WESTMINSTER : Judge Overturns Firefighter Layoffs

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered Westminster officials to reinstate five firefighters who were laid off as part of the city’s efforts to streamline its budget.

Judge Robert E. Thomas ordered that firefighters Billie Nelson, Paul Sanchez, Richard Brandt, James Keehn and Tim Creed, who were laid off Friday, be reinstated immediately.

In addition, the judge ordered that city officials not remove a firetruck from Station No. 2 on Moran Street or from any other fire station. He also said the city must make no further decisions on firefighters’ wages, hours or working conditions without consulting the Westminster Firefighters’ Assn.

In granting the firefighters’ request for a preliminary injunction, Thomas said the layoffs have increased the workload of other firefighters, posing a danger to them and the community. Because of the safety issue, Thomas said, the city should have negotiated with the firefighters’ association before laying off the five men.

A hearing to determine whether the injunction should be made permanent is pending.

“I feel relieved,” Brandt, a two-year veteran, said outside the courtroom. “We knew the city was wrong all along.”

“I’m eager to go back to work,” said Keehn, who added that he had been looking for a job over the last two weeks.

Although he received a layoff notice in July, Keehn said he was shocked when he was informed by telephone that he was being let go.

Despite the decision, the city will continue with its plans to reorganize the Fire Department to cut costs, according to lawyer Edward B. Reitkopp, who represented the city.

“We’re disappointed, obviously, but we’ll comply with the decision,” said Reitkopp, who termed the layoffs a “managerial decision based on economic constraints.”

A citizen panel that was asked to review the city’s finances recommended that $1.9 million be cut from the Fire Department’s 1993-94 budget through a combination of layoffs, reduced overtime and elimination of one firetruck.

But Alan C. Davis, a San Francisco-based attorney who represented the firefighters, said the city should have negotiated with the firefighters’ association before acting.

“We hope that the city will now negotiate in good faith with the union,” he said.

Davis said the city has already met twice with the union and is scheduled to meet again at 10 a.m. today at City Hall.

“The city did it backward--they acted first and negotiated later,” Davis said.