ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : An Ever More Inflamed Labor Fight

Westminster Fire Chief John T. DeMonaco Jr. went too far this week in suspending one of his captains, a firefighters union officer, for asserting that staffing cuts at a fire station might have contributed to a death in a Jan. 27 blaze.

DeMonaco said the suspension of Mike Garrison was warranted because his statement was unsubstantiated. Contending that Garrison had acted unprofessionally, the chief said that firefighters who had been at the scene found the flames so intense no one could have survived, regardless of equipment or personnel.

The situation is complicated dramatically by the continuing battle between the firefighters union and the city. That faceoff has been poisoned by politics, recriminations and charges of wrongdoing that seem continually to escalate on both sides.

The latest dispute centers on a fire at a board-and-care home in which a mentally retarded man died. A day later, Garrison held a press conference to charge that the death had resulted from the mayor and the City Council putting politics above the safety of the people.

A City Council member retorted that the state fire marshal was still investigating the blaze and the union was merely fighting to hold on to money and power. The city official is one of three council members who, with the mayor, have been targeted for recall by supporters of the firefighters, angry that the council reduced the Fire Department budget last year. In the cutback, the station closest to the board-and-care home was stripped of one of its firetrucks and some of its staff.

Charges that politicians are jeopardizing public safety always touch a nerve. Because they generate such passion, they should not be leveled without clear supporting evidence. Garrison’s contentions have been contradicted by other professionals, and his remarks indeed may have been ill-considered. But he is a 19-year veteran who deserves to be heard, and the issue raised is a serious one worth discussing--whatever the actual effort of the budget cuts.

The residents of Westminster certainly should be able to sort out political posturing from legitimate safety questions. It’s unlikely any city exposure to liability would be affected significantly by public contentions made in a volatile union dispute. Surely anyone bringing litigation against Westminster would seek supporting evidence anyway for any claim of negligence in emergency preparedness. The suspension appears mostly to be a punitive restriction on free speech.