Recall Attempt Stems From Layoff of Five Firefighters

Mayor Charles V. Smith and three other City Council members have filed their responses to a recall notice submitted by supporters of the Westminster Firefighters Assn.

City Clerk Mary Lou Morey received the papers Wednesday, moving forward the recall process that started late last month when 20 Westminster residents submitted the notice to recall Smith and council members Craig Schweisinger, Charmayne S. Bohman and Tony Lam.

The fifth member of the council, Frank Fry Jr., has not been served a recall notice.

The recall attempt stems from a council decision to lay off five firefighters and put a fire truck out of service as part of the reorganization of the Fire Department.

Recall proponents say the council action would endanger the lives and property of Westminster residents because it will diminish fire services.

But in his response to the recall notice, Smith said that public safety is not the issue. He said the issue is the attempt to put people on the council who can be controlled by the firefighters.

“This is . . . a blatant attempt . . . to take control of the city,” Smith said. He said that last year 20% of the city’s 69 firefighters earned more than $90,000 in salaries and overtime pay.

“If the firefighters succeed (in the recall), it will drive the city into bankruptcy,” Smith said.

Leaders of the recall effort say that Smith and the other council members are trying to scare residents from supporting the recall drive.

“It’s another smoke-and-mirror job,” said Rebecca Danna, one of the leaders of the recall effort. “They want to cover up what they have done. They say it’s not a safety issue, but it is a safety issue when firefighters are laid off.”

In his response, Lam echoed Smith’s claim that the firefighters simply want to hold on to their large overtime pay.

“The powerful fire labor union is milking the system for $1 million a year in overtime pay,” Lam said.

A citizen panel that reviewed the city’s finances this year found that the Fire Department spent more than $2 million in overtime over the past two years.

Schweisinger said the city is not cutting paramedic services as claimed by the firefighters. Instead, he said, with the reorganization, there will be a four-member paramedic unit assigned to each of the city’s three fire stations.

Bohman said that Fire Department cost must be controlled to enable the city to provide for other services, such as police protection and street maintenance.

“This recall is an attempt to control the city’s budget,” Bohman said.

Morey said recall proponents have until Oct. 18 to submit a draft of the recall petition, which, if approved, will then be circulated among city voters.

About 7,600 signatures, or 20% of the city’s registered voters, must sign the petition to force a recall election, Morey said. Recall proponents have 120 days to gather the signatures, she said.