The Los Angeles Firefighter - UFLAC.org Firefighter/2005... · 2005-10-23 · Jewish firefighter...

VOL. 43, NO. 6 November/December 2005

The

Los Angeles FirefighterOfficial Publication of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City—Local 112, IAFF, AFL-CIO-CLC

The Los Angeles Firefighter1571 Beverly Boulevard

Los Angeles, California 90026(#ISSN01907573)

November/December 2005

PERIODICALPostage Paid

atLos Angeles, CA

In This Issue . . .Article Page(s)In Memoriam, Mark S. Samet, Bill Corr . . . . . . . . . 1, 7, 11Report from the President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Officer’s Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4CPF – Governor’s Anti-worker Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . 5UFLAC Endorses Jose Huizar for City Council . . . . . . . . 6Legislative Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Firefighter’s BBQ and Fund Raiser for Gulf Victims . . . . 8Fire Station Visitations by Officials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Your Health – Weight Loss (Bariatric) Surgery . . . . . . . . 10Northwest San Fernando Valley Brushfire . . . . . . . . . 12-13The Mail Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14LAFD Returns from Hurricane Katrina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Introducing New Board of Fire Commissioners . . . . . . . 16

LAFD Members Respond to Fire and Flood

At a moment’s notice, LosAngeles City Firefighters areready to battle whatever neces-sary to save lives. And that isexactly what they did, not onlyhere in Los Angeles but acrossthe country in the Gulf Coast.

Over 90 LAFD members weredeployed in the aftermath of Kat-rina, helping those in need andsaving lives. The LAFD SwiftWater Rescue Team rescued 200victims on the first day alone.After thirteen days of deploy-

ment, LAFD and LA CountySwift Water Rescue jointly res-cued nearly 520 victims.

Upon their return, UFLAChonored them at a FirefightersHope for Hurricane VictimsBBQ and Fund Raiser. Presentwere Mayor Villaraigosa, andCouncilmembers Perry, Greuel,Cardenas and LaBonge to giveour members a commemorativeplaque for their service.

No sooner than LAFD mem-bers returned from the Gulf

Coast, they were once againbusy with fighting fires here athome. With the breakout of theTopanga fire in late September,75 engine companies and 6 res-cue ambulances were busykeeping the fire from destroy-ing homes in the NorthwestSan Fernando Valley communi-ties of Chatsworth, CanogaPark, and West Hills.

Under the extreme conditionsof rugged terrain and Santa AnaWinds, LAFD firefighters, work-

ing with LA and Ventura CountyFirefighters, were responsible forsaving thousands of homes andlives from the fire’s destruction.The skill of our firefightersresulted in not only the contain-ment of the fire with minimalproperty damage, but the hailingof our brave members as heroesby our Mayor, Councilmembersand the residents of Los Angeles.

August and Septemberproved to be busy months forthe LAFD. Firefighter’s skills

were once again on display, andour members answered the callin ways that underscore theirpreparedness for any disasterthat might come to southernCalifornia and throughout thenation. The professionalismand dedication to duty that ourfire service men and womenperformed make the people ofLos Angeles and surroundingcommunities grateful for theirinvestment in fire and emer-gency services.

In Memoriam

Mark S. SametFirefighter III

Active Duty - Fire Station 111 “C”Born: March 20, 1952

Appointed to LAFD: December 18, 1983Died: October 6, 2005

The Officers and Members ofUnited Firefighters of Los Angeles City

Local 112, IAFF, AFL-CIO-CLCOffer their heartfelt condolences to

our Brother Mark’s dear family and many friends during this most difficult time.

In Loving Memory…

Eulogy from Mark Samet’s sister ShelleyWhat can you say about a

Jewish firefighter who, betweenemergency calls at the fire sta-tion, was determined to writethe great Hollywood comedy?

That was my brother Mark.Besides his great gifts of

compassion, sense of humor,and positive outlook on life, hewas a great friend to all.

He would listen to your prob-lems and give you a good “peptalk” punctuated by the latestjoke he had heard to make youfeel better. He was a master ofthe “positive spin” on things. Iwould end up laughing at hiswonderful insight and humor.

He helped me so much; espe-cially during the last coupleyears…he was always there forme.

As a son, brother, cousin anduncle, he was beyond compare.You know how important fami-ly was to him. He loved familyget-togethers – Passover, RoshHashanah, and Thanksgiving.He would always reassure mewith, “Yes, Shelley, I’ll bringthe salad.” He also played amean guitar when the cousinsall sang after dinners.

He loved mom, dad and Ken,and had his own “special way”of soothing things over, as dadpassed down to us, when “thegoing got rough.” Keep yoursense of humor about things.Mark always remembered that.He was never one to get downin the dumps.

He was a great uncle to mysons, Justin and Taylor andtook them snowboarding,

Continued on page 11

Photo by Mike Meadows, CFPA - more photos on pages 12 - 13Photo by Gene Blevins, CFPA

Los Angeles Firefighter November/December 2005

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IAFF and AFL-CIO affiliates have prior approval to reprint or excerpt articles inthe Los Angeles Firefighter — Please include credit line.

Note: Photos and cartoons may not be reprinted without the expressed writtenpermission of the photographer or artist.

The Los Angeles Firefighter(ISSN #0190-7573)

Local 112, IAFF, AFL-CIO-CLCOfficial Publication of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City is

Published Bi-MonthlyPeriodical Postage paid at Los Angeles, CA

Known Office of Publication isUnited Firefighters of Los Angeles City,

1571 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles,California 90026-5798

POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to The Los Angeles Firefighter1571 Beverly Blvd.

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Union Office Phone NumbersAdministration:

(213) 895-4006 - (213) 485-2091 - Toll Free (800) 252-8352Benefits:

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AffiliationsInternational Assn. of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO-CLC

California Professional Fire FightersL.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIOAmerican Federation of Labor

International Labor Communications Association, AFL-CIO-CLCWestern Labor Communications Association, AFL-CIO

Los Angeles Firefighter Newspaper StaffJim Perry-Editor

[email protected] of the Communications Workers of America

CWA Local 9400, Southern California Newspaper Guild, AFL-CIO-CLC

Jerry Smith - Staff Writer

Contributing Photographers

California Fire Photographers Association (CFPA)

Ross Benson, CFPAIsaac Burks, LAFD Gene Blevins, CFPA

Bill Hartenstein, CFPAChris Jensen, CFPA

Brian Litt, CFPA

Juan Guerra, Valley News ServiceRick McClure, LAFDMike Meadows, CFPA

Jeff Miller, CFPA Martin Nate Rawner, CFPA

Boris Yaro

WESTERN LABOR COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION

This union newspaper is printed by a union printer on union-made recycled paper.

UFLAC 2005-2006 Executive BoardPRESIDENT

Patrick S. McOsker, Engineer . . . . . . . . . . UFLAC Office

SECRETARYMike McOsker, Engineer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UFLAC Office

FIRST VICE PRESIDENTPaul J. Gilbrook, Apparatus Operator . Fire Station 11-A

SECOND VICE PRESIDENTStephen E. Norris, Captain II. . . . . . . . . Fire Station 63-B

TREASURERTed Nonini, Firefighter III . . . . . . . . . . . Fire Station 70-C

DIRECTORRey Delgado, Firefighter/Paramedic . . . Fire Station 42-BJoe Flores, Firefighter/Paramedic . . . . . Fire Station 23-BJames G. Featherstone, Captain II . . . . Fire Station 64-ADavid Pimentle, Captain/Paramedic . . . . . . . . . . . EMS-3,

Fire Station 46-ASteven Tufts, Firefighter III . . . . . . . . . . Fire Station 70-A

LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOREric Shabsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UFLAC Office

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE DIRECTORJerry Brakeman, Retired Firefighter/Attendant. . . . . . . . . . . UFLAC Office

EDITORJim Perry, Retired Fire Captain II. . . . . . . UFLAC Office

Paramedic CommitteeMembers

David PimentleCommittee Chair . FS-46-ABill Ramsey . . . . FS-74-ADave Barnes . . . . FS-86-CMike Brown . . . . FS-84-ACedrick Cleveland. FS-38-BRey Delgado . . . . FS-42-BJim Gibson. . . . . . FS-6-AAaron Mungary. FS-47-CDave Raya . . . . . FS-44-BPaul Semerjian FS-105-CStacy Taylor . . . . . FS-5-CLou Torres . . . . . FS-20-C

If You See An Error…

The Los Angeles Firefighterstrives to maintain accuracyand fairness in all stories,graphics, photographs andother copy that appears in ourunion newspaper. It is our prac-tice to correct errors in theissue immediately followingtheir discovery.

If you have a correction orclarification request, please callthe UFLAC office at 800-252-8352 or email the editor:[email protected]

Station StewardsAssignment Platoon Name001 C Robert Pumphrey002 B Michael Pinel003 C Thomas Kennington004 A Brett Merrell004 B James Williamson006 A James Gibson008 C Mark Kleckner009 C Scott Souter012 C Bryan Riley015 A Cameron Kennedy017 B Leonard Ruvalcaba020 C Louis Torres023 A Ramon Haro025 B Richard Rivas027 B David Fabela027 C Adelino Jaminal037 A John LIbby037 C Greg Madrigal044 B David Raya047 B David Sifuentes060 B Jason Teter061 A George James061 B Marc Samama064 A Ruben Chan069 A James Just069 A Doak Smith070 C Frank Hurtado070 B Jeffrey Rickey073 A Robert Ruffino074 A William Ramsey085 B Matthew Powell088 B Gerry Malais089 B Ricardo Najera092 A John Sullivan094 B Martin Mullin096 A Ronald Myers106 C Paul Semerjian107 C Michael Crandall109 C Craig Fletcher112 C John DonatoARS A Jose SanchezARS B Leslie WilkersonLEGAL LIA. Eduardo E. CamposLEGAL LIA. Andrew M. GutierrezOCD B Joe ColemanOCD A Alexander MolinaQI S Michele BanksTech S Gary Carpenter

Nov. - Dec. Station Stewards MeetingsTime: 7:30 a.m.

Prior to Monthly Membership Meetings

GeneralMembership

Meetings9:00 a.m.

November 23“C” Platoon on duty

December 21“A” Platoon on duty

UFLAC-Union Offices1571 Beverly Blvd.

