Seattle firefighters ponder tax initiative for crew safety

By Bob Young
Seattle Times staff reporter

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Paul Atwater, president of the Seattle Firefighters Union Local 27, is looking at ways to push harder for safer, four-person engine crews.

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Atwater's union recently held a two-day seminar on "Power, Politics and Confrontation" at a waterfront hotel. In addition to hearing that Alinsky's book should be considered a "bible" for union leaders, firefighters got a few lessons in hardball politics. Two Texas-based representatives from the Police Fire Labor Institute offered nuggets of advice such as:

• "The meek may inherit the earth, but the Teamsters will get a better contract."

• "A person is responsible for your pain; demonize that person with the public. ... The public likes to see administrators, chiefs, politicians ridiculed, humbled and exposed."

• "There is a direct correlation between campaign contributions, lobbying and government spending."

Atwater called the presentation "a little out there," but useful.

"We're taking what they've learned in the rough-and-tumble world of Texas politics and seeing what we could use here that's more reflective of the community, the 'Seattle way,' if you will," he said.

While the union feels the need to get tougher to attain its goals for firefighter safety, Atwater said Seattle Firefighters Union Local 27 is not going to "demonize" anyone.

Instead, he said, his union is more likely to use the seminar's lessons on how to hone its message, build public support for its positions and run an initiative campaign.

It's part of the union's efforts to get more aggressive on several political fronts. Seattle firefighters recently voted to raise their monthly union dues, which can be used for initiative campaigns. They've nearly tripled their contributions to the union's political-action committee, according to Atwater.

And, the union recently conducted an $8,000 public-opinion poll that shows Seattleites support the union's top goal: getting four firefighters on all engines. Atwater says firefighters will take the issue to voters in an initiative campaign, if they must.
 
An initiative would not be necessary if political leaders find money — estimated at $3 million to $4 million per year — for four-person crews, in the city budget. But that's unlikely because the city is looking at a $25 million gap next year between projected revenues and the cost of providing current services.

City Councilman Nick Licata is floating another alternative: a four-year, $36 million property-tax levy dedicated to public safety, with roughly equal shares going to police, fire and social services.

"We need to see all the details, but it sounds like a great idea," Atwater said.

Bad feelings

Firefighters have reason to get more active in politics: They feel the city's elected leaders have been unfriendly to them. Two months ago, a state agency fined the city $63,000 for safety violations in the Seattle Fire Department, including interference by the office of Mayor Greg Nickels in a safety investigation.

Firefighters were particularly troubled by that interference, Atwater said, because the department's safety office was created after firefighters died in two blazes and its investigations are supposed to be independent and above political interference.

"We feel we need to defend ourselves," Atwater said.

That's where the hardball part of last weekend's seminar comes in.

"From our perspective, this mayor plays hardball, and we want to learn the rules of that game so we can better understand it," Atwater explained.

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said he didn't understand the union's view. Ceis noted that Nickels dines at fire stations every month and pushed a $167 million levy to rebuild stations. "Our firefighters are well-compensated and have a good benefits package. I think we have a good relationship with rank-and-file firefighters," he said.

Atwater first encountered Ron DeLord of the Police Fire Labor Institute earlier this year when he was attending the Harvard Trade Union Program, an intensive six-week course in Cambridge, Mass.

Atwater said the program's emphasis on politics and organization-building helped sharpen his thinking about his union's chief objective of four-person crews. Nine engines still have three-member crews, and that's below the standard of the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit organization that sets fire-safety standards for building codes and firefighting equipment.

During a City Council meeting last week on confirming Gregory Dean as Seattle's new fire chief, Dean said records have demonstrated that four-person crews are safer. But he noted that budget realities "drive what the department can and can't do."

Cutbacks ahead?

In fact, the mayor has asked the Fire Department to trim its projected spending for next year by 3 percent. Not only does that make four-person crews impractical, it could also mean more three-person crews, said Licata.

Atwater hopes the poll of 427 registered Seattle voters will influence city budget writers to move toward four-person crews. The poll showed that voters would support a property-tax increase dedicated to safer crews, as well as juggling existing budget dollars to ensure firefighter safety.

"Now we have very concrete numbers, which I think are far more persuasive than just knowing that people love their Fire Department," Atwater said.

Licata was more skeptical.

"I think people in Seattle are leery of budgeting by initiative," he said. But he says he understands Atwater's effort, noting that Atwater was elected by the union in 2002 to be a "change agent" who would raise firefighters' "political visibility."

As for Alinsky and his confrontational tactics, Atwater said he doesn't want his union to be associated with radicalism. But he said being nice isn't proving fruitful.

"We haven't got results from asking the city (for four-person crews)," he said. "Unfortunately, that's been our painful lesson."

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com