Firefighters Testify on Department Racial Strife : Government: Many at committee hearing criticize Chief Manning for his role in allowing alleged discrimination. Others say they have never witnessed bias.

Painting a picture of a department bitterly divided along racial lines, Los Angeles city firefighters on both sides of an emotional affirmative action debate testified Wednesday at a City Council committee hearing.

A number of white and Latino firefighters at the Personnel Committee hearing rallied in support of the department and its chief, Donald O. Manning. But the vast majority of the speakers--all African Americans--detailed personal accounts of alleged racial and gender discrimination.

“I’m a woman, and I deserve that respect,” said firefighter D’Lisa Davies, fighting back tears as she recounted allegedly being called a “black bitch” at a fire station.

More than 200 people packed the council chambers for the latest in a series of highly charged public hearings--sparked by the release last month of a blistering city audit.

During four hours of testimony, several black firefighters attacked their chief for dismissing the audit as a “hatchet job” based on the grumblings of a few disgruntled firefighters. Others, such as Battalion Chief Rick Garcia, said they had never experienced discrimination.

“I can tell you,” Garcia flatly said, “I have never, never experienced the glass ceiling.”

Manning, who sat expressionless through much of the hearing, acknowledged that problems exist on the 3,100-member force. But, the chief told council members, he is moving quickly to address the concerns and begin “the healing process” in a department torn by controversy.

“We want to move forward with quality in what we do,” Manning said. “We’ve got to get this issue behind us. It festers and gets worse.”

Department morale is at an all-time low, firefighters say, and the force is badly split among those who contend that the chief has not pushed hard enough for affirmative action and others who believe that he has gone too far--allowing hiring standards to be lowered to the point that recruits are washing out at high rates and unqualified firefighters are working in the field.

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The department--long regarded as one of the nation’s finest--has come under increasing scrutiny for its hiring and promotion practices since the release of the harshly critical audit. The Personnel Department study concluded that white males dominate top posts and that women and minorities have been harassed and given unfair evaluations by supervisors in an effort to force them out.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who chaired Wednesday’s meeting, has vowed to fully investigate the department and has scheduled another hearing next week.

Summoned before Goldberg’s committee last month, Manning was surrounded by a roomful of firefighters who closed ranks with their chief--in stark contrast to Wednesday’s hearing.

The hearing began with a report by Manning’s human relations committee, which was created to address affirmative action issues. The committee, the chief said, has begun to implement many of the recommendations outlined in the Personnel Department audit.

Afterward, in groups of four, the speakers were called to present their testimony.

Firefighter Alicia Mathis, a representative of the 30-member Los Angeles Women in the Fire Service, said her group supported the audit’s findings.

“We’re concerned about differential treatment of women on the Fire Department,” Mathis said, adding that women have a more difficult time being promoted and sometimes face harsher treatment than male colleagues.

William Parker, a fire inspector and 14-year veteran, told council members that racism exists throughout the department and that he had heard the epithet “nigger” used in a firehouse.

Parker then said he was one of the anonymous firefighters who was quoted in the Personnel Department audit, adding that he took exception with the chief’s statement that he and the others were disgruntled employees.

“I speak to you from a position of information and not because I am disgruntled,” Parker said. “Describing them as disgruntled employees is ignorant. How can any intelligent person make such a blanket statement?”

In the most emotional testimony of the day, former firefighter La Tonya Marshall broke down in tears, sobbing for about five minutes as she charged that she was constantly called “hey girl” instead of her name at her fire station and subjected to unfair evaluations. She said she was fired in 1993 while on leave with an ulcer.

“I just hope things change,” she said. “We need people to help us. Not hinder or degrade us.”

But Capt. Steve Norris, a 20-year veteran and board member of the 3,000-member firefighters union, said: “I have seen tremendous strides in affirmative action. I have never seen blatant discrimination.”

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At the end of the hearing, Manning was called back to the council dais, where he was criticized by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas for allowing his firefighters to jeer the Fire Commission on Tuesday.

“It was most unprofessional and unacceptable and it only gives credence to the very things we are concerned about that you consistently say do not happen,” Ridley-Thomas said. “I want to say that to you as clearly as possible.”

“We want to get the emotions moving in the right direction,” Manning responded. “I don’t have any qualms with oversight.”

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Under Fire

* The original Times articles reporting on an alleged pattern of bias in training and promotion at the Los Angeles Fire Department is available on TimesLink. For a package of stories on the controversy, call the Times on Demand order line. Press *8630. Select option 1. Order No. 5512. $4.

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