Los Angeles

Refreshments and Free Parking Available

Union StewardsNeeded

Our goal is to have aUnion Steward at everywork location. Thoseinterested please callFirst Vice President PaulGilbrook at the union hall:(800) 252-8352.

Newspaper Mailing ListIf you are receiving this newspaper and would like to be

removed from our mailing list, please call the union office at 1-800-252-8352, Ext. 208 or clip and mail this note to:

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From San Pedro to Sylmar,from Eagle Rock to WoodlandHills, the men and women ofthe Los Angeles Fire Depart-ment and active supporters ofthe LAFD have carried a cere-monial torch to nearly everycommunity in our 470 square-mile jurisdiction:

Joined by civic and commu-nity leaders - such as MayorAntonio Villaraigosa who havegenerously supported thisquest, our collective mission tobuild a memorial to fallen LosAngeles Firefighters is nowcomplete.

Ending its citywide journey,the torch ignited an eternalflame during the Memorial

unveiling on October 1 at theFirefighters Festival of Holly-wood.

The final days of the torchrelay were exciting times for all

of us on the LAFD, as we tooktime to reflect and rememberour friends who have paid theultimate price protecting ourcommunity.

Fallen Firefighters Torch Relay

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Fire Chief Bill Bamattre

November/December 2005 Los Angeles Firefighter

Pat McOsker

Report from the PresidentReport from the President

Photo by Joe Ortiz, LAFD-HS

Protecting Your Paycheck and FutureRecently, Governor Arnold

Schwarzenegger endorsed Prop75, saying that the paychecks ofhard working union membersought to be protected. His argu-ment is that no one should takemoney out of worker’s pay-checks without theirpermission, and that unionmembers should have controlover how their dues are spent. Ican’t say I disagree with any ofthat – who could? I only wishthat the Governor’s smokescreen on Prop 75 had some-thing…anything to do with theinitiative itself.

In reality, no public worker inCalifornia has money taken outof their paycheck without per-mission – that would be illegal.Under the law no publicemployee can ever be forced tojoin a union. Furthermore,union members have total con-trol over how their money isspent – that’s the law too, calledthe Landrum – Griffin Act orUnion Members Bill of Rights.It mandates democratic majori-ty-rules practices for unions andempowers the U.S. Departmentof Labor to enforce those rules.

Contempt for PublicEmployees

Let’s be clear: GovernorSchwarzenegger and his allies –the wealthy corporate bosseswho qualified Prop 75 for theballot – are no more inclined toprotect working people thanthey are to take a running leapoff a cliff. The measure’s author,Lou Uhler, has been quotedcalling all public employees“greedy and arrogant”. Uhlerbragged that if Prop 75 passes,Schwarzenegger will control thestate without interference frompesky unions, and will thenmove his agenda forward with-out organized opposition. ForCalifornia teachers, that meansdeep cuts to public education.For state nurses, it meanspatient ratios and other publichealth protections are back inthe crosshairs. For us – firefight-ers and cops – just as hepromised only a few monthsago; if Prop 75 passes the Gov-ernor will reintroduce his planto rollback pensions, eliminat-ing death and disability benefits,and we’ll be unable to stop it.

Facts about our union…Let me set the record straight

about Local 112 and politics.Our union is as open and demo-cratic as any institution inAmerica. First and foremost:Local 112 is a voluntary organ-

ization. You don’t have tobelong to 112 to be an LAFDfirefighter. As you know, thosewho choose not to belong arenever hassled or harassedregarding their decision, andthey are graciously given everybenefit of membership exceptvoting on our issues. Local 112represents non-members ingrievances and discipline all ofthe time, and we negotiate thecontracts that all LAFD fire-fighters enjoy. Firefighters areteam players who appreciatefairness and like to pull theirload, and I think that’s why97% of all LAFD membersfreely choose to belong toLocal 112.

Prop 75 was designed tohobble unions

The passage of Prop 75wouldn’t provide any additionalrights to union members, onlyhobble unions with red tape andnew rules that apply to no oneelse. And there’s the matter ofprivacy: If Prop 75 passes,reports regarding who does anddoesn’t participate in the politi-cal action of their union will bereadily available to the publicand the employer. That’s un-American and unfair –especially for firefighters whowork for a boss that demandsloyalty and often misunder-stands the positive roll playedby the Union.

Union members decide onexpenditure of funds

We vote on everything in ourlocal union. You will recall thatabout two years ago we votedregarding our PAC funds. PACstands for Political Action Com-mittee, and these are the fundsthat Prop 75 backers hope todry up with passage of themeasure. They understand thatmoney is the mother’s milk ofpolitics, and if workers don’tpool their resources, their voic-es will be effectively silenced.Two years ago Local 112 gaveits members a choice – by mail-home ballot – regardingpolitical action. You rightlyelected to fund two separatePAC’s; one for candidate sup-port and another for ballotissues. You chose to use onlyvoluntary contributions –money freely given and sepa-rate from dues – for candidatesupport. At the same time youvoted to fund an Issues PACdirectly from dues. That’sexactly what we have done.

Just as we promised andaccording to our By-laws, every

PAC expenditure exceeding$2,500 is voted on by the mem-bership at union meetings.Smaller contributions are stillmade by a vote of the UFLACExecutive Board. And youshould know that your Board isthe ultimate in representativedemocracy: any Local 112member can run for the Board,and if you don’t like what we’redoing you can overrule us at aunion meeting or throw us out atthe end of our two year terms.

Candidate endorsementpolicy

Nearly three years ago, on therecommendation of the Execu-tive Board, Local 112 membersvoted at a union meeting toestablish a candidate endorse-ment policy that goes wellbeyond any legal requirement fordemocracy within unions. Ourpolicy mandates open interviewsof candidates and votes of themembers present for endorse-ments in certain local races.Under the policy, at last month’smeeting Local 112 membersheard from candidates vying toreplace Antonio Villaraigosa asCouncilman for the 14th CD.They voted unanimously toendorse Jose Huizar. Not everyendorsement vote over the pasttwo years has been given unani-mously, but they have all beendemocratically decided.

Issues PAC andCandidate PAC Funds

are separateWe also vote on positions on

the issues of the day. Rememberthat if Prop 75 passes, our voicewill be silenced on politicalissues only. That’s becauseLocal 112 dues money goes intoour Issues PAC, not our Candi-date PAC. The big issues votedon by 112 members at monthlymeetings in recent memorywere No on Valley and Holly-wood Secession and Yes on Prop1A. Both positions were takenwith our public safety concernsin mind. Also in both cases, themembership went on to vote infavor of appropriate campaigncontributions from the UFLACIssues PAC.

Prop 75 removes unionfrom the political process

Here’s the danger of Prop 75:if firefighter unions are effec-tively taken out of the politicalprocess, there will be no oneleft to advocate for fire andparamedic provided publicsafety. We’ve always been, andalways will be, the only ones

who do that. No communitygroup understands our workwell enough to champion ourcauses, elected officials arepulled in every possible direc-tion by their constituents, andfire department managers aremuzzled by their bosses andtend to be too motivated by pro-motions and bonuses to speakout. All across California andour nation, it’s up to firefighterunions to wage political battlesfor public safety, and to do itwith dues money.

Fat Cats Bank-rollingProp 75

So what is the real motivationfor the corporations bankrollingYes on Prop 75? You need toknow that these big-businessinterests have bankrolledArnold’s entire agenda thus far.They give to the euphemistical-ly named Citizens to SaveCalifornia and Arnold’s Cali-fornia Recovery Team; politicalcommittees set up to financeanti-worker initiatives, and theygive to shadow non-profitorganizations established tofunnel money directly intoArnold’s pocket to pay forthings like his accommodationsin Sacramento and fine cigarsunder the tent. These corpora-tions all have or will havebusiness before the Governorworth billions of dollars, andthere has been a direct correla-tion between their degree ofloyalty to his causes and hissupport for their issues.

Staged press conferenceduring major wildfires…The height of hypocrisyIn the aftermath of the wild-

fires in L.A. and Venturacounties last month, Arnoldflew down to see the destructionand to hold a press conference.For the event, he arraigned tohave the equivalent of a striketeam pulled out of service to

pose as the backdrop for an on-camera statement. Thefirefighters who waited for two-and-a-half hours in the hot sunto be Arnold’s backdrop sawthrough his hypocrisy. Knowingthat he vetoed the package ofbills related to brush fire safetythat came out of his own BlueRibbon Commission after the’03 Firestorms, the firefightersasked not to be made to standwith the Governor. In the end,they were ordered to pose with aman who disrespects our profes-sion. When asked why that wasby reporters at the news confer-ence, Arnold simply responded,“everyone knows I love fire-fighters…I even played one in amovie once.”

Firefighters are the trueaction heroes…

What everyone really knowsis that LAFD firefighters andtheir counterparts throughoutCalifornia are the true actionheroes. Our work is too sacredand our job too dangerous tostand idly by and allow greedycorporate fat cats and a Holly-wood “B-movie” actor to teardown what we have built. Fire-fighters have neither the rightnor the inclination to strike for afair contract, decent workingconditions or margins of publicand firefighter safety. Politicalaction is all that we have in ourarsenal. If our political voice issilenced, our profession and ourfamilies will suffer, and thepublic that we protect will suf-fer as well. Don’t let it happen.Get out and vote on November8th, and make sure that yourfamily, friends and neighborsdo so too. Please vote No onProposition 75.

Fraternally,

UFLAC President Pat McOsker being interviewed about Prop75 by Fox national TV correspondent Anita Vogel, with cameraman Hugh McChord. Photo by Jim Perry, Editor


Our Steward Structure is the Backbone of Local 112

by Paul GilbrookFirst Vice President

As you can see by the currentstewards list we have severalopenings. Our goal is to have aUFLAC steward in every worklocation.

A union’s strength dependson the commitment and loyaltyof its members. An educated,committed, proud and support-ive membership is the necessary

foundation for contract gains,political and legislative victo-ries, organizing, public relationsand coalition building in theunion movement.

The task of building a strong,unified union within the LAFDhas become and will continueto be a considerable challenge.The environments in whichUFLAC members live andwork, the demands on theirtime, the ways in which theyget this information have allchanged, requiring adapta-tions in the union’s behavior aswell.

