Deputy chief tells DC City Council Chief Ellerbe created culture of ‘fear & intimidation’
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I have seen a lot of wild DC City Council hearing about the DC Fire & EMS Department (and before that the DC Fire Department) since the early 1980s. Two of the most memorable can be viewed here and here. But there was testimony at an oversight hearing today (Friday) that top all of them.
In the more than 30-years of attending or watching these events there have been lots of people testifying about the ills of whoever the fire chief was at the time. Some of it comes just because you are the chief. But the testimony today about Chief Kenneth Ellerbe’s management style by recently retired Deputy Chief Kevin Byrne is the most damning I’ve ever heard. Chief Byrne leads the officer’s association and testified he was forced to retire late last year by Chief Ellerbe.
As soon as the recording of the full hearing and Chief Byrne’s entire remarks becomes available I will provide a link. Excerpts of his remarks, testimony from Chief Ellerbe and others can be found above and below.
As I tweeted during the hearing, I was quite shocked that Councilmember Tommy Wells let Byrne’s allegations about the chief just hang there. Wells never bothered to question Chief Byrnes about these very pointed and detailed allegations.
In other DC Fire and EMS Department news there was another arrest of a firefighter this week. This time a lieutenant, Henry Dent, was picked up, off-duty, but in uniform in Southern Maryland and charged with prescription fraud. Click here for details.
Kevin Byrne told the D.C. Council Friday that Ellerbe has created a culture of fear and intimidation in the department.
Byrne also says Ellerbe “went to war” with his senior staff and has demoted and disciplined officers and firefighters in unprecedented numbers.
Ellerbe says he was “taken aback” by Byrne’s comments. The chief says he has tried to be fair in the administration of discipline.
Peter Hermann & Amy Brittain, The Washington Post:
Kevin Byrne, a deputy fire chief and president of the Fire Officers Association, testified that when Ellerbe first arrived in 2011, he went after top officials, demoting some. “The new executive officer went to war with his senior staff,” Byrne said, setting a tenor of intimidation and fear that he said thundered through the department, and under which he said he could envision firefighters being scared to act on their own to help a man in distress.
But Lt. Porter Lawson — who runs the cadet program, which is under fire for graduating a 19-year-old firefighter who was standing watch at the fire station and turned away bystanders seeking help for Mills — warned that by blaming Ellerbe for problems, “We are destroying a department.”
“Transformational change is not quick, and it’s not an easy process,” Ellerbe said.
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Steven Tschida, WJLA-TV/ABC 7:
The topics on the agenda for Friday: ambulances bursting into flames, problem-plagued fire trucks, and personnel shortages — to name a few.
Also up for discussion: D.C. firefighter Henry Dent, 35, who was arrested to allegedly obtaining Oxycodone with fraudulent prescriptions.
During a hearing that lasted all day, questions were once again raised about the recent death of 77-year-old Cecil Mills across from Engine 26.
“People came over and knocked on the door, said ‘come on over,’ and they didn’t,” said Deputy Mayor Paul Quander. “When there were knocks on the door, common sense says you rush out and you help.”
D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells dug deep into funding formulas, plans for new equipment, and maintenance of crumbling vehicles. The mayoral candidate made up his mind regarding the Deputy Mayor and Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe — and the firefighters at the meeting seemed to agree:
“There is a lot of bad blood here and it’s time for a change,” said Ed Smith, President of the Local 36 International Association of Firefighters.
Kevin Byrne, a 36-year veteran of the department and retired firefighter, said that Ellerbe’s management style has destroyed morale and diminished performance:
“It is right now, this year — a culture of fear and intimidation.”
Throughout the meeting, Chief Ellerbe sat quietly taking in the criticism and countering it when given the opportunity:
“We have rules we are supposed to follow and for quite a while, folks didn’t have to follow those rules; but quite frankly, they do and that makes people uncomfortable.”
