Firefighters in Arlington, Virginia, are calling on their chief to resign.
Firefighter union President Brian Lynch said just over 80% of the members of the Arlington Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association Local 2800 voted Wednesday for no confidence in fire chief David Povlitz.
Lynch says one issue is short staffing in the department: “Our members are working up to 72 hours in a row, our mandatory overtime year to date, now versus last year has nearly tripled.”
He said working those kind of hours creates an unsafe situation for firefighter and the public, not to mention what it does to firefighter’s families.
“They don’t see their families for three days.”
Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz, in a statement, said he supports the chief and the firefighters.
“I wanted to state my unequivocal support for Chief Povlitz and appreciation for the hard work of our understaffed and overworked firefighters,” Schwartz wrote.
Schwatrz also said he understands the staffing issue.
“It is no secret that the Arlington County Fire Department is dealing with staffing shortages. And I have no doubt that our firefighters and ACFD personnel are feeling the strain of those shortages. It’s likely little consolation for our firefighters that find themselves understaffed and overworked, but this is a problem not unique to Arlington — many of our public safety partners in the region are experiencing the same shortages. What should serve as some consolation is the tireless work being done by the Fire Chief, County Board, and County Staff to address these recruitment and retention concerns.”
Lynch said another issue is firefighters are unhappy with is the way he says promotions are handled.
“Members feel our department has a good ol’ boy system of personal relationships as opposed to merit.”
He said the rank and file think it’s time for chief Povlitz to resign: “We ask that those in power heed what the men and women who protect this community are saying.”
Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz said he supports Povlitz as well as “our understaffed and overworked firefighters.”
“It is no secret that the Arlington County Fire Department is dealing with staffing shortages. And I have no doubt that our firefighters and ACFD personnel are feeling the strain of those shortages. It’s likely little consolation for our firefighters that find themselves understaffed and overworked, but this is a problem not unique to Arlington – many of our public safety partners in the region are experiencing the same shortages. What should serve as some consolation is the tireless work being done by the Fire Chief, County Board, and County Staff to address these recruitment and retention concerns,” Schwartz said.