The steward structure is thebackbone of Local 112. Thetraditional role of the stewardin the union movement hasbeen to handle grievances.However, the good stewardserves as much more than justthe member’s advocate in thegrievance procedure.

The UFLAC steward canmake a difference by

doing four things:They help the local handle

grievances efficiently.They keep members who are

unable to attend monthly meet-ings well informed on what isgoing on in the local.

They ask for input from themembers on union issues.

They interact in a friendlyand personal way.

Education is essentialWhatever the role of our

stewards, education is essen-tial, as is the opportunity forstewards to get together andcompare problems and solu-tions and regular ways toreward and recognize the con-tributions of our stewards.

Brothers and Sisters, pleasecheck the current steward ros-ter and see if you have a

steward at your work assign-ment. If not, please getinvolved. Try it for a year andsee if you can make a differ-ence at your workplace.

Local 112 is only as strong asits officers, stewards and mem-bership. I’ve been activelyinvolved in the labor movementfor the past 25 years. I’veobserved strong unions andweak ones. A good union istwo things to me. One is anadvocate for fair contracts, safeworking conditions, better pen-sion enhancements, medicalbenefits, etc. The other is aforce to be used when workersare attacked by uncaring man-agement, anti-worker groups orgovernment officials.

The need for unityUnder our President Pat

McOsker, UFLAC is firing onall cylinders by simultaneous-

ly filling both roles! We areconstantly working toincrease benefits, better work-ing conditions, and arepreparing for contract negoti-ations next year. At the sametime we are in a battle withthe Governor and his big busi-ness associates who arewaging a fight against fire-fighters, nurses, teachers andpolice officers. We need to beunited now more than ever!

It’s not an easy job being aUFLAC steward, but if you’rethe kind of person who enjoysresponsibility, likes to solveproblems, help people, andcares about fairness and justice,this is the job for you. It takestime and energy, but is incredi-bly rewarding. Please contactme if you’re interested in join-ing the team or have anyquestions. My cell phone num-ber is: (562) 301-6399.

IAFF Fallen Firefighters Memorial

by Steve NorrisSecond Vice President

On Saturday, September 17,2005 President Pat McOskerand I attended the 19th AnnualIAFF Fallen FirefightersMemorial in Colorado Spring,Colorado representing UFLACand our fallen Brothers andSister who were memorializedon the “Wall of Honor”.

Unfortunately, eighty-sixmembers of the IAFF, includ-

ing eight members of our unionwere enshrined on the wall thisyear. The members beingremembered were either killedin the line of duty (LODD) orhaving succumbed due to aduty related illness.

Thousands were in atten-dance, including three of ourown Brothers’ and Sister’s fam-ilies, many members of theLAFD and members of theLAFD “Color Guard”.

The ceremony, which includ-ed participation of firefightersfrom all over the United Statesand Canada was very movingand dignified. In addition to the“Pipes and Drum Brigade”there was a large contingent offlag bearers and many civic andunion leaders.

IAFF President Harold A.Schaitberger was the keynote

speaker and as always hisremarks truly addressed thededication, courage, and sacri-fice of these brave men andwomen and their families’commitment to those who paidthe ultimate sacrifice.

The Memorial is located in abeautiful setting overlooking amountain range in MemorialPark, Colorado Springs, Col-

orada and is dedicated to thosewho gave the ultimate sacrificeon behalf of others. Additional-ly, it serves as a tribute to thosewho gave everything and as afulfillment to the promise “tonever forget”.

The members of UFLAC –IAFF Local 112 who werememorialized this year are asfollows:

Captain II Robert Aker,Firefighter Jaime Foster,Captain I John R. Gregory,Firefighter/ Paramedic Jim-mie Hill, Firefighter FrankHotchkin, Firefighter IIIKelly R. Hoss, Captain IIHenry J. Graf, FirefighterIII Robert M. Ortega. Godspeed and may they rest inpeace.

Management’s Detail Policy…

What exactly is a Detail?

by Rey DelgadoDirector

The best analogy that I couldthink of is a “blank check.”That’s right, managementviews its detail policy as opento interpretation. Our membersare being displaced on a regularbasis; sometimes for lengths oftime exceeding a year.

United Firefighters isadamantly opposed to thismanipulation of our member’sloyalty. When confronted withthis unfair practice, manage-ment will usually take the atti-tude of “take us to court”,which actually means toexhaust all the grievance proce-

dures while management dragsits feet, and hopefully you weardown and give up.

Ever wonder how manage-ment chooses who will get dis-placed (detailed)? It seems thatthey choose members that haveclean disciplinary history andhopefully will not complain toomuch. I can think of tworespected members of ourDepartment, who happen to befriends of mine, who were sentpacking because managementwanted to discipline someoneelse. Of course there are morethan just these two examples –in fact there are many more. Alltoo often, when UFLAC con-fronts management, our com-plaints fall on deaf ears.

Bait and switchMany times, management

actually makes up the rules asthey go. For instance, I had apersonal experience where Iwas hired for a firefighter posi-tion nine days out; then on thefifth day management used theold “bait and switch” technique

and detailed me to Rescue 9. Iwas signed up for battaliononly, so why was I beingdetailed to a different battalion?

I was able to find a firefighterwho was willing to replace me,but I was told that I needed aparamedic. I explained to thesupervisor involved that I washired for a firefighter positionand not a paramedic position.This supervisor began callinghis supervisors to get a ruling. Ithen received a phone call that Ineeded a paramedic replacementand “that comes all the wayfrom the Planning Section”. Iwas able to produce a letter ofagreement between UFLAC andmanagement proving that myreplacement needed only to bethe original rank of hire.

Ignorance or blatantabuse of power?

Clearly someone in a man-agement position did not knowthe rules or simply chose toignore them. Management hasa responsibility to be fair andjust to all its members, not just

the chosen few.UFLAC recently proposed a

fair and equitable revision ofthe detail policy but manage-ment refuses to give up that“blank check” approach.

The Executive Board ofUnited Firefighters will nevergive up fighting for the rightsof all our firefighters.

Be safe my Brothers and Sis-ters.

Dodger’s Hero day 2005. Firefighter Dan Curry singing atDodger’s Stadium. Photo by Rob Curtis, LAFD


Talking to Your Neighbors andFriends about Props. 75 and 76

Firefighters … nurses …teachers … cops. These are thepeople at the heart of the fightin this November’s specialelection. Your neighbors willbe looking to you for helpunderstanding the stakes for allCalifornians in this fight. Andthey’ll have questions …

Why are you guys so hardon Arnold?

A lot of firefighters whovoted for Arnold in the recallbecause they thought theywere getting someone whoreally wanted to make govern-ment work. But it turns outhe’s just another politician,playing the same politicalgames and raising millionsfrom the same special inter-ests. He’s broken everypromise he ever made to thepeople of California, and nowhe’s coming after firefighters,nurses, teachers and policeofficers. Arnold has let usdown.

Why are firefighters soupset about Proposition 75?

Prop. 75 silences the voicesof firefighters, teachers, nursesand police by making it virtual-ly impossible for us to exerciseour political rights. The gover-nor and his friends don’t like itwhen the public hears bothsides of the issues, so they wantto shut one side up … the sideof working folks like us.

How does Proposition 75 dothat?

By setting up impossible, gov-ernment-imposed restrictionsthat affect us and no one else.The big corporations can stillgive millions. But my union willhave to personally sign upevery single member every yearbefore we can even start raisinga few bucks to fight for thingslike more fire stations, betterhealth care or safer schools.

But as a union member,shouldn’t you be able tochoose how your dues moneyis spent?

We already have that right.The U.S. Supreme Court saysthat no public employee can beforced to have dues money usedfor politics. If I don’t want mydues to go for political action, itdoesn’t go there. I don’t evenhave to be a member of the unionif I don’t want to. This isn’t aboutpaycheck “protection” … it’sabout paycheck deception.

But if these rights alreadyexist, what’s the real agenda?

Payback. Last year, the gov-ernor and his friends tried tocut school funding, roll backstaffing of nurses in hospitalsand even take death and dis-ability benefits away from thewidows and orphans of fallenfirefighters. It was teachers,nurses, firefighters and copswho stood up and said “NO.” If

they can steal our voice inNovember, Arnold can comeback next year and impose thesame anti-firefighter agenda,only there won’t be anybodythere to stand up to them.

No offense, but I thinkunions already have toomuch power in Sacramento.Won’t this even things out?

This doesn’t “even out” theplaying field … it destroys it.Large corporations already out-spend unions by 24 to 1. Thiswill make it 24-to-none. If thevoice of working Californians issilenced, there won’t be any-body to keep the government(and the governor) honest.

But aren’t you just tryingto protect Democrats?

As a union, almost all of ourmoney is spent on local non-partisan races. We don’t careabout political party. We’reonly interested in where ourleaders stand on the issues thatmatter to our members … yourfirefighters. This isn’t aboutDemocrats or Republicans. It’sabout making sure that thevoices of working families areheard.

Why should it matter tome?

We’re not just fighting forourselves in these battles …we’re fighting for our citizens.Our union dues help us fight to

keep your neighborhood firestation open, to insure there’san ambulance there when youneed it, to protect our schools.If working people are silenced,who will stand up to thebureaucrats and politicianswhen they come looking toclose your fire station, or pullcops off the street, or increaseclass sizes in your school?

What about Proposition76? Surely, you’re not againsta balanced budget?

Proposition 76 is not aboutbalancing the budget. It’sabout giving one person – thegovernor – absolute power tocut billions from our schools,slash support for local fire andpolice protection and impose aspecial interest agenda withoutany accountability to the Legis-lature or the people ofCalifornia.

Arnold says he wants toshake up the status quo. Whyshouldn’t he be able to dothings the way he wants?

Our system is built on checksand balances. No one personshould have total control. But ifProp. 76 passes, any governorwill be able to impose his orher own personal agenda with-out any say-so by you and I.You may like Arnold’s agenda,but what’s to stop the next gov-ernor from imposing an agendathat you hate?

All I really care about islow taxes. If this passes, willmy taxes go up or down?

Even hardened anti-tax voic-es are saying that Prop. 76 willprobably mean higher localtaxes. Just do the math: If thegovernor takes money awayfrom local public safety servic-es, somebody’s going to haveto pick up the tab. That “some-body” will be local taxpayers… you and I.

