2011-03-09 Fire Commission Minutes

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STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS Mark Ignacio stated that he a 24-year veteran of the Fire Department,assigned to the Laupahoehoe Fire Station. He has been on administrative leave, through actions of himself and as directed by Fire Chief Oliveira, since November 8,2010. He has gone through what was required of him by the Fire Chief which included counseling sessions with the Employee Assistance Program and referral to a psychiatric review which was completed. As of today, he doesn’t know what the status is ofhis getting back to work at the fire station. Mr. Ignacio stated he has some complaints about the Fire Chief and his administration since Fire Chief took office in 2002regarding some of the goals and policies Fire Chief planned to implement that has not been followed through. Two of his main concerns are the updating of the Fire Department Procedures Manual and the Rules and Regulations, the last revision was done in 1994. Mr. Ignacio provided copies of four exhibits of which one showed that on April 27, 2004, the Fire Chief assigned different sections of the Rules and Regulations and Policies & Operational Guidelines to different personnel. Mr. Ignacio stated it was never followed up on and the last revision was in 1994. He indicated that he was part of the Firefighters’ Union at the time the Fire Commission was established and he worked with the original commission on the guidelines and qualifications for the fire chief. Part of the union contract was to have a Safety Committee which hasn’t been established. Mr. Ignacio stated the importance of the Safety Committee is to review incidents in the Fire Department and to brainstorm suggestions or solutions as to policy changes that could make a safer work environment. ChairTaniguchi read into the record the following exhibits that were provided by Mr. Ignacio: Exhibit 1 -Memorandum dated December 30, 2004 toAllPersonnel from Darryl Oliveira, Fire Chief, Subject: Employee Safety Committee Exhibit 2 –Memorandum dated April 27,2004 to AllPersonnel from Darryl Oliveira, Fire Chief, Subject: Rules & Regulations/Polices & Operational Guidelines Exhibit 3 – Memorandum dated July 15, 2008 to AllPersonnel from Darryl Oliveira, Fire Chief, Subject: Establishment of a Safety Committee Exhibit 4 – Memorandum dated April 2, 2009 to AllPersonnel from Darryl Oliveira, Fire Chief, Subject: Safety Officer Designation Chair Taniguchi thanked Mr. Ignacio for his testimony. There were no other statements from the public. 2