Friday, March 21, 2014
WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
Page A9
CKF&R suspends union official for three days BY LESLIE KELLY LKELLY@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2819 vice president Ronny Smith has been notified by the Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue District that he will be suspended for three days for sharing information that the district considers to be confidential. Smith confirmed the suspension Monday but said the actual days he will be off without pay have yet to be scheduled. “I’ve been notified that for my actions to educate the residents of Chico on the risks of their station’s closures, I will be suspended for three days,” Smith said Monday. “I am being punished and financially impacted simply for providing facts to The Reporter, to Kitsap Fire Watch and to the residents of Chico.” CKF&R Fire Chief Scott Weninger said that the district was taking steps to protect patient confidentiality.
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gation. “Unfortunately the fire district had a breach in confidential HIPPA protected patient information,” Weninger said in a written response. “As a HIPAA regulated agency, this is of great concern to me as fire chief. We are taking steps to keep the community safe and prevent this from occurring again in the future. Other details are not available due to pending litigation.” Fergus declined to comment. Matt Greer, a spokes-
“We did have a breach of patient confidentiality and the district has received notice of potential legal action because of that,” Weninger said. “It’s really unfortunate and the district is taking steps to see that such incidents don’t happen in the future.” The suspension centers on information that Smith provided to Kitsap Fire Watch and the Central Kitsap Reporter in the form of a letter to the editor. The information outlined two situations when minutes would have a made a difference in the outcome of emergency medical responses. His letter pointed out that if the Chico Station had been closed, the outcomes for those patients could have been different. Smith’s action came after CKF&R’s decision to reduce minimum staffing from 19 to 17, which has resulted in more than a dozen closures of the Chico Station on a shift-to-
man for the office of the Public Employment Relations Commission, said there is no set timeline for when the unfair labor practice manager will review the complaint. Once he does, he will make a preliminary ruling as to whether there is “a cause of action.” If there is, the matter will go to a judicial hearing examiner for a hearing. The manager can also dismiss the complaint at which time an appeal can be filed. The union is seeking a remedy of lost pay and benefits to Smith and other union members who have lost overtime pay, for the district to
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shift basis since January. given out, the inciThat could result in lon- dents were described as ger response times in a “respiratory failure” that area and hence, pos- and a “cardiac episode,” sible different outcomes and gave the age of the for residents, according patients involved. to Smith and the union. Following more than After the letter was a month during which published and the infor- Smith and his union repmation was resentation posted on were called Kitsap Fire “Usually these to meet Watch, a suspensions are with Chief website We n i nge r, d e d i c a t e d served in consecutive o t h e r to fire dis- days, but they are district trict infor- telling me that my adminism a t i o n days will be served trators and c o u n t y - when it won’t result the district’s lawwide, Smith in any overtime or yer numerwas noti- in a closure (at the fied that he ous times, was being Chico station). I find Smith was considered that kind of ironic.” told he for possible -Ronny Smith would be terminakeeping tion. his job but Smith said the district serve a three-day susconsidered the fact that pension. “Usually these sushe shared the date, time and street location of pensions are served in the calls with the general consecutive days,” Smith public as a violation of said. “But they are tellthe district’s policy and ing me that my days will federal Health Insurance be served when it won’t Patient Privacy Act result in any overtime or (HIPPA). Although no in a closure (at the Chico names of patients were station). I find that kind
of ironic.” During its budgeting process for 2014, CKF&R board members voted to reduce the number of firefighter/ EMTs on each shift from 19 to 17. That was done to reduce the amount of overtime the district had. Currently the district has 75 firefighter/ EMTs and has a maximum of 25 on each shift. Depending on sick days, vacation days and training, the number can vary from 17 to 25. When there are not enough available firefighters/EMTs to meet the minimum 17 for a shift, instead of paying overtime, the Chico station is not staffed with career firefighters. Volunteers may man the house then if available. When that happens, calls that come in from the Chico response area are answered by the closest available fire station. In the cases that Smith mentioned in his letter, response times would have increased by up to five minutes.
When the board made the decision to reduce the minimums, Smith asked them to hold off and allow residents of Chico to weigh in on the matter. When that didn’t happen, the union took measures to let residents know about the situation through the use of Kitsap Fire Watch and letters to the editor. Smith said he plans to continue to serve the public, the union, and “do my job.” He said the IAFF Local 2819 also is pursuing other avenues such as filing an unfair labor practices complaint with the State’s Public Employees Relations Commission. Weninger said he could not be specific about details of what was released by Smith that was in violation of district policy and referred all other questions regarding the potential lawsuit to the district’s attorney Ken Bagwell who did not return phone calls.
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Kevan Moore/staff photo
Kevan Moore/staff photo
Fire Chief Scott Weninger
Board chairman Dave Fergus
cease and desist from refusing to bargain, a remedial order that be read at a meeting of fire district commissioners
and published, and any other appropriate costs including attorney’s fees.
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That could take another 18 months, some sources have said. Carter says that prior to the 2012 lawsuit, KRRC had as many as 1,200 members. Dues were raised to help with legal expenses and the rolls shrunk, but he says there are now a little more than 700 members. That number doesn’t include members of the general public who regularly use the facility.
The possibility of a new ordinance has been talked about for years. Terry Allison, who has been active with CK Safe and Quiet since its inception in 2009, said neighbors in the area of the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club (KRRC) have been waiting for the county to pass a gun range ordinance since July 2010. “We’re tired of waiting,” said Allison. “It’s been almost four years and we don’t even have a draft ordinance to look at.”
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