Bobb Reacts to Ad by Firefighters : Says He Will Ask for an Agreement to Stay or Resignation

Santa Ana City Manager Robert C. Bobb said that he is mailing letters to all Fire Department employees, asking them if they want to stay with the city, and that he will assume that those who don’t respond by Nov. 15 are resigning.

The letters are in response to an advertisement placed by the firefighters’ association Friday, stating that all 205 firemen, engineers and paramedics are “available” for jobs elsewhere.

Bobb’s letters to employees include a form for resignation. He stressed that if letters are not received in his office by Nov. 15, he will “assume” that those people are resigning and will begin recruitment for their jobs.

To Seek Replacements

Bobb said that he will place an advertisement inviting applications for replacements and that the survey will help him decide how many people to recruit. He said about 35 applications are currently on file.

“We very definitely are not overreacting to this,” he said. “I believe that if they really feel that way, they owe it to us to give two weeks’ notice and they owe it to themselves to work in an environment that best suits their career goals.”

The advertisement that sparked Bobb’s survey appeared in Friday’s Orange County edition of The Times and the Orange County Register. Officials of the Firemen’s Benevolent Assn. said that problems have been building for several years and include a controversial move to replace firefighter paramedics with civilian paramedics, allegedly unequal and unfairly imposed discipline, and a lack of communication between employees and the department’s administration.

The ad includes a statement that the employees who wish to leave “can no longer tolerate the morale-wrecking working conditions imposed by Fire Chief (William) Reimer and City Manager Robert Bobb.” More than 30 people have left the department in the last two years, most of them firefighter-paramedics. Three lawsuits and numerous stress claims and grievances also have been filed by firefighters.

Several firefighters said they would like to work elsewhere because of the stressful atmosphere but aren’t actively seeking another job. “I don’t want to leave; I’d like to see the problems resolved here,” said firefighter-paramedic Jim Costello, who will be reassigned to firefighting duties next Friday. “The sad thing about this is that Santa Ana used to be the best fire department in the county.”

Firefighter Ray Comeau, a board member of the Firemen’s Benevolent Assn., said he felt that Bobb’s letters were not binding but could be most damaging to newly hired civilian paramedics. “The significance of that is that some of them are temporary employees and can be fired without a grievance proceeding,” he said.

However, both Bobb and Reimer stressed that no employee would be fired or forced to resign.

“I’ve been listening to this for a long time,” Reimer said. He added that the department conducted a review of all employee files after the accusations regarding unfair treatment arose and found that about a third of the employees had received some kind of discipline during their employment with the city, ranging from letters of reprimand to suspensions and one demotion. The evidence did not corroborate the charges of uneven or unreasonable policies, he said.

Says Ad Misleading

Reimer said that the advertisement was misleading and that he already had received “about 10” memos from employees disassociating themselves from it. “I honestly feel that the numbers they’ve written into this are not a true reflection of the number of people who truly want to leave,” he said.

Bobb said the city’s wage and benefits package would draw many applicants. “I have a responsibility to deliver fire protection services to the community,” he said. “We’re going to build our employment base.”