Union gives Yarmouth fire chief vote of no confidence

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By Patrick Cassidy STAFF WRITER
January 05, 2008 6:00 AM

The local firefighters union has approved a vote of no confidence in Yarmouth Fire Chief C. Randall Sherman.

"We just want to let the community know that we don't have trust and faith in our fire chief," union president Paul Holmquist said yesterday.

Members of Yarmouth Professional Firefighters voted Thursday to move forward with the measure after several months of consideration, Holmquist said. All but three of the 63-member union approved the decision, he said.

Holmquist and Massachusetts Professional Fire Fighters president Robert McCarthy plan to outline detailed reasons for the action during a 3 p.m. press conference Monday at Ardeo's restaurant at King's Way in Yarmouthport.

Sherman said he had not heard from the union on the specifics behind the vote.

"I've been made aware from sources outside the department that it might occur," Sherman said. "I've invited the local and the state union president to meet with me to address any issues."

No one from the union had spoken to him about the vote as of yesterday, Sherman said.

Sherman has served in every rank in the fire department over the past 36 years. He was union president for a dozen years. Selectmen named him chief in 2004.

The no confidence vote will not have any impact on service, Holmquist said. "As firefighters, we've been doing our job to the best of our ability since he became chief."

While Holmquist would not comment on all of the reasons for the vote, he said that a long-standing contract dispute was among "a number of different issues" that led to the no confidence vote.

The town and the union reached an arbitrated agreement on a labor contract in mid-December. Negotiations were contentious at times, union and town officials said.

"It sort of never had to go quite that far," Holmquist said.

Disagreements over the removal of an ambulance and staffing concerns at the old West Yarmouth fire station are other factors in the union's discontent, Holmquist said.

Town meeting voted in 2003 to open and man the station.

In 2006, an ambulance was removed from the building because of concerns over the department's overtime budget. The ambulance returned briefly but was removed again while selectmen studied the issue and waited for movement on the contract negotiations.

The ambulance was brought back after the contract was settled last month. Under the new agreement, "call back coverage" at the West Yarmouth station between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. is eliminated when the firefighters there are out on a call.

Training requirements, schedules and wages have also been adjusted under the new labor contract.

"The arbitrator in his ruling gave some relief on some overtime issues that we had requested that made it possible to get (the ambulance) back," Yarmouth Town Administrator Robert Lawton said.

The town has no concerns with Sherman's management of the department and, although there have been grievances brought by union members, Lawton said the number and nature of the labor complaints are not out of line with other Cape fire departments.

In 2007, there were about a half dozen union grievances brought to the town. Most of those concerned disagreements over operating procedures and some were taken care of as part of the contract negotiations, Lawton said.

"Obviously, we're disappointed in the union taking that stand on the chief," Lawton said. "Internally, he stands up for the fire department the way that he should."

Sherman said his door remained open to union leaders. "I'm available," he said.

Patrick Cassidy can be reached at pcassidy@capecodonline.com.