SCHENECTADY Fire chief: Effort stalled School program urged to recruit more minorities BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The city’s proposed program to attract young blacks to the mostly white fire department is still bogged down after two years, the fire chief said, because the school district hasn’t implemented it. In 2006, fire Chief Robert Farstad and officials from Schenectady County Community College proposed a series of safety courses that high school students could take for college credit, including emergency management and CPR. The hope was to get students interested in paramedic and fi refighting careers. The district said the program was interesting, but took no action. Fast-forward to 2007. Farstad pitched the program again. The school district didn’t bite. “It’s simple — it hasn’t been an educational priority,” said district spokeswoman Karen Corona. “We’re still working toward our goals in the courses we currently have: reading and math.” The district has not yet done a student interest assessment, which is the first step before offering a new class, Corona added. OTHER EFFORTS Other new efforts are being made, however. These include a program at SCCC that will bring paramedic courses from Hudson Valley Community College via video conferencing, courtesy of a nearly $550,000 member item from Sen. Hugh Farley. Also, city offi cials have opened the fi refighter civil service test to anyone living in the state — rather than just Schenectady County — in hopes of getting more minorities that way. However, Farstad says his proposed high school program is the only way to make his department truly diverse. Similar programs are offered in New York City, Rochester and several other cities, and in published reports those officials said school programs are an extremely effective way of building interest among minorities in emergency jobs. “We have to keep talking to them about the program,” Farstad said. “If you go to a senior in high school, they’ve already decided what they want to do. I want to get them in middle school … give them this goal.” Until then, he said, the statewide test might garner a few more minorities for the department. “Statewide can help diversity,” Farstad said. In the department’s 108-year history, it has hired only three blacks. Right now, it employs one black fi refighter, three women, including one Hispanic, one Asian, and 112 white men. By comparison, the city is 77 percent white and 15 percent black, according to the 2000 census. Farstad said he’s frustrated by the fact that his school program has not been implemented after two years, but he’s trying to quietly talk up the department at the city schools whenever he has a chance. The fi refighter who teaches fi re safety at the schools talks about careers on every visit, Farstad said. William Rhodes, the department’s only black fi refighter, has also been sent to the schools to recruit. Farstad said seeing a black fi refighter might prove to some black teens that they, too, could make a career fighting fires. “They’re seeing the fruits of meeting their goals,” Farstad said. Both firefighters also go to job fairs. “It’s not that we’re pushing it onto the back burner,” Farstad said. SCCC PROGRAM Schenectady County Community College will also begin offering paramedic training, which all city fi refighter candidates must get before they can be hired. The 15-month course is taught only at Hudson Valley Community College, 25 miles away, but students will be able to take the course in Schenectady via videoconferencing in the fall. Department head David Hennessy said students would likely save $1,200 to $1,400 in travel costs alone by taking the course at SCCC. “It makes it really kind of tough for folks — that’s a 15-month course, 50 miles round trip, and gas is $3 to $4 a gallon,” Hennessy said. Students will still have to drive to Troy once a week for practical work. “But it will save them two nights a week to Troy,” Hennessy said. SCCC set up the program with a $548,000 member item grant from Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna. The first students would graduate in October 2009. Farstad said it’s a good step, but it won’t help with this year’s fi refighter exam. He needs to hire at least 11 people off the new exam, to replace retiring fi refighters. The surge in retirements was expected: the city deliberately offered an incentive in the new labor contract to encourage eligible firefighters to leave by offering them credit for years of service spent elsewhere. The goal was to reduce costs in the long run by replacing the highest-paid workers. But as the experienced fi refighters leave, Farstad is finding it difficult to get new workers who meet the city’s high standards. Firefighters must have 60 college credits and paramedic certification, in addition to scoring well on the civil service exam. None of the remaining scorers on the existing exam list have the educational qualifications, Farstad said.
