"We're wasting a half-million-dollar truck and four guys because of a bellyache," said Bill Gault, president of Local 22 of the firefighters union. "In a perfect world, every firefighter would be a paramedic, and that would alleviate everything."
Gault also said he would welcome a better relationship with management and the administration - as advocated in the report - but noted the two sides have been locked in a bitter legal fight over the rank-and-file's contract.
Gault said he was still reviewing the report Wednesday, but it appeared to be an unbiased and fair evaluation. He nonetheless questioned whether the city would be willing to spend the money necessary to make the recommended changes.
Everett Gillison, the deputy mayor for public safety, said the administration was still digesting the report as well, and he was noncommittal on what changes would be adopted. He did note that 40 paramedics recently joined the department.
Gillison also said some of the suggestions on management structuring were part of the department's 2009 strategic plan, which was mostly put on hold by the budget crunch of the recession.
"They have some things here that we are familiar with, that we look forward to implementing," he said. "We'll go forward and see how we can do it."
The report noted a "generational turnover" was coming in 2013, when every deputy chief and half the battalion chiefs are slated to retire.
The report urged the department to do more to heal racial divisions that plague the ranks.
In recent years, one group of firefighters, the Concerned American Fire Fighters Association (CAFFA) has alleged discrimination against white firefighters in the hiring and promotion process.
CAFFA advocated dissolving a federal consent decree that set a quota for hiring black firefighter candidates.
