April 14, 2008

The Honorable Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

President of The Council

City Hall, Room 400

100 North Holiday Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Re: CC 08-0098 - Naming the Engine Company 41 Fire Station to be the Chief William J. Goodwin, Jr. Fire Station

Madame President,

We write on behalf of the nearly 1,700 men and women of the Baltimore City Fire Department in an appeal for your support to defeat legislation recently introduced and referenced above. We only became aware of CC 08-0098 after its introduction and we believe that some of you may have been encouraged to sign as a co-sponsor based upon erroneous and/or misleading information.

Though we were certainly not privy to the lobbying efforts that took place to gain support, it is our belief and understanding that several representations may have been made that are simply NOT true. First, that Mr. Goodwin "started his career at the station in question"; NOT TRUE, though Mr. Goodwin’s well regarded and respected father was in fact assigned there for many years. Second, that "all former Chiefs have stations named after them; NOT TRUE and indeed it was after more than 140 years of history and tradition that the very first station was named in honor of former Chief Herman Williams, Jr. and efforts were subsequently made to so honor the two Chiefs immediately preceding Chief Williams. In short, a well intentioned tribute to Baltimore’s first African