D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe delivered his annual “State of the Department” speech last night at the University of the District of Columbia, and though the stage was filled with brass from the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, Ellerbe spoke to a virtually empty auditorium.
Last night’s speech was the second year in a row Ellerbe’s leadership was questioned through protest means organized by the two labor unions representing the department’s firefighters and emergency medical technicians. In 2012, hundreds of firefighters showed up, but stood up and turned their backs toward the stage when Ellerbe took the podium.
But the situation has not really improved from last year, as far as union officials are concerned. “Two hundred vacancies are putting a strain on everyone,” says Ed Smith, the president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 36, which represents roughly 1,800 fire department employees.
In particular, Smith says the number of paramedics is thin, especially at a time when the District’s population continues to grow at a clip of more than 1,000 new residents every month.
“There needs to be more recruitment of paramedics,” he says. “I don’t know the last time they held an entrance exam or what efforts they have done to recruit paramedics.” As it stands now, Smith says, paramedics are often forced into overtime shifts while the department continues to maintain its current staffing levels. Smith says FEMS needs to grow overall to keep up with increasing demand for emergency services.
“Look at the population exploding,” he says. “Only common sense to think that the demand for services is growing.”
He adds that the fire department’s budget of $197 million is relatively small compared to the D.C. government’s overal budget of more than $11 billion.
As for the no-shows at last night’s speech, Smith says they weren’t a protest per se, even though he and other union leaders were part of the official program ahead of Ellerbe’s remarks. “Wasn’t the forum to resolve labor management issues,” Smith says. “If you show up it’s a protest, if you don’t show up it’s a protest.”
In his speech, Ellerbe noted the mostly empty room. “So I will do this again and again and hopefully folks will show up and hear these types of messages,” he said, according to WJLA.
