Two lieutenants on the Gary Fire Department say there are openings in the captain rank that belong to them.
Lt. Brad Smith and Lt. Kevin Thomas filed complaints months ago before the Gary Fire Civil Service Commission asking the board to review the action – or inaction – of Chief Teresa Everett. They contend the budget includes 30 captains but only 28 slots are filled.
The commission, which was court-ordered in December to extend the life of its promotion eligibility list while the matter is pending, heard Smith testify at its regular monthly meeting on Thursday. The board scheduled a special meeting for March 12 to hear Thomas’s case and commission attorney Rinzer Williams said the board will deliberate on Smith’s matter on that day.
Smith testified that “about half the time” he is transferred from his station on Grand Boulevard in Miller to other stations to work in the higher rank, a practice called, “riding up.” Without a formal promotion, however, Smith said he loses the increased pay when he works overtime.
Both Everett and Acting Deputy Chief James Stanton said firefighters who take excessive sick days create some of the vacancies.
“We have attendance problems,” Stanton testified. “Certain firefighters on the job who are sick 10 to 20 days a year, even go 90.”
Everett said that based on the number of fire stations and available trucks, “we are overstaffed. If everybody comes to work, we have more people than apparatus.”
The fire department operates 10 stations, including the Gary/Chicago Airport. Each station has three shifts of firefighters and a captain assigned to each shift.
“Right now I have 27 captains. I have captains in other positions. Captains on light duty. I have too many lieutenants,” the chief testified. She said promotions are made when “there are funds available and an operational need.”
But right now, “There is no operational need for captain promotions,” Everett said.
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