How does this hurt theschools?

Proposition 76 immediatelysteals $4 billon that Arnoldpromised would go into theclassroom. It eliminates theminimum school-funding guar-antee that was passed by a voteof the people in 1988. And itmakes it possible for any gov-ernor to take money fromschools and put it into theirown special interest priorities

So I’m convinced … it’simportant. But I didn’t evenknow there was an election.When is it, and what can I do?

The election is November8th, and the best way you canhelp is by getting registeredand voting. A lot of firefightersare voting absentee so they canbe sure their vote counts. Askyour family members who areeligible to register and vote,too. We are asking you to voteNO on Propositions 75 and 76.

New TV Ads Highlight United Opposition to Prop. 75California firefighters, teach-

ers and nurses unveiled a newtelevision and Internet cam-paign to defeat Proposition 75 -Schwarzenegger’s PaycheckDeception Initiative - during aSouthern California press con-ference at the United FireFighters of Los Angeles CityLocal 112 headquarters.

Three new 30-second spotsbegan airing throughout thestate and feature a Californiaeducator, firefighter and nursetelling voters they oppose Prop.

75 because it puts education,health care and public safety atrisk. The companion web site,www.millionairesforProp75.com , is a spoof website designedto inform Californians of thereal force behind the gover-nor’s special election - hismultimillionaire special inter-est backers and their nationalanti-tax agenda.

“Proposition 75 is a decep-tive initiative with a hiddenagenda to put California com-munities, kids and patients at

risk,” said Dean Tomasick, aLong Beach firefighter andmember of Long Beach Fire-fighters Local 372. “NowGovernor Schwarzenegger’sbig corporate fat cats who putProp. 75 on the ballot are try-ing to trick voters with a fakename. We are here today, realfirefighters, teachers and nurs-es, representing thousands ofothers across the state, to tellyou: don’t believe their lies, weare united in our opposition tothis hidden agenda.”

This spring, the governor’spolitical operation urged LewisUhler, a longtime corporateadvocate, to lead the initiative.Uhler started a committee ofthe governor’s wealthy and cor-porate donors called “Coalitionfor Employee Rights.” In June,Uhler abandoned that commit-tee name, but took the donorsand started “Californians forPaycheck Protection.” Lastweek, in his most blatantattempt to deceive voters, hecreated his third alias, changing

the name of “Californians forPaycheck Protection” to“Teacher, Firefighters and LawEnforcement for Paycheck Pro-tection,” with its own web siteand radio ad campaign.

According to the non-partisanCenter for Responsive Politics,corporations currently outspendunions by a margin of 24 toone. Uhler has publicly statedthat Prop. 75 will be “a boon toour control over governmentalactivities in this state.” (Sacra-mento Bee, 3-20-05)

Your Vote is Your Voice ... Use It!

90 Percent of Winning is Just Showing Up!The turnout for the Novem-

ber 8th Special Election ispredicted to be extremely low... maybe as low as 30%. Astrong showing from all oflabor ... especially firefighters,teachers, nurses and policeofficers ... will help us defeatthe forces arrayed against us.Now is the time to stand

up and be counted... by voting!

REGISTER … with a simpleform, available from CPF, yourlocal union and almost anygovernment office.

REGISTER YOUR FAMILYMEMBERS … with the sameform. Every vote counts!

VOTE ABSENTEE … by fill-ing out a simple form availablefrom your voter registrar’s office,or through your local. CPF isalso sending out thousands ofabsentee voter applications.

VOTE NOVEMBER 8TH… If you haven’t already votedabsentee, be sure to go to thepolls and vote.

YOUR BEST BET … SIGNUP AS A PERMANENTABSENTEE VOTER

In November, when the firesare raging, you may be on thefront lines, rather than in thevoting lines. Register as a per-manent absentee and you canvote by mail every year! You

can sign up on either the regis-tration form or the absenteeballot application.

EXCUSES, EXCUSESMYTH: If I register to vote,

I’ll get called for jury duty.FACT: Jury duty is based on

DMV records, not votingrecords.

MYTH: If I register, I’ll getpolitical mail.

FACT: Unregistered votersget lots of political mail, too.

MYTH: I don’t vote … itonly encourages them.

FACT: Not voting is whatencourages them. Nobody getsa politician’s attention like an

angry voterMYTH: My vote doesn’t

count.FACT: Every vote counts,

especially in low-turnout elec-

tions like this one.

MAKE A DIFFERENCEON NOVEMBER 8TH …

VOTE!


UFLAC Legislative Update

by Eric ShabsisLegislative Director

With the end of summer andbeginning of fall, the LosAngeles City Council is onceagain in session ready to tacklesome of our issues. To that end,your UFLAC leadership teamhas been meeting with Coun-cilmembers and their staffs toprepare them for our agendathis legislative year.

UFLAC has an aggressiveagenda before the city council,with several pressing issuesbeing discussed in this comingyear. Our agenda includes anaggressive charge to change theway in which our members aretreated on IOD by the Depart-ment and Cambridge Integrat-ed Systems, leading the discus-sion on how to implement bet-

ter recruitment of firefighters toour department, introducing aplan to expand the number ofparamedics and ALS ambu-lances in the city, and of coursebeing a partner with the Mayorand Council during the budgetprocess.

Forging a Strong Rela-tionship with Our MayorDespite a busy schedule,

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosahas been often seen at local firestations visiting with our mem-bers. While we have lost exactcount, Mayor Villaraigosa hasmade over a dozen visits to firehouses throughout the City, andhas pledge to visit every stationwithin his first year in office. Itis as if the Mayor is visiting acouple of fire stations eachweek.

UFLAC views this as theMayor’s unwavering commit-ment to firefighters and astrong signal that we will workclosely with him and hisadministration in operations ofour department. In fact, in thefirst few months of his admin-istration, UFLAC leadershiphas hosted three events atwhich the Mayor was presentand in support of us. At theLabor Day Picnic, Mayor Vil-

laraigosa joined the UFLACExecutive Board in cooking uphot dogs for thousands ofLabor Day revelers at BanningPark. A few days later, theMayor, Pat McOsker, and IAFFPresident Harold Schaitbergervisited FS 26 discussing theiropposition to Propositions 75and 76. And most recently,Mayor Villaraigosa headlinedUFLAC’s Firefighters’ Hopefor Hurricane Victims eventand presented 10 of our mem-bers with crystal token for theirservice in the Gulf Coast.

President McOsker alreadyhas had initial conversationswith the Mayor and his PublicSafety Deputy Mayor, MauriceSuh, about our budget prioritiesfor next year. UFLAC will con-tinue to work with the Vil-laraigosa administration toensure that our top new budgetpriorities – expanding the num-ber of paramedics and ALSambulances – are funded. Ini-tial discussions with the admin-istration have been positive.

Outside Help with Cambridge

UFLAC has been a vocalcritic of Cambridge IntegratedSystems, and its treatment ofour members who get hurt on

the job. Recently, UFLAC’sefforts to advocate change atCity Hall were boosted by ourState Insurance Commissioner,John Garamendi, who sent aletter to the Mayor and CityCouncil urging them to “con-duct a review of how treatmentis being administered by theTPA [Cambridge] and look totake corrective actions with thecurrent provider of service.”

UFLAC continues to collectinformation from memberswho received substandard carefrom Cambridge. We are work-ing with Councilmember Zine,chair of the City’s PersonnelCommittee, to get a hearing onthe Cambridge issue. Coun-cilmember Garcetti, also amember of the Personnel Com-mittee, has been briefed byPresident McOsker, and is like-ly to be helpful to us as wemove forward to correct thewrongs Cambridge is perpe-trating on firefighters.

Doing Right and GettingRecognition for It

In the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina, UFLAC sponsored afundraiser and recognition ofthose members who weredeployed to the Gulf Coast.The Mayor and four members

of the City Council joined us inraising over $23,000 for Hurri-cane Relief and honoring fire-fighters for their efforts in thewake of Katrina, as well as rec-ognize our members in generalfor their readiness in the face ofany disaster.

Councilmember Tony Carde-nas, a member of the Budgetand Finance committee, in hisremarks, publicly praisedLAFD firefighters as the bestdepartment, while also reiterat-ing his unconditional supportfor our members’ needs andfinding the necessary money tofund whatever UFLAC requestsof the City.

A Whole New Fire Com-mission

With a new Mayoral Admin-istration, invariably comes newappointed City Commission-ers, and that is exactly whatoccurred at the Fire Commis-sion. Mayor Antonio Vil-laraigosa appointed an entirelynew Fire Commission, and theinitial signs from this body arevery positive. We have full con-fidence that these new commis-sioners will seek firefighterinput and consider firefighterneeds when they carry out theirduties.

Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of ParamedicMembers’ Overtime Claims

In a favorable decision issuedon August 22, 2005, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the NinthCircuit decided in the Cleve-land v. City of Los Angelescase that the City violated theFLSA by failing to pay over-time to dual function para-medics after they work 40hours in a work week. TheCourt found that the City actedunlawfully in treating theseparamedic members under thefire protection exemption andnot paying them overtime untilafter they worked 204 hours ina 27-day work period.

With regard to the liabilityissue, the Court of Appealsruled that these paramedics

could not be classified under thehigher hourly overtime stan-dards covering fire fightersbecause they did not have the“responsibility” to engage infire prevention, control or extin-guishment under applicableDepartment of Labor regula-tions or under the FLSAAmendment enacted by Con-gress in 1999. The Courtapplied a common sense, dic-tionary definition of the term“responsibility” – meaning theduty or obligation one is expect-ed or assigned to carry out aspart of the job. As the Courtnoted, the employees must havesome “real obligation or duty”to perform fire suppression if a

fire occurs. In finding that thedual function paramedics didnot have this required responsi-bility here, the Court reliedupon the cumulative impact ofthe following factors: The para-medic ambulances are notdesigned to provide fire sup-pression and don’t carry extrica-tion equipment; the ambulancesare not regularly dispatched tofires; at fires, vehicle accidentsand crime scenes, the para-medics perform only medicalservices, and standby for patientcare and transport; the para-medics are not expected to wearprotective gear; and the dualfunction paramedics have notbeen ordered to perform fire

suppression.The Court also ruled that the

City was obligated to pay back-pay (unpaid overtime compen-sation), as well as additionalliquidated damages equal tobackpay because the City didnot act reasonably or in goodfaith in violating the FLSA.

