Jackson Free Press

After three months of grumbling among themselves, some Jackson firefighters have officially voiced concerns over Mayor Frank Melton's installation of former Jackson Fire Department Capt. Todd Chandler as interim fire chief.

"We have questions about his management ability and his education background and his acceptance by all the firefighters," said retired Division Chief Willie Owens of Chandler. "There's a lot of discord right now in the fire department because of his position as interim chief," Owens said of Chandler, who Melton installed July 27 shortly after dismissing seven-year Fire Chief Raymond McNulty.

Owens, president of a fire department union called Firefighters Limited, accused Melton of selecting Chandler because of the former captain's involvement with the firefighters union Local 87, which Owens said supported Melton's campaign for mayor.

"We don't want the mayor to just go around and pick someone from the union just because that union was responsible for him receiving a large sum of support. We want this to be fair and equitable because we have other people within the fire department a lot more qualified than Todd Chandler," said Owens, who left the department in August.

Owens complained that only current or former union members hold high command staff positions. He said he and other firefighters have sent letters to City Council members, inviting them to a Nov. 30 meeting to discuss their grievances.

The Jackson Fire Department has seen decades of racial tension. African-Americans first accused the department of promotion tactics that made it more difficult for black firefighters to move up in rank. The U.S. Justice Department issued a 1974 consent decree ordering the department to make its promotional system more fair. In 1988, plaintiffs and the Department of Justice, many of whom later migrated to the union known as Firefighters Limited, filed motions to enforce the 1974 consent decree, called a Supplemental Consent Decree.

Thereafter, several fire department employees—many of them white—were allowed to intervene, arguing that white employees and applicants might be adversely affected by the new promotional requirement outlined in the 1988 Supplemental Consent Decree. Many of the white firefighters complaining were members of another firefighter union called Local 87. Chandler has confirmed that he was a member of the group known as the "intervenors."

Owens says he is concerned that too many representatives of Local 87 have positions as department heads.

"There are no non-union members on the command staff, which we feel is discrimination because this is a right-to-work state. We have no problem with them being union members, but state laws say you do not have to be a member of a union to have the same rights and privileges," Owens said. He also complains that Chandler does not reside in the city of Jackson and should therefore not hold the position as interim chief, much less the permanent position.

Chandler argues that he has met all the residency requirements for being fire chief in the city.

"The requirements are that I'm a resident of the city of Jackson or Hinds County, and I'm a resident of Hinds and always have been," Chandler said.

Members of Firefighters Limited made mirror statements regarding the residencies of Assistant Fire Chief John Canterbury and Tony Davis, now administrative assistant fire chief.

Davis' and Canterbury's bonds with Chandler became clear in 2001 when both testified at a Civil Service Commission hearing against then-Fire Chief McNulty, after Chandler accused McNulty of stepping over him on a January 2001 eligibility list to serve as acting district chief. McNulty had testified that Chandler was skipped over for not meeting requirements on a May 9, 2000, document. Canterbury and Davis both testified that the document had not been sent to firefighters and that if it had been enforced, none of the captains on the promotion list with Chandler would have met the strict qualifications.

Chandler called the complaints recently sent to local media "personal grudges."

"If there are any issues brought up at this time, they haven't brought them up to me personally, so I think it reverts back to some of those personal agendas," Chandler said.

Melton told the Jackson City Council that he was withholding a vote on Chandler's appointment as chief due to a perceived lack of support.

"We'll be holding that until the council is ready to stop playing around," Melton told the council last month when Chandler's name was removed from a docket for confirmation.

Ward 2 councilman Leslie McLemore said he could not gauge any decision the council would make regarding the matter.

"We haven't had any formal council discussion on his nomination, so it's hard to get a beat on how the total council will go at this time but there have been some reservations expressed about his history and involvement in activities in the past," McLemore said.

"I've heard the mayor say he thinks there's some reluctance because Chandler's white, but I don't think that has anything to do with it."

McLemore added, however, that the mayor's assumption of a no-confidence vote from the council could be correct.

