Letters: No way to hire a firefighter
Re “LAFD recruit program is suspended,” March 21
As a retired L.A. firefighter, I’m outraged at the Los Angeles Fire Department’s recent recruitment and hiring practices. There is the nagging suspicion that there is nothing recent about it at all.
Doesn’t the city have to adhere to rules of the civil service system that are supposed to ensure fairness and impartiality in hiring practices?
The only way for the department to approach hiring is with complete openness and fairness. Everyone who passes a written exam should pass on to the next phase of testing, not just those who are aware they have to get their paperwork in within the first minute of a filing period.
The president of the union representing the department’s rank-and-file members stated that Mayor Eric Garcetti’s decision to suspend the recruitment program was “crazy” and “stupid.”
He got it exactly wrong: The Fire Department’s system was crazy and stupid, and the mayor was right to suspend and move to revamp the process.
Paul Williams
Los Angeles
People who work or have worked for local government probably already know this is how many departments work.
I worked for the L.A. County Internal Services Department for almost 16 years and saw many managers’ relatives suddenly become eligible for a job. The department was rife with nepotism.
If an airhead buddy of a general manager’s wife was promoted without a job posting notice as required, it didn’t even merit a yawn. I believe the public sector needs a clean sweep.
Manny Cervantes
Diamond Bar
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