For dual function paramedicswho are not already plaintiffsin a pending suit, and who haveworked for the City within thelast three years, it is still possi-ble for them to join as plaintiffsin the pending suit in federalDistrict Court that is sponsoredby the IAFF and our Local. Asin the past, the Local 112 canprovide copies of the consent

and retainer agreement formsto be filled out and returned.Please contact UFLAC Direc-tor Dave Pimintle at (310) 916-8222 for assistance with this.

Local 112 and IAFF GeneralCounsel Tom Woodley are nowassessing whether the City hasan ongoing FLSA obligation topay the dual function para-medics overtime based on the40-hour work week standard –notwithstanding Bulletin No.04-11 (issued by the Depart-ment on June 7, 2004) concern-ing the use of SCBA’s; possibleassignments to assist in firesuppression tasks; and theplacement of protective gear onthe ambulances.

UFLAC Endorses Huizar to Succeed AntonioVillaraigosa as Councilmember for the 14th District

Since the election of MayorAntonio Villaraigosa, the 14thDistrict Council seat has beenvacant. On November 8, the

residents of that district willvote in a new Councilmember,and we think the seat should befilled by Jose Huizar.

Mr. Huizar has been involvedin civic life as a Los AngelesSchool Board Member repre-senting among other areas the14th Council District sinceApril 2001. In his four plusyears on the board, Jose Huizarserved as its president for twoyears, and is widely regardedfor his leadership in keepingthe LAUSD program to buildnew schools on track.

Interview processAt UFLAC’s candidate inter-

view during the Septembergeneral membership meeting,Jose Huizar was by far the mostprepared candidate on theissues of concern to us and ourmembership. He pledged sup-port for our members in theupcoming contract negotia-tions, promised to be a champi-on for us and our issues on theCity Council, and assured usthat we could count on him toadvocate for the resources weneed to do our jobs as firefight-ers and paramedics.

In the months leading up toUFLAC’s endorsement, JoseHuizar actively sought to famil-iarize himself with UFLAC, its

leadership, and firefighterissues. He met with us to under-stand our position on issues hewill face as City Councilmem-ber. UFLAC greatly appreciat-ed and took note of his genuineinterest in our positions, ideas,and concerns.

Members voted unanimously to endorse Huizar

At the September generalmembership meeting, themembers of UFLAC unani-mously voted to endorse JoseHuizar for the 14th CouncilDistrict. UFLAC joins MayorAntonio Villaraigosa, Assem-

bly Speaker Fabian Nunez, theLos Angeles County Federa-tion of Labor, and a majority ofthe Los Angeles City Councilin supporting Jose Huizar forCity Council.

Huizar’s campaign showssigns of great strength, havingout raised his nearest opponentalmost 3 to 1. Additionally, hehas racked up the lion’s shareof the endorsements, both fromelected officials and communi-ty leaders. All signs point toJose Huizar as the next Coun-cilmember from the 14th Dis-trict, and UFLAC is proud tostand with someone who willbe an ally for firefighters.

Jose Huizar


by Jim PerryEditor

We have witnessed the pass-ing of another legend whoserved with honor and distinc-tion as a loving husband,father, professional firefighterand union leader.

I met Bill Corr at a unionmeeting when I was a youngfirefighter in the early 60’s. Iwas immediately taken by hiscool-headed demeanor duringsome very hot issues on theLAFD. At a time when otherswere pounding the table andshouting, Bill had the ability toeloquently address those issuesand bring a consensus from thefloor of any meeting.

One particular issue waswhen Fire Chief Raymond M.Hill was threatening to do awaywith “trade of shifts” on thejob. This issue had really cometo a head and firefighters wereas angry as I had ever seenthem.

At a Fire Commission meet-ing held at Fire Station 27 inHollywood, firefighters hadgathered to protest the Chief’sproposal. The overflow crowdof firefighters filled the upstairsmeeting room and gathereddownstairs listening throughthe pole hole from the secondfloor.

When Chief Hill made hispresentation to the fire com-mission you could hear theangry moans from firefightersupstairs and downstairs. That’swhen Bill Corr stepped up andasked to speak to the commis-sion. With due respect to thechief and the commission, Billstated, “Your honorable FireCommission, the Fire Chief isbeing less than honest with youabout this issue.” With a cheer-ing audience, Bill calmly laidout the facts about the benefitsof allowing trades and howwell it worked over the years. Ihad never heard a man callanother man a liar in such anice way. With an iron hand ina velvet glove, Bill convinced

the fire commission to leavethe system as it was. That issuewas laid to rest and the firechief never brought it up again.

I was fortunate to serve onthe union executive board withBill and on several importantcommittees. As a fire officer Ialso ran in with Bill on firesand rescues in the very busyBattalion’s 8 and 13 in the late60’s and early 70’s. Bill Corrwas truly a leader of men. Hereceived the highest respect ofall who knew and worked withhim. I personally knew of nobetter Truck Company officerand Task Force Commander.

In his later years, Bill assist-ed our UFLAC EmployeeAssistance Program with peercounseling. He made himselfavailable to anyone who need-ed help. Bill was one of mymentors and a very specialfriend. His loss runs deep andhurts. As so many others havesaid, the LAFD is a much bet-ter place to work because of theprofessionalism, dedicationand leadership of Bill Corr.May he rest in peace…

Editor’s note:Bill’s family has received

many phone calls and notesexpressing their love and con-dolences. We will include someof them here…

To: Pat McOsker UnitedFirefighters Local 112:On behalf of my mother

Maxine, I would like to expressmy appreciation and gratitudeto all the wonderful people ofthe Los Angeles City FireDepartment who paid tribute tomy father Bill “Willie” Corr.

In particular, a special thanksto:

Engine Co. 79 who respond-ed to pay their respects

Engine Co. 66 for their won-derful tribute by attending thefuneral and processional withtheir apparatus.

Mr. John Keys, who so elo-quently played such beautiful

songs on his BagpipesThe personnel of the Union

and Relief AssociationI am deeply indebted for all

of your help. My dad was aproud and active member of theUnion for many years, and hewould have been pleased to seethe support and comfort givento our family.

And finally, to the personnelof the LAFD…you are truly avery special brother/ sister-hood.

I am so proud that my dadwas a part of this during histime on the department andnow continued in the hearts andmemories of those that knewhim. Thank you.

Sincerely,Maxine and Denise Corr

________________

In 1976, Bill was the TaskForce Commander at Fire Sta-tion 66, “B” Platoon. He was ahighly respected truck captain,which was a major accomplish-ment on the LAFD.

One of his many talents wasbeing a leader of men. Hecould look into you to see whatmade you tick, and with thatinsight, direct or manipulateyou in the direction that hewanted to go. Another talent hehad was forgetting about theunimportant ideas and gettingto the bottom line. He waspractical! Example: He defend-ed me because I got on the roofof a one-story building andbegan working on the roofwithout putting up a ladderfirst…which was the rule.

He taught us that a firefighterdoes not just put out fires; wealso solve problems that usual-ly the individual feels isbeyond them.

He took an interest in each ofus individually and collectivelymotivated us to be better and topromote.

It was really fun workingwith Bill Corr. His GreenMachine, for example…that

wreck gave us plenty to teasehim about. He would challengeus to tease each other with hissaying, “Why don’t ya?”

If imitation is the greatestform of compliment, Bill iswell complimented. Many ofus tried to copy his example asa leader…I was never as goodas he was.

Most of all he was a greatfriend. I have had a much rich-er life for knowing him. Wewill miss Bill and his greatsmile.

Duane White________________

I had the great fortune ofmeeting Bill and Duane about15 years ago. Bill was a greatguy and the three of us havehad a lot of fun meeting forbreakfast every month or so formany years. We always had agreat time and traded jokes andteased each other. I am a Coun-ty Firefighter and thus wedeveloped a friendly rivalry.

The thing that touched me is

that he was such a caring guyand welcomed me into his cir-cle of friends. God Bless Max-ine and Denise. I will definitelymiss him.

Dennis King________________

This is a somber time and yeta time to rejoice. Bill is in abetter place.

I am the President of the LosAngeles Firemen’s ReliefAssociation and am here topresent Maxine and Denisewith the American Flag thatflew over Bill’s last assignmentlast week.

One third to one half of thelife of a firefighter is dedicatedto the fire service and becauseof this, we become like a sec-ond family. It is my privilegedto be here today to honor Billand his family. I remember Billas a great comrade. I liked hisstyle, his humor and characterdedication.

Barry Hedberg

In Loving Memory

William J. “Bill” CorrRetired Fire Captain II

Former Officer – UFLAC Local 112

Born: December 6, 1915Appointed to LAFD: May 13, 1947

Service Pension: May 13, 1980Died: August 12, 2005

The officers and members of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City

Local 112, IAFF, AFL-CIO-CLC offer their heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of

Brother Bill Corr during this very difficult time.

August, 1980… Bill Corr receiving a City Council Resolution for his many years of service onthe LAFD and as an officer of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112. Left to Right:UFLAC First Vice President Jim Perry, President Lyle Hall, Councilmember Peggy Stevenson.Bill Corr, Bill’s lovely wife Maxine, daughter Denise and Second Vice President MarshalPrindle. Photo by Ron Butcher, Los Angeles City Hall Photographer

A Loving Tribute to Bill Corr

LAFD USAR Team convoy on a highway near El Paso, Texasresponding to “Hurricane Rita.”

Photo by Gene Blevins, CFPA


Firefighter’s Hope for Hurricane Victims BBQ and Fundraiser

After closing down HopeStreet in downtown Los Ange-les, union firefighters, UFLACoffice staff, family membersand Local 112 volunteers fired-up the barbeques and servedthousands of downtownemployee’s lunch, whileencouraging them to contributewhat they would have spent forlunch to aid relief efforts.LAFD Explorers circulatedthrough the crowd in a “fill theboot” effort to collect moneyfor hurricane victims. A portionof the money went to over1,000 Gulf States firefighterswho lost their homes and

belongings.Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

and members of the City Coun-cil including Wendy Gruel, JanPerry, Tony Cardenas and TomLaBonge, and Assembly Mem-ber Ron Calderon were presentto honor members of the LAFDwho just returned from searchand rescue efforts in the GulfCoast.