"The mayor may have his finger on the pulse of the council better than many of us," McLemore said. "I think it would be to the benefit of the citizens if someone was selected who was not controversial from the standpoint of being so overly identified with being of one camp or the other. I would suspect there are some outstanding men and women within the fire department that both groups could probably rally around once they stop hurling epithets from one side to the other.

"A compromise will have to be struck."

Council President Marshand Crisler said the council recently discovered that Chandler had never been confirmed as interim chief and that confirmation was a requirement.

"The attorney general has opined that his office and the state constitution does not distinguish between interim or permanent. Every person placed in a position of director, whether interim or permanent, has to be confirmed by the council," Crisler said. "We didn't know this either until recently. We've never confirmed an interim fire chief, but we asked the opinion of the A.G. so now that we're no longer ignorant we're going to have to act on this."

Crisler said he has mentioned this to the mayor's office, though there has been no formal request from the council, yet.

Previous Comments

ID

64784

Comment

I agree with this article totally. There are many firefighters within the department that would make an excellent Fire Chief. The mayor appears to have carefully chosen the people that he will talk to or even listen to. If the council has issues with the confirmation of the interim fire chief, then why is the mayor trying to strongarm them into seeing things his way? This does not build a working relationship. It seems to me that the mayor is the type that will "take his ball and go home if you don't want to play on his team". Why is he so closeminded to the fact that he cannot suceed by being so uncompromising? The citizens of Jackson are once again suffering because "FRANK" has to have things his way. Hey Frank.... look around you. The people that you promised a better life are still waiting. Work with the city council and not against them. You are doing the same things that you accused the previous administration of. You have a poilce chief that is as seldom seen as a rare white elk, and a fire chief that will not admit that he may not be the person for the job. He lives in the COUNTY. He is not the hinds county fire chief. He is masquerading as the city of Jackson's fire chief.

Author

rufus

Date

2005-11-24T04:56:20-06:00

ID

64785

Comment

First of all what do you not understand about the residency requirements. No matter who would have been chosen for the top job there would have been groups who did not agree. Fire Fighters Limited is not a UNION. Local 87 is a union which is recognized locally as well as nationally as the offical barganing agent for the Jackson Fire Fighters. Local 87 is also race and gender neutral and speaks for all fire fighters, not just a chosen few. The Command Staff is not all Local 87 members. It seems that those that are upset are those that have been in charge for the past eight years when the Command Staff was made up of mostly Fire Fighters Limited members. Why must your group keep trying to undermine the Mayor. It seems that all of a sudden you mention qualifications, What special qualifications did Mcnulty have NONE. Chief Chandler does have a higher level of education than McNulty held. Chief Chandler will be fair to all Fire Fighters not just a chosen few.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-11-26T22:42:59-06:00

ID

64786

Comment

JM, the article looks to me like a straight up-and-down journalistic piece on the controversy surrounding the new fire chief. Unless you're suggesting that the controversy doesn't exist (regardless of whether or not it should), then I see little to complain about in Adam's article. Your interpretation of matters may be spot on; in the article, I saw some evidence of a potential turf war between the two groups. Some of my best friends locally are union people, and I myself am working to try to get a chapter of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981) fired up down here. So I have nothing, in principle, against hiring a strong union guy as an interim chief. Obviously the mayor is pro-labor. That, in and of itself, is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Why he's pro-labor, and why labor groups tend to be pro-Melton, is something of a mystery to me (as his pre-mayoral record is less union-friendly than Johnson's), but c'est la vie; he is and they are. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-11-27T00:09:30-06:00