Sch’dy Fire Department needs help in hiring more minorities
In recent years we’ve supported some innovative programs for the Schenectady City School District, including Junior ROTC and a career academy at the old Steinmetz School in Mont Pleasant, which expose students to careers that are important to society but don’t necessarily require a bachelor’s degree. A program proposed by the city and Schenectady County Community College, designed to interest students (especially black ones) in paramedic and firefighting careers, also merits support. Unfortunately, the district, after initially expressing interest, now seems to have no time for it. This is a little hard to understand. While spokeswoman Karen Corona says the district has been focused on its priorities of reading and math instruction, the courses being proposed here, such as emergency management and CPR, would be electives. So, there would still be time to teach reading and math. And it’s not as if the courses have no educational value. In addition to learning some things everyone should know, whether they want to be an emergency worker or not, the kids would be getting college credit. The program would also cost the district nothing: The city and SCCC would provide books and other supplies, as well as pay for an instructor or provide their own. It is important for schools to expose kids to a variety of career choices. Not everyone wants to or can go to college, at least right out of high school, and there are still worthwhile, good-paying jobs obtainable without a bachelor’s degree. Police offi cer and firefighter are two such jobs. And in this case, the city badly needs more minorities for them. Both the Schenectady police and fire departments are almost lily white, not coming close to reflecting the city’s population, which is 15 percent black. That’s not just unfair to blacks who are denied the opportunity, but public safety could be improved by more diversity in these departments, whose members must often deal with minorities. This program in itself is not going to turn around the the city’s fi re department, which is even whiter than other departments, such as New York City’s and Rochester’s, that have similar programs. Schenectady currently has just one black fi refi ghter out of 117, and has had only three in its 108-year history. It has made some efforts to recruit blacks in recent years, as has the police department, but with no real success. State rules that require offering the job to one of the top three scorers on the civil service exam are a major obstacle. But the city’s requirement that new hires have paramedic certification and 60 college credits, which exceeds the requirement of nearly every other fire department, certainly doesn’t help. This needs to be rethought. But Schenectady is not alone. Other departments have big trouble recruiting blacks, including the aforementioned Rochester and New York City. Both are considering entering consent decrees with the U.S. Justice Department, which would give them more flexibility with civil service requirements to achieve an agreedupon minority hiring goal. (Rochester and Buffalo have successfully used such decrees to achieve integration in their police departments.) Schenectady should also consider this route. And if it ever gets the school district to cooperate with a training program, it should get state permission to waive the civil service test requirements for program graduates as Rochester has done.
SCHENECTADY Fire Dept. promotions reversed Drug history may have been responsible BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The past has returned to haunt two fi refighters, whose promotions were rescinded two weeks ago amid talk of long-ago drug activity. The day started well for Capt. Vincent Krawiecki and firefighter Michael Stanley, who were publicly informed that they had won promotions. But before 5 p.m., word came down from City Hall to cancel Krawiecki’s move to deputy chief and Stanley’s rise to lieutenant. Firefighters Union President Alan Tygert said no reason was given. “They announced them and later that day they were put on hold,” he said. “They didn’t say why.” But firefighters said the reason was obvious. They believe the mayor didn’t want to promote officers with drug activity in their past over those without such marks. Krawiecki pleaded guilty in 1988 to charges of helping to distribute 200 pounds of cocaine to buyers in the Lake George area. He was arrested along with 15 other people, many of whom worked with him as state prison guards in Comstock. All of them were described as cocaine addicts as well as dealers by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Mc-Cann. Krawiecki served about 18 months in a federal prison. Then he was hired by the Schenectady Fire Department and rose through the ranks without apparent problems. Tygert said that the mayors who approved Krawiecki’s hiring and previous promotions might not have been as concerned by the man’s criminal history. “It’s a different administration — I guess they look at it differently,” Tygert said. It was unclear when Krawiecki joined the department. Stanley’s drug-related history is more recent. Five years ago, according to sources in the fire department, he was one of the first fi refighters to run afoul of the new drug testing policy. He was suspended for failing a drug test, but Tygert said he has served admirably since. “In the five years since then, he’s stellar,” Tygert said. “There’s punishment in our contract and that was fulfilled. At some point, you have to look at their full career. I’m sure there’s pluses and minuses in everybody. Both of them are fi ne candidates.” Mayor Brian U. Stratton declined to discuss his decision, except to say that the promotions were never finalized even though word was circulated. He must approve promotions before they become official. He also would not discuss whether he has a policy about promoting employees with drug histories. “We’re looking for the most qualified person for every position,” he said, “the individual who can do the best possible job.” Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett also would not discuss any promotion policy regarding drug violations, but said, “the bottom line is this: We will do things in the best interest of the city, period.” Firefighters have drawn their own conclusions, and many of them are pleased by the rescinded promotions. “The mayor stepped in and refused to promote them,” one fi refighter said happily. He requested anonymity because he had not been authorized to discuss the issue. “Mike Stanley was one of the first snagged when the drug tests began. Why not pick someone who hasn’t failed? Pick someone who hasn’t got that history.” The mayor can choose among the top scorers in the Civil Service firefighter exams for each promotional grade. Stanley made the list with a score of 84, but five others scored higher and one tied his score. On the list for deputy chief, Krawiecki scored third with an 84. Until Stratton makes a decision, the department is using overtime to fill the position of riding chief, which is vacant because of a recent retirement, Tygert said. The expected scenario is for one of the deputy chiefs to move to riding chief, leaving a vacancy among the deputies. To fill that, the mayor would promote a captain, and then pick among the lieutenants to move someone up to captain. A fi refi ghter would then be chosen to become lieutenant. Tygert said it’s important that the promotions occur soon. “They should’ve done it last week,” he said.
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