“Our firefighters have beenon the frontlines helping Hurri-cane Katrina victims inLouisiana and Mississippi andnow they are stepping up herein L.A. to help those in need.They’ve shown once again that

they are America’s finest and Icommend them for their gen-erosity, leadership and bravery,”said Mayor Antonio Vil-laraigosa.

“Our fire department hasproven time and time again thatthey are not only Los Angeles’heroes, but our nation’s heroesas well,” said CouncilmemberWendy Gruel. “Hurricane Ritais forcasted to make landfall inthe next couple days and weneed to give as much as we canto continue a steady stream ofaid, not only to victims of Kat-rina, but for the destruction thatis sure to follow in Rita’s path.”

“Honoring our own whoanswered the call to help peopleaffected by Hurricane Katrinaremind us that there are 3,500men and women who, day inand day out make sacrifices toprotect all of us,” said UFLACPresident Pat McOsker.

Members of the LAFD’sSwift Water Rescue, UrbanSearch and Rescue and CriticalIncident Stress Managementteams have recently returnedfrom the Gulf States affected byHurricane Katrina where theyperformed more than 525 res-cues. The following firefighterswere recognized and given

plaques at the event: MichaelKammerer, Franklin Lima,Gregg Avery, Mark Akahoshi,Henry Mills, Sean Jennings,Christopher Cooper, DavidMoorman, Robert Motherall,Scott Mitchell, Jeremiah Spring,Michael Valas, Jody Garfield,Jesse Franco, Jr., Ernesto Ojeda,Edward Martin, XenophoneGikas and Steve Norris.

Note: Ninety more LAFDmembers will also be receivingplaques in appreciation fortheir service in the disasterareas.

Photos by Jim Perry, Editor


Fire Station Visitations by OfficialsMayor Antonio Villaraigosa,

Los Angeles County Federationof Labor head Martin Ludlow,IAFF General President Harold

Schaitberger, CPF PresidentLou Paulson and UFLAC Pres-ident Pat McOsker visited firestations throughout Los Ange-

les City and County discussingGovernor Schwarzenegger’santi-worker propositions on theNovember 8th ballot.

Photos by Kristina Wilson, CPF Assistant Communications Director and Newspaper Editor


Your Health…

Weight Loss (Bariatric) SurgeryNow a Blue Cross Prudent Buyer PPO Benefit

by Anne CliffordConsultant

Fickewirth & AssociatesOn July 1, 2005, Blue Cross

began to offer a new bariatric(weight loss) surgery benefit –proactively responding to anincreasing need for alternativesfor people who are morbidlyobese. The benefit applies forqualifying UFLAC membersand their family members whobelong to the Blue Cross Pru-dent Buyer PPO and who havethe surgery in one of the hospi-tals/surgery centers associatedwith the new bariatric Centersof Expertise (COE) Network.

Indeed, the numbers are star-tling. Eleven million to 15 mil-lion Americans are estimated tobe morbidly obese and statisticsshow that obesity rates in theUnited States continue toremain at very high levels. Inlight of this recent information,Blue Cross is committed tooffering members new alterna-tives for weight loss. Gastroin-testinal weight loss surgery –also known as bariatric surgery– is an option for people whoare severely obese and cannotlose weight by traditional meansor who suffer from serious obe-sity-related health problems.

The operation promotesweight loss by restricting foodintake, or in some operations,

interrupting the digestiveprocess. As in other treatmentsfor obesity, the best results areachieved with healthy eatingbehaviors and regular physicalactivity.

According to a report fromthe Centers for Disease Controland Prevention, obesity maybecome the leading cause ofmortality in the United Statesby this year – with a death tollof 500,000 per year. As a result,statistics on bariatric weightreduction operations such asgastric banding, gastric bypassand variations of these stomachsurgeries show that demand forweight loss surgery is soaring.

In 2002, the number ofbariatric procedures jumped40% to 80,000. In 2003, statis-tics from the National Institutesof Health (NIH) showed thatthe number of surgeriesexceeded 120,000.

Individuals may be candi-dates for surgery if they have abody mass index (BMI) of 40or more – about 100 poundsoverweight for men and 80pounds for women. There aremany tools available on theInternet, including the NationalInstitute of Diabetes andDigestive and Kidney Diseases(NIDDK), to help you calculateyour BMI.

Blue Cross of Californiadeveloped its network ofproviders with its members inmind. The company used evi-dence-based selection criteriaand state-reported outcomemeasures, and selected providerswho are best qualified to performthese procedures. The bariatricnetwork is available to UFLACmembers via the InternetProvider Finder or by callingmember services at 1-800-227-

3771.Hospitals currently in the

Blue Cross’ Bariatric NetworkCOE include:

Alvarado Hospital MedicalCenter

Bellflower Medical CenterBrotman Medical CenterChapman Medical Center

Clovis Community HospitalEl Camino Hospital

Fountain Valley Regional Hos-pital & Medical CenterFresno Surgery Center

Huntington Memorial HospitalMethodist Hospital of Southern California

Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center

Pomerado HospitalShasta Regional Medical Center

St. Agnes Medical CenterScripps Mercy Hospital

Torrance Memorial Medical Center

UC Davis Medical CenterUCI Medical Center

UCSF Medical Center

Bariatric procedures must beauthorized through UtilizationManagement, which is usuallydone by the physician. A fol-low-up letter will then be sentto both the member and physi-cian explaining that if themember chooses to have theprocedure at a COE facility, itwill be approved and the letterdirects the patient and doctor tocall the appropriate areas tofind out which facilities are inthe network.

Also, it is important to notethat effective July 1, 2005, ifauthorization is sought at anon-participating facility, theauthorization will be deniedeven if it is medically neces-sary.

Finally, authorization for allbariatric surgical procedures,such as gastric bypass andother surgical procedures,requires that certain conditionsto be met in order for theseservices to be covered. Theseconditions include:

The services are medicallynecessary and appropriate.

The services are to be per-formed for the treatment ofmorbid obesity.

The physicians on the surgicalteam and the facility in whichthe surgical procedure is to takeplace are approved for the surgi-cal procedure requested.

The bariatric surgical proce-dure will be performed at aCOE.

For more information on thisnew benefit, you can contact

the UFLAC Prudent BuyerPPO member services numberat 1-800-227-3771.

Through the Blue Cross Cal-iforniaCare HMO and PrudentBuyer PPO plans, UFLACmembers and their familieshave access to the finest doc-tors and two of the most exten-sive networks in the state. WithCaliforniaCare, you can builda relationship with your pri-mary care physician andreceive almost all benefitsincluding office visits, hospital-ization, surgery, routine physi-cal exams, well baby care andeven vision and hearing exams,for little or no out-of-pocketcost. Additionally, PrudentBuyer is the best fee-for-serv-ice type health plan availablefor UFLAC members.

ATTENTION - MediCare EligibleUFLAC Blue Cross Members:The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and

Modernization Act provides prescription drug benefits, calledPart D coverage, for Medicare eligible beneficiaries. MedicarePart D, the new prescription drug benefit, will begin offeringprescription drug coverage on January 1, 2006.

Under the UFLAC Blue Cross plans, Medicare-eligiblemembers will continue to receive the same prescription drugbenefits they currently enjoy. Members will not be required topurchase Medicare Part D in order to continue their currentprescription drug benefits.

Medicare-eligible members will soon be receiving fromBlue Cross a Certificate of Creditable Coverage. The Certifi-cate will state that the prescription drug benefits providedunder the UFLAC Blue Cross plans are equal to or better thanthe benefits provided under the Medicare Part D plan. Mem-bers will need this Certificate in the event they choose to enrollin Medicare Part D after the initial enrollment period (Novem-ber 15, 2005 through May 15, 2006) is over.

More information is available from Medicare. Read the“Medicare & You 2006” handbook. Call 1-800-MEDICAREor visit the website at www.medicare.org. TTY users shouldcall 1-877-486-2048.

LAFD Operations ControlDivision received multiplecalls of reported “smoke” nearthe intersection of ManchesterBlvd. and Pershing Drive in thePlaya Del Rey District.

Firefighters from LAFD TaskForce 5 and Engine 51 first on

scene, reported fire and smokeshowing from a four-story officebuilding, “Westgate Center” andcalled for three additional taskforces beyond the initial dis-patch.

Firefighters attacking theblaze with handlines on the

fourth floor encountered heavysmoke and heat as they pushedforward through a hallway andseveral offices. Others on theroof utilized rotary saws to cutthrough a lightweight concreteroof, venting the fourth floorand attic, preventing the fire

from extending to a large stor-age area on the roof.

The fire was under control injust under an hour and was con-fined to the fourth floor. In all,110 firefighters from 19 com-panies responded to the earlymorning blaze.

Two fire captains sufferedminor smoke/heat exhaustionand were transported to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in good condition.Damage was extensive and thefire is under investigation.

Photo and information byMartin Nate Rawner

Westgate Center Fire


paint-balling and miniaturegolfing. (I think he even letthem win a couple of times.)He loved all his close personalfriends. You know who you are– you were all so special tohim.

He was a lover of small ani-mals, especially dogs. “Annie”,she was great company to

him…he took her everywhere.Mark will be greatly missed.

He was always concernedabout his family, his cousins,aunts, uncles and fellow fire-men and life guards.

He seemed to live the care-free life we all dreamed about –he loved the outdoors and in hisfields of firefighter and lifeguard he was able to really

make a difference in protectingand saving lives in the commu-nity; a job that others might beto scared to take.

He is probably writing ascript right now, and you knowit will be a comedy, becauseMark, “You always wanted toleave them laughing.”

Thank you…Shelley

In Memoriam…

Remembering Firefighter Mark Samet

A tribute by Arthur Verge, a dear friend who Lifeguarded with Mark for thirty-two years…

Dear All: It is with tremendous sadness

that I share with you that theguy that always made us laughand who never took life or him-self too seriously has gone onto bigger and better things.Mark Samet, our “Mel Brooksin Trunks” died peacefully andpainlessly yesterday, Thursday,October 6th. Mark passed onfrom a heart attack. Typical ofMark he was getting ready togo out for another adventure;this time bike riding, when hefell backwards down on his bedface up. It looked as if he wasgetting ready to lay down andrest for a second when it hit.