ID

64787

Comment

BTW- About the potential racism issue... (Not brought up by Adam, but something that someone might infer based on the history of the two groups.) Here's Local 87's web page. The group appears to be well integrated (the president and over half the board are African-American), and there is certainly nothing to suggest that this is a "white" group that works in opposition to the "black" group. Meanwhile, a Google search for "Firefighters Limited" turns up this article as the top hit. I am aware of no national support for Firefighters Limited, but 87 is a local of the massive IAFF. So before even bringing up the possibility that Firefighters Limited better represents African-American firefighters, I'd have to know: - How many members does Local 87 have? - Of those members, what percentage are non-white? - How many members does Firefighters Limited have? - Of those members, what percentage are non-white? My suspicion--based on nothing but a gut impression--is that Firefighters Limited is another one of those labor offshoot groups that emerges in the wake of a turf war, that it is personality-driven, that it is much smaller and more insular than Local 87. But that's nothing but a suspicion. I don't have any hard data to back it up. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-11-27T00:24:52-06:00

ID

64788

Comment

And if there is a turf war dimension to this, then I can understand why that alone might have turned some union people against Johnson, no matter how deserving his candidate might have been as an individual--just as some of the Firefighters Limited folks are clearly upset about Chandler, even though all they've ostensibly said about him as an individual is that he's with Local 87, white, and lives in a 'burb. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-11-27T00:33:08-06:00

ID

64789

Comment

As far as I understand the numbers in Local 87. The membership is made up of over 70% of Jackson Fire Fighters, the make up is almost a 50-50 mix of both blacks and whites.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-11-27T07:47:34-06:00

ID

64790

Comment

This issue is not about race, but qualifications to lead this department forward. If Chandler is so "qualified", then why has he reluctant to give his resume? He has time to get one together. As far as the Local 87 membership goes, No one has ever been given the actual numbers of the membership, or the racial make-up. As of recent (info given to me by firefighters) a high number of blacks joined to out-vote the past elected officials to get fair representation. Two wrongs don't make a right. If McNulty and his appointments were not qualified, then why is it still okay to continue this practice? Why has there not been any disputes to the claims made against Chandler's administration? There has only been justifications and comparisions to McNulty. Are we really trying to solve the past problems or are we dancing around the issues of putting qualified people in positions to move forward? Why not have an "Open To The Public" debate and settle this once and for all.

Author

rufus

Date

2005-11-27T09:12:56-06:00

ID

64791

Comment

I see that you are one that does not know what you are talking about. As a member of Local 87 I can testify that membership has not varied by much in a couple of years. Have you been reviewing the resumes? How do you know that Chandler has not put in a resume. You should only talk of things that you know. Once again are you must be one of the jealous few that did not get the job? It appears to be so. Remember the number one qualification is this The Fire Chief serves at the will and pleasure of the Mayor. So why have none of the rest of the departments had these so called qualifications put in front of them. So why is it now that FF Limited is trying to bring up the qualification issue. Why was that not an issue then? You must be a member of FF Limited.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-11-27T09:47:20-06:00

ID

64792

Comment

Once again the people of this Fire Dept. are having trouble with the truth.srj Todd Chandler meets all the residency requirements, sorry. John Canterbury on the other hand being A new hire does not. To my knowledge you have never been a member of Local 87 but have been given the same benefits for free, it should really be none of your business how many members are in the local, it has been recognized by the city to represent all firefighters and is currently under contract with the city. For the record Firefighters ltd. is not a union and represents only a few people trying to get something for nothing. I dont know about Todd's resmue but why not give him a chance? Remember there is more to being a fire chief then pornography you know what I mean.

Author

T.J. Hooker

Date

2005-11-27T13:09:18-06:00

ID

64793

Comment

Well spoken Cave. Im sure srj knows exatly what you mean. I am sure people like srj are scared that they might be exposed in some of the on going investigations. I believe that is why all the fuss in happening anyway.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-11-27T13:16:15-06:00

ID

64794

Comment

You speak as though you know me, but I can assure that you do not. I am not under any investigation for anything except stating the facts. I have not seen the resumes. I do not even know who has applied. I DO read and ask questions though. The media has asked for the qualifications of the interim chief as well as many others. I am not going to get into a show and tell questionaire about who knows what. I have stated the facts as they were presented to me and I will continue to do so. As far as FF Limites is conserned, why don't you ask them what they think?

