply my opinion or the opinion of the local’s 8-member executive board. This is the shared opinion of our general membership.

This evening, this position is being formalized as I present to you the results of the Local’s vote of No-Confidence in Chief Daniels.

This resolution was carefully considered by all of the members of Local 2950 and it passed by a unanimous vote of 59-0. Every member’s vote was confidential and anonymous and as you can see by the result, not a single member opposed the resolution.

Under Chief Daniels, the fire district has lost its international accreditation through CFAI. It has abandoned its responsibility to adequately protect Station 34’s response area – such as Hollywood Hill - that remain a part of our fire district.

Under Chief Daniels, the fire district has eliminated its Public Educator position and dramatically reduced Fire Prevention. It has abandoned important partnerships such as the Regional Fire Training Division. It is accumulating legal expenses approaching half of a million dollars.

Under Chief Daniels, the fire district has created new and costly administrative positions while firefighter positions have been eliminated. It is depleting its reserve funds while forecasting five years of deficit spending.

Chief Daniels withdrew from the Labor Management Initiative that he initiated and this board endorsed. He has cancelled labor/management meetings and our bi-monthly breakfast meetings.

Chief Daniels jeopardized the careers of my firefighters during the Kirkland annexation. According to documentation that the local has obtained through public records requests from both this fire district and the City of Bothell, it appears as if the Bothell annexation is being handled in a similar manner.

The list goes on and on…

Never before in the history of this fire district has there been a Vote of No-Confidence in a fire chief.

This is an unprecedented action and a somber occasion. I hope each and every one of you – the elected officials responsible for the oversight of this fire district - takes it as seriously as we do.

Thank you.

I have asked Executive Board Member, Tony Woods to represent the local and come forward to read the Vote of No-Confidence Resolution.

The Resolution:

Under the authority of chapter 41.56 RCW, the

International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 2950,

hereby Resolves:

WHEREAS, this Vote of No-Confidence is an alternative method to bring forth serious concerns of public safety and mismanagement to the public while still promoting the uninterrupted and dedicated service because such services are “vital to the welfare and public safety of the state of Washington” and;

Whereas Local 2950, Woodinville Firefighters, believes that this No-Confidence Resolution is but one of those very limited options available to promote these purposes and;

Whereas I. David Daniels became the Fire Chief of Woodinville Fire and Rescue on the first day of January, 2010 and;

Whereas prior to the arrival of I. David Daniels, Woodinville Fire and Rescue was one of approximately 300 fire departments in the world to earn accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International which ensures that fire agencies adhere to and meet industry best practices and;

Whereas under the leadership of I.David Daniels Woodinville Fire and Rescue has lost it's CFAI accreditation and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels, fire prevention services were eliminated for the citizens of the City of Woodinville resulting in a loss of fire and life safety inspections being conducted within the City and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels, the position of Public Educator was eliminated and the position of a personal executive secretary to the Chief was created and;

Whereas I. David Daniels has compromised the safety and preparation of the citizens of Woodinville by abandoning the training of Community Emergency Response Teams for the citizens of Woodinville, designed by King County to QUOTE: “prepare people in neighborhoods, the workplace, and schools to take a more active role in emergency management planning, and to prepare themselves and others for disasters;” END QUOTE and;

Whereas I. David Daniels has compromised the safety of his firefighters on multiple occasions by directly overseeing events such as ordering non-uniformed personnel into a hot-zone of a hazardous materials incident, forcing a Battalion Chief to work a 96-hour shift, abandoning inspections in the City of Woodinville, and others, and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels the citizens of Hollywood Hill and surrounding areas are now subjected to unacceptably long response times after the closure of Fire Station 34, as established by national standards, with no short or long term plan to remediate the response delays and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels, Woodinville Fire and Rescue has terminated a vocational education program, primarily funded by the Northshore School District, that was recognized throughout Western Washington for it's excellence, education, and guidance to area youth and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels, Woodinville Fire and Rescue terminated it’s long standing joint training division with Redmond and Kirkland that had leveraged resources resulting in an elevated level of training to the fire fighters that serve the Woodinville community and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels, in spite of the closure of a fire station and the reduction in the number of emergency responders, Woodinville Fire and Rescue has created five brand new administrative positions and;

Whereas under the leadership of I. David Daniels, the reduction in the number of emergency responders and the increase in the number of administrators has resulted in more people sitting behind desks each day at station headquarters than there are staffing emergency apparatus in the community and;

Whereas knowing that Woodinville Fire and Rescue is spending more annually than it is taking in and thus is committed to depleting its Reserve Fund that took years to build, I. David Daniels has endeavored to make the fire district insolvent;

THEREFORE

BE IT RESOLVED, that the members of Local 2950 unanimously declare that they have no confidence in the leadership of Fire Chief I. David Daniels and will unify with all of their strength, solidarity, and firm conviction to work towards the restitution of Woodinville Fire and Rescue that, until only recently, was looked upon as an example of excellence in the fire service community, including its ability to work in a collaborative and innovative manner to accomplish common goals that provide the highest and best service to the citizens of our community and the firefighters that loyally serve them.