Mark had been at the ToparsThursday morning joking asusual, telling Cyndi when abutterfly had landed on her armthat was a sign that someonewho had passed on was comingto see them. Of course he thenjoked about how dumb Cyndilooked doing it. Typical Mark.

Mark also had been over atmy house the last few days.Typical me…when trimmingsome bushes I accidentally cutan electrical wire going fromthe outlet to the fountain.

“Good move Edison. Leave thegate open and I’ll fix it”, Marksaid. While I was at school hedid just that. Typical Mark hecame over and fixed it…exceptwhile the fountain now workedgreat, my electrical lights did-n’t. As many of you know itwas another in a long line ofGilligan and Skipper momentswe shared together.

Best friends are hard to comeby but at least I, and all of you,got to share our lives with a guywho never failed to deliver alaugh or a good deed. I wouldlike to share with you one laststory. Mark as usual was pan-icked as he is every year that heget his days in at the lifeguards.As usual he happily fulfilledthem and would always call mefrom the tower to tell me what agreat time he was having, “I justsaw Makuta or Domain, Steers,”etc. Of course he would also say,“I’m just down here saving livesand property - something youundoubtedly have never done.”For Mark the job of lifeguardingwas more fun and importantthan any paycheck;whichexplains why he didn’t pick uphis last two. When he went to

turn in his timecard, there weretwo paychecks waiting for him.And you know what he did withthem? He immediately signedboth of them over (a total of over$1,100) to the Red Cross for theHurricane Relief Fund.Yeah…typical Mark.

We will soon have a memorialservice for our dear friend. I willstay in contact. Pendingannouncements will be availablethrough the lifeguard service.My brother Mark and I will alsohost a special wake for Mark atCasey’s …the perfect venue forall of us to come together toshare in the joy and constantlaughter he all gave to us.

Again, please know Markdied peacefully. I called severalof you while we, Cyndi Toparand I were standing next tohim; he would have wanted itthat way. I had to smile throughmy tears, his arms outstrechedover his head…typical Mark,just like Rocky. A perfect sym-bol of a life well-lived. MayGod take care of him and us.Let us comfort each other withthe knowledge that Heaven is amuch more humorous placethis morning.

Continued from page 1

Rabbi Morton A. Wallack,reading from a poem by Linda Ellis:

~ The Dash ~I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of his friend,He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning

to the end.He noted that first came her date of birth and spoke the fol-

lowing date with tears,But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between

those years.For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on

earth,And now only those who loved her know what that little line

is worth.For it matters not how much we own…the cars, the house, the

cash,What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our

dash.So think about this long and hard…Are there things you’d like

to change?For you never know how much time is left that can still be

rearranged.If we could just slow down long enough to consider what’s

true and real,And always try to understand the way other people feel.And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more,And love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before.If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a

smile,Remembering that this special dash might only last a little

while.So, when your eulogy’s been read with your life’s actions to

rehash,Would you be proud of the things they say about how you

spent your dash?



Northwest San Fernando Valley BrushfireSee Story on Page 1

Flames shoot over LA City firefighters on the east flank of the fire.This is about 1/2 hour into the huge blaze along the 118 Freeway.Seconds after this shot was taken, the firefighters ran into theburned area. This is in the area where an LAFD Captain was struckin the head by a large boulder.

An LAFD Fire Captain is loaded into an LA County helicopter for transport after being hitby a 40 lb. boulder.

An LAFD firefighter looks on as a huge wall of fire approachesEngine 106 on Woolsey Canyon Rd.

A firefighter from E-34 uses a hoseline against a wall of flames onBox Canyon Rd.

Brushfire Photos and information by Mike Meadows, CFPA

Firefighters refute Governor…

Say Pose Was ForcedBURBANK – On Thursday, October 6, 2005 firefighters claimed they were forced

to participate with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to Carroll Wills of theCalifornia Professional Firefighters.

The firefighters that appeared at a news conference were from Los Angeles City,Los Angeles County and Ventura County fire departments.

Schwarzenegger posed with the firefighters during a news conference the previousFriday in Thousand Oaks after flying over the Topanga Fire in a helicopter and receiv-ing a briefing.

A representative of Scharzenegger’s press office declined to comment on theallegation.

- City News Service


Brushfire Photos by Gene Blevins, CFPA


Thanks again for all the loveand support.With all our love,The Johns Family

Doing a job well…It is simply amazing how

well the “mutual aid” programfor California’s firefighters isworking out. They come fromeverywhere, quietly do theirjob and then return to their owncommunities without a word.We do not miss the politicalactions of the politicians mak-ing speeches and looking forphoto ops.

My hat is off to the fire andthe other emergency personneldoing a job well. Are these thepeople that our governor calls“Special Interest?”

Their special interest isworking for the interests of thepeople who need them.Ira KaplanWoodland Hills

___________

Firefighters…While sitting in the comfort

of my family room watchingthe fires burn the hillsides ofLos Angeles and Ventura coun-ties, I have come to the conclu-sion that here are some verybrave men and women whofight fires.

These men and women puttheir lives on the line t helppeople they probably will nevermeet. They come from all overCalifornia to help fight thesefires. It is one of the most dan-gerous jobs there is.

Who in their right mindwould want to do it? These arevery special people who don’tthink of the danger they aregoing into, but do their job andnever get a proper thank you.

I for one want to give a bigthank you to these special peo-ple.D. PerkinsLakewood

___________

The heroes on the hills…The selflessness, expertise

and professionalism of the fire-fighters who battled the Topan-ga fire were extraordinary. Asone of the many families whohad top evacuate our homes, Ican confidently say that thenext time we are asked to iden-tify the greatest Americanheroes, we will look no furtherthan our local fire station.Mark JaffeHidden Hills

___________

Topanga Fire…We, along with all our neigh-

bors, I am sure, want to sendout our total gratitude andappreciation for our FireDepartment. They truly areheroes who don’t receive therecognition, nor the glory theydeserve. They carry on, just“doing their jobs” and yet mostof us tend to think about themonly when we need them. Withtheir expertise and bravery, theysaved an unbelievable amountof structures and lives. Whatev-er their salaries are, it is noteven close to what they deserve.

Personally, I have always feltthe utmost admiration for fire-fighters, but when they arestanding two blocks from yourhome battling a tremendousblaze with their equipment andtrucks, suddenly it becomesmore than admiration.Ellen and Michael ChrisWest Hills

___________

Visiting heroes…Perhaps the “Governator”

needs to “step away from themovie” and stop reminding us ofhis movie parts. I think the fire-fighters would prefer action onmaintaining or increasing bene-fits rather than empty platitudesabout being “action heroes.”

The veterans of theChatsworth Fire 2005 workedtirelessly in their attack on theflames, saving lives and prop-erty throughout the West Val-ley. Perhaps we should behappy that we had real-life fire-fighters on the lines rather thanan actor who just played one.Leigh DatzkerChatsworth

___________

Jim Perry:As an old friend and col-

league of Dick Friend, I appre-

ciated your most thoughtful“farewell” in the past LosAngeles Firefighter newspa-per.

Dick did as much as anyone Iknow in 55 years of writingabout the Fire Service to but-tress the image of firefighters.

When Bob Singleton, thefirst PIO of the County FireDepartment, resigned becauseof health reasons Keith Klingerasked if I would serve on a civilservice oral board to “makesure we get the best PIO” wecan.

A County personnel officerand I were the board. Therewere 13 candidates who hadpassed the written—only threewere viable candidates andDick was so far above the oth-ers; it was an easy choice.

I had heard “the out-KlingerKlinger” story. However, KeithKlinger was a natural publicrelations person. He reallycared about the media and theyloved him. His personality waswarm and friendly.

Dick would have appreciatedthe generous final words youwrote.Sincerely,Cliff Dektar

___________

Kudos to FirefightersPat McOsker, President

I want to acknowledge thewonderful response I witnessedlast night from the Fire Depart-ment’s paramedics at Station19. I was attending an event inthe Brentwood Community; atthe event a lady passed out andinjured her head. The injuryrequired assistance fromLAFD. The paramedics’response was so fast andimpressive. They knew exactlywhat needed to be done andresolved the situation withinminutes.

I cannot tell you how reassur-ing it is to know that you all arethere to support the City whencalled upon. Fire Station 19 lefta good lasting impression onthe several hundred peoplewhom witnessed this unfortu-nate accident tonight. The LosAngeles Fire Departmentdeserves a great amount ofpraise for their honorable worktonight and every other nightand day of the week.

Sincerely,Bill RosendahlCity Councilman, 11th District

A Very Special Thank YouFrom the Jerry Johns FamilyTo All Los Angeles

Firefighters:This is a letter of praise for

all the firefighters who came toour aide over the years. Threetimes now I have called on thehelp of our fire family. Withouthesitation they have been therefor us, finishing a beauty salon,painting our house, and now, aremarkable job remodeling ournew home in Westlake.

Once again Jerry and I are ata loss for words and over-whelmed by the generosity thatour friends and firefighters -some we’ve never met before,who spent countless hours onour behalf.

Some brief history forthose that haven’t

heard of my husbandJerry Johns

Jerry spent his fire career at46’s, 21’s 30’s and 14’s, wherehe was a competitor in hand-ball and slow-pitch. Jerry waswell known throughout thestate of California for his end-less hours organizing andparticipating in the slow pitchevents in the California Fire-men’s Olympics.

In 1981 Jerry, just thirtyseven years old, had a grandmall seizure while playinghandball at Fire Station 14,later to be diagnosed as a braintumor. He had surgery, fol-lowed by radiation. During hisrecovery 14’s organized workparties to complete a beautysalon we were about to open.Jerry then went to work at Res-cue Maintenance to get his 20years on, and then retired at age42.

Things went pretty well until1994 when Jerry was diag-nosed with a malignant braintumor, followed with surgeryand chemotherapy.

Once again in 1998 Jerry waschallenged one more time…hehad a heart attack. During thattime he went into congestiveheart failure causing moreimpairment. Shortly after hisheart attack, the guys for 14’scame to Paso Robles to paintour house. Despite all this Jerryhas kept his sense of humor.