Author

rufus

Date

2005-11-27T13:51:59-06:00

ID

64795

Comment

PLEASE..as a citizen of the City of Jackson, someone explain to me why some of you seem to be using this as a platform for putting your personal problems in front of the issue! I personally do not care about your 'dirty laundry' amongst yourself, it is obvious, however, that many of you, and probably most of you responding, are firefighters for the City of Jackson. Guess what people? The issue is about the FIRE DEPT not personal problems. But I will say, it is obvious by this forum alone why there is controversy within the fire dept. which preceeds the obvious problem surrounding the issue of the interium fire chief. Why do we care about Local 87 or FFU? I don't! What I do care about are the ISSUES! The concerns for many of us (citizens) IS: Why is there continued talk regarding Mr. Chandler's resume? He currently is in a position of leadership which makes him 'public property' his salary essentially is paid by ME and other's, through our tax dollars, so, I want to know why there is no resume on record for this individual? I want to know what is really behind the issue of his staying in the position of fire chief when the City Council is refusing to vote him in. By the Council not being willing to do this, and Melton obviously not willing to withdraw his appointee, this does raise questions in my mind as to whether this really is the 'best person' for the job, or whether it is really a political 'thank-you' for his election. What is so important to the citizen's of this city is, our property and the treatment we do/will receive when the fire department responds to our call(s). If it is in fact true that Mr. Chandler does NOT live within the City of Jackson, then I also have an issue with his being in command. I would believe that would be one of the first requirements for the position. I frankly don't care what Mr. Chandler's education is or is not - I do care about the fact that according to what I have read/heard, he will not provide a resume stating his qualificiations for the position. I also am interested in better understanding why the Fire Dept. seems to have a history of making EVERYTHING racial? Who CARES? I personally would be happy with a purple-polka-dotted Fire Chief who has the qualifications necessary to lead the fire department into a new era, hopefully one without all the obvious back-stabbing and problems that are apparent by the responses above. I do have an issue as a tax payer, however, with persons being put into leadership that have or are suiing the city! That is not Frank Melton's money they are winning in these lawsuits - it's the tax payer's money! And I for one, have not, nor do see any obvious leadership within this department which is becoming more obvious on a weekly basis as more stories and articles are being published. Of course, I also don't see leadership within this city right now either, so I guess it is par for the course that the Fire Dept. would not have leadership either!

Author

Katie D

Date

2005-11-27T17:21:50-06:00

ID

64796

Comment

I feel like you folks have gone way off into territory where I'm not prepared to follow. My only point is that I have no reason to object to Todd Chandler's appointment as interim fire chief, and whether or not he has delivered his resumé is not a major issue for me because I believe that leaders should be allowed to use their own judgment when making interim appointments. That's what interim appointments are for. Permanent appointments require more oversight, obviously, and that process has clearly already begun. Judging from Chandler's position in Local 87, I doubt he's underqualified for the position, and we should not assume that he is, regardless of his resumé status, until we have reason to do so. We should have a resumé before a permanent appointment is made, but then we probably will. I'm sure the folks in Local 87 already know his history, so I doubt there are any major omissions, skeletons in the closet, etc. If the residency requirements say "Jackson or Hinds," then Jackson and the broader county are obviously game and neither Melton or Chandler are to be faulted for looking outside of the city. There are procedures by which the residency requirement may be changed to reflect only Jackson, but until those procedures are put into place, Chandler is obviously eligible for the position and should not be turned down solely for political reasons. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-11-27T18:02:02-06:00

ID

64797

Comment

Just me, I deleted your last comment because you are posting unsubstantiated (meaning to me) accusations about a named person. That is patently against the User Agreement. If you do it again, you will be suspended. That said, if there is something you believe needs to be investigated about any of the parties to this or another JFP story, please call Adam Lynch at the JFP (362-6121), identify yourself and provide the information, as well as sources to confirm it. However, this is not the correct forum for it. Please respect the necessity of these rules.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-11-28T19:05:24-06:00

ID

64798

Comment

As a member of the Local 87 I feel that I have to weigh in on this issue. First I want to let you know that the Local 87 did not truely endorse Chief Chandler. There were a few people in executive level positions in the Local 87 who did that, and it has stirred up quite a bit of controversy between the executive board members who recommended Cheif Chandler and the regular members. The people who recommended Chief Chandler to the Mayor are friends of the fire chief and it is widely speculated that favors will eventually be returned. It should be noted however that the vast majority of the members of the Local 87 were and are of the opinion that Todd Chandler is not qualified to run the fire department and that there are numerous other candidates who should have been considered, both black and white. As for it being an interim position, the laws which state that a department head have to be confirmed do not make any accomadations for a distinction between interim and permanant, he has to be confirmed by the City Council. Now when Katie D. stated that he should not be considered because of having sued the City I say this; the legal system is designed to correct injustices when they occur, so when a person goes to court and a jury awards him/her a victory we have to assume that it was done fairly and that it was warranted. There are many many things that happen in City government that the average citizen will never know about, so suing the City should not be a factor when a person is being considered for promotion. As for the residency ordinance, Chief Chandler is well within compliance with the ordinance by residing in Hinds County, and that issue should never even come up. This is not just my opinion, this is a fact, if resumes were to be submitted by every member of this fire department there would only be three people who would meet the established qualifications. Unfortunately for the members of Limited all three are members of theLocal 87, and one is also a member of Limited. All three are white, but two have associates degrees in Fire Science and one has a Bachelors degree. I know this is not what a lot of people want to hear, but these three people put forth the effort and made the sacrifices required to earn these degrees while most firefighters worked second jobs for extra money or did nothing at all.

Author

T.J. Hooker

Date

2005-11-29T17:22:21-06:00

ID

64799

Comment

It appears that T.J. Hooker is one of the only three that is by his own standards "Qualified". The only one's squaking about Chief Chandler are mainly two of the three refrenced above. One of the two actually took his resume to one of the Transition team members and pleaded with him to get him the Fire Chief job, when it did not work in his favor then he got on the bashing wagon. The Mayor is the one who decides who is qualified by his standards to run a department not a bunch of undermining jealous people. About 90 % of Local 87 members as well as non members that I have spoken with said they would rather have Mickey Mouse as a Fire Chief than the Two that I am speaking of. You speak of having more classes than others because people are to busy working other jobs to further their education. What you did't say is that taking these courses are your second job and you make money as an instructor for these courses. So once again the Mayor has made his choice so leave it be. Let the Fire Chief do his job and staff the way he feels best for the department. Because thats the way its gonna be anyway. Work with them instead of against them. Maybe you need to run for Mayor so you can use your standards as you wish. Just because one has a extra class or two does not make them a LEADER.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-11-29T22:30:28-06:00

ID

64800

Comment

T.J. Hooker, I appreciate what you must consider as your 'informing me' of the real-going on's, however, I would appreciate if you are going to reference ME that you make the statement correct! I DID NOT say that Mr. Chandler should be not be considered for the position due to lawsuits, because the first I have heard his name mentioned as having filed a lawsuit was when YOU just mentioned it! I did not place any names regarding law suits in my commentary - I did this for the specific reason of NOT speculating as I had only read in a previous article or comment that SOME of the people who have been put in a position of leadership had multiple lawsuits against the city during their career's. I had NO names, until NOW to assign to those people. Furthermore, I do agree that the justice system is set up to 'right the wrongs', my intention of placing emphasis was regarding multiple lawsuits during a career! I think anyone would question the validity of numerous lawsuits during employment at one place. I mean, honestly, if the job is so bad, and you are being discriminated against, or having this many wrongs done to you - there are other fire departments that would probably be glad to have you, so why not leave? I will not, however, change my feelings regarding residency requirements for department heads of the City of Jackson. I personally believe it is wrong to live outside of the city, yet take home a check from them, especially when you are the 'leader' of your agency. Essentially, in my opinion, people who do this, believe it is okay to take money from the city and be considered one of the leaders within the same city - but let's not spend the money within the city that provides for your financial security. If your going to be a leader within this city keep the money in the city! I think the city should reconcider their position on residency requirements post haste - but again, that is MY opinion. You ultimately made your position that there are only 3 people on the entire fire department who are 'really' qualified. I sincerely fail to believe the validity of that point. I do not believe that education, however, is always 100% the telling sign of a good leader. I am lucky enough to have 'letters' behind my name, and I believe I am very fortunante to have been given the opportunity to achieve goals set for myself - however, I have also met many GREAT people in positions of leadership in different walks of life who have only a high school diploma and 'on-the-job-training' as their background. Education is a wonderful thing, however, if the people you are leading have no respect for you, as a person or a leader, then how can you consider yourself a leader, so to speak. From this forum alone, it is obvious that there is a high degree of unrest and lack of support for Mr. Chandler. I don't have all the answers, but I will continue to ask questions until I feel like I have heard the truth!