Unfortunately Jerry’s dreamof living in Paso Robles fulltime ended. For the last twoyears he’s been having troublewith his balance, causing himto fall several times a day.

We were able to buy a condoin Westlake at the beginning ofthis year, which was in need ofsome fixing up. I called ourfriend Rod Felix and asked himabout kitchens from HomeDepot. Little did I know that

we’d end up with a gorgeouscustom kitchen right out ofBetter Homes and GardensMagazine. Chris Baker, GregIkeda and Rod Felix did an out-standing job building thecabinets and installed themwith the help of Chris Brownand Doak Smith.

Rene Ortiz spent endlesshours putting in tile countertops. Our sons, Doug andDrew, both electricians,installed new lighting, woodflooring and plumbed thekitchen.

Don Wallace, who was sickthat day, and his son Markcame on a Sunday to paint theentire place, which was atremendous help. I couldn’thave done it all myself. GregAvery and his crew came in torepair dry wall and scrape ceil-ings.

Jerry, who said he didn’t likeliving in Westlake admitted theother day that he really doesn’tmind after all. Without all theendless hours of work that thisgroup of firefighters gave us,we wouldn’t have such a beau-tiful place to live.

You all did a remarkable job.We thank you from the bottomof our hearts.We love you all,Jerry and Jill Johns

___________

P.S. A current up date onJerry - September 30, 2005

Once again Jerry has over-come another health issue.Jerry spent a total of eightweeks in Los Robles Hospital;five of those weeks he spent ina coma. On September 3rd hewoke up.

He doesn’t speak much; hemainly repeats what someoneelse has said. He doesn’t sit byhimself, he isn’t walking. Iasked him the other day whatmy name was and his replywas, “I don’t know, Jill.” So hestill has his sense of humor, hesmiles and laughs a lot, whichis good.

The other day I asked himabout being a firefighter; hedidn’t recall that part of his life.Two weeks ago he was movedto Thousand Oaks Health Care,where he is receiving physicaland occupational therapy. I seensome improvement but it’sgoing to be a long slow process.Our hope’s are he’ll be able tocome home to live sometime inthe future. I’m sure he wouldlove to hear for some of hisbuddies on the fire department.You can e-mail him at lake-naciluvr@yahoo. com.


LAFD Returns From Hurricane KatrinaOn Sept 16, 2005, members

of the LAFD’s Swift WaterRescue Team returned after 13days in New Orleans.

The team rescued over 200victims the first day and in con-junction with the LA County’sSwift water Rescue Team, res-cued close to 520 victims dur-ing their deployment. In all, the9 Swift Water Rescue Teamsfrom California rescued over

1000 victims.At a news conference at Fire

Station 88, Battalion ChiefJack Wise had nothing butpraise for the way his teamworked. The LAFD’s teamused chain saws, axes and othermeans to cut and chop throughroofs.

The teams also had the taskof finding deceased victims,then marking the locations of

those victims for other teams torecover. They also had to putup with the stench, heat andhumidity along with snakesand other wildlife.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosaand Council member WendyGruel were on hand to greet theteam and their family mem-bers.

Photos and information byMike Meadows, CFPA

Southland Firefighters Pay Tribute on the 9/11 AnniversaryL.A. Firefighter John Keys,

plays “Amazing Grace” at theSunday ceremony at thedepartment’s Frank HotchkinMemorial Training Center nearDodger Stadium in ElysianPark. A 22-foot steel columnthat was originally part of a

lobby structure at the WorldTrade Center in New York City,which was destroyed in the ter-ror attack four years ago, hasbeen placed at the center.

The ceremony was attendedby Los Angeles City and Coun-ty officials, LAFD and UFLAC

members, families and friendsof the LAFD.



Fifty companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, two LAFD Res-cue Ambulances, the Tractor Company, four helicopters, oneArson Unit, Camp Crews from Los Angeles County FireDepartment, and other support personnel responded to aMajor Emergency Structure Fire at 2000 N. Nichols CanyonRoad in the Hollywood West area. First units on the scenereported approximately 5-10 acres of medium to heavy brushburning on a hillside in steep and almost inaccessible ter-rain. Firefighters using handlines and aided by helicopterwater drops confined the fire to twenty acres of brush andextinguished the fire in two hours and thirty minutes. The firethreatened over a dozen homes, but none were damaged. Noevacuation was necessary and no injuries were reported.The cause of the fire is listed as the misuse of an open flameat an encampment and one suspect was taken into custody.

Photo by Mike Meadows, CFPAInformation by Jim Wells, LAFD PSO

With Best Wishes for a Happy and Fire-Safe Holiday Season and Throughout the New Year

From United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, IAFF, AFL-CIO-CLC

Introducing…

City of Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners

by Brian HumphreyPublic Service Officer

Los Angeles Fire DepartmentThe officers and members of

the Los Angeles Fire Depart-ment warmly welcome therecently impaneled members ofthe Los Angeles Fire Commis-sion.

Pursuant to our City Charter,Los Angeles residents AndrewFriedman, Jill Furillo, GenethiaHudley-Hayes, Dalila Soteloand Casimiro Tolentino wereselected by the Mayor andaffirmed by the City Council toprovide direction to the LAFDthrough Fire Chief WilliamBamattre.

Sotelo and Furillo were cho-sen by their peers to serverespectively as the Commission

President and Vice-President.

Andrew FriedmanA graduate of Fairfax High

School, UCLA and UCLASchool of Law, Mr. Friedmanhas an illustrious career ofcommunity service, includingservice as a special advisor toSheriff Lee Baca, and as aCommissioner on the LosAngeles Charter Reform Com-mission.

He is active in his communi-ty as the President of Congre-gation Bais Naftoli. A frequentwriter, Friedman is a contribut-ing editor of both the Califor-nia Hungarian Business Direc-tory and Magyar Hirlap and isfluent in Hungarian, Hebrew,German and Yiddish. He andhis wife of 33 years, Judithhave four children.

Jill FurilloJill Furillo, RN is Southern

California Director of the Cali-fornia Nurses Association andcurrently serves on the Boardof Registered Nursing for theState of California. Her back-ground is in emergency nurs-ing, having worked at some of

the largest trauma centers in theCounty. She has held the posi-tion of Southern CaliforniaDirector for three years.

Under her direction, CNAsuccessfully advocated forlandmark nursing legislationunder whistleblower protec-tion, nurse title protection,increases in nursing educationfunding, medical advice stan-dards, HMO reforms,improved healthdcare accessfor children, and low-incomeresidents, and improvements inemergency service.

Prior to coming to Los Ange-les, Furillo was the ExecutiveVice President of the Regis-tered Nurses Division of 1199SEIU, New York Health andHuman Services Employeesfrom 1987 to 2003. She hasbeen a Registered Nurse formore than twenty years.

Jill is the mother of two chil-dren, Dominic - age 27 andGina - age 24. She is married toLA jazz bassist ThomasGargano and resides in Tujunga.

Genethia Hudley-HayesGenethia Hudley-Hayes

career spans work with the LosAngeles Unified School Dis-trict as a classroom teacher, andcurriculum specialist. She wasprincipal of Holy NativitySchool, an Episcopal dayschool, for five years. Immedi-ately following, she became aprogram director for the South-ern Christian Leadership Con-ference, Los Angeles where shealso served as Executive Direc-tor for five years. Genethia waselected to the Los Angeles Uni-fied School District Board ofEducation in 1999 and servedfor four years, two as theBoards’ President.

Genethia’s life work is cen-

tered on social justice and civilrights issues related to accessand sufficiency in housing,health care, economic develop-ment and transportation withparticular attention to educa-tional opportunities for black,brown and poor students ofevery ethnicity.

Genethia is married to AltonHayes; they have one daughter,Kathryn Elaine Hayes.

Dalila SoteloDalila Sotelo is the Senior

Vice President of McCormackBaron Salazar, a nonprofithousing corporation. Ms. Sote-lo coordinates all developmentactivities and manages a projectteam. She is responsible forcommunicating and negotiatingwith lenders, equity investors,foundations and State, local andFederal agencies, local commu-nity development corporationsand neighborhood residents.Her expertise is in the projectcoordination of Hope VI mixedincome developments and lowincome housing tax creditdevelopments.

Ms. Sotelo joined MBS in1995 with four years of experi-ence in affordable housing withthe Los Angeles HousingDepartment and ConcernedCitizens of South Central LosAngeles. She currently servesas President of her local Neigh-borhood Council. Ms. Soteloholds a Bachelor’s degree inPublic Policy from OccidentalCollege and resides in EagleRock.

Casimiro TolentinoAdministrative Law Judge

Casimiro Tolentino has a wealthof experience as the assistantChief Counsel for the Depart-ment of Fair Employment and

Housing and co-founder of theAsian Pacific American LegalCenter. A graduate of UCLASchool of Law, he served underMayor Bradley as President ofthe Civil Service Commission.In that capacity, he helped elim-inate the height requirement forfirefighters that unfairly exclud-ed people of color and women.Tolentino is also vice-chair andco-founder of the NationalAssociation for the Advance-ment of Filipino American Artsand Culture, and has receivednumerous awards for his com-munity service and leadership.

Whenever you have a Com-mission-specific question orconcern, the Fire CommissionStaff is pleased to offer assis-tance. Please contact themdirectly via telephone, fax orpostal mail:

Board of Fire CommissionersLos Angeles Fire Department

200 North Main Street, Room 1840

Los Angeles, CA 90012 USATelephone: (213) 978-3838

Fax: (213) 978-3814

You can discover more aboutthis five member civilian boardand thereby the Los AngelesFire Department, by readingthe Fire Commission’s on-linereports, meeting minutes andagenda items at:http://www.lafd.org/comm.htm

LAFD Home Page:http://www.lafd.orgLAFD News Blog:

http://lafd.blogspot.com

Editor’s note:Photos of the Fire Commis-

sioners were not available at thetime we went to press. We willprint them in a future issue.

Major Emergency Brush Fire inHollywood Hills

Fire Captain Paul Carroll (now retired) super-imposed over the San Fernando Valley from theback of Fire Station 99 on Mulholland Drive. Photo by Jim Perry, Editor

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