Author

Katie D

Date

2005-12-01T11:25:45-06:00

ID

64801

Comment

FF Limited had their meeting last night. It did not accomplish much, just the same as you have seen on here. Mainly people were trying speaking on how qualified they feel they are for the job. Once again most of the fuss is comming from people that have been removed from the command staff of which most of them are retired now. True enough most of the people even Chief Chandler meet some of the qualifications set forth in the "guidelines"which by the way are just guidelines not to be confused as proceedures. I agree with the above because I myself also know many great leaders of multi million dollar companies that have no college degrees. I am sure Chief Chandler will do what is right for each and every fire fighter on this department. He does not believe in double standards such as the the previous leadership that we had. Chief Chandler as far as I understand has two college degrees and many other certificates for courses that he has elected to take during his carrer. He has also done a great job so far with the small budget that he has been given to work with. If people would just sit back and wait I am sure most will appreciate and respect our new Chief.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-12-01T12:42:04-06:00

ID

64802

Comment

The effect of subliminal seduction is truly amazing. The initial objective was to find a qualified Fire Chief (as stated by our mayor). Now the issue has become about everything except this. We are reading and hearing about everything except the fact that the mayor himself said that he wanted the most qualified person for the job. I have trouble believing that that person does not exist WITHIN the department. We have read everything from racial assaults to "he really is a good person once you get to know him". Has the mayor changed his mind again? Does he believe that a good person can skip over being qualified to lead a department? No doubt that the current interim is a good person, but why has the issue of qualifications been passed over? Why not lay his qualifications on the table so we can move on. We probably will never have ANY position filled without some controversy, but will this interim be effective after all the smoke clears? The mayor opened this can of worms when he made his initial statement. Hopefully he has now seen that you must think carefully before you speak when you are in his position. Mayby he feels the meaning of a statement made by one of our great leaders "How great is my melancholy".

Author

rufus

Date

2005-12-01T15:10:50-06:00

ID

64803

Comment

It appears that many people are failing to remember that our previous fire chiefs (with all of their qualifications) were not so great either! How can you have people in your command staff that are only there because of who they know, claiming to have attended classes when they actually didn't. The fire chief's position is in fact appointed by the MAYOR. It is the city council's job to confirm the person the mayor has selected and nothing more. I would hate to see how this FINE city would be ran if people like Kenneth Stokes did the hiring of all department heads. Everyone just really needs to give Chandler a chance to do the job he has been appointed to instead of having to defend himself and be criticized all the time. Some people seem to have way tooo much time on their hands

Author

shark1

Date

2005-12-01T18:01:49-06:00

ID

64804

Comment

Shark1, I agree with most of your post with the exception of your statement on Kennethe Stokes, He appears to be supportive of our new Fire Chief. I do not believe that Stokes will let the Mayor do the job of the Mayor and confirm his choice. Crisler was the one the did interviews for the Fire Chief job. He seems to be the one that will have the problem with confirmantion.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-12-02T10:49:33-06:00

ID

64805

Comment

Sorry about the typo on my last post. It should state that I do believe that Stokes will let the Mayor do the Job of the Mayor. Well thats about enough for me in this Blog.

Author

Just me

Date

2005-12-02T22:30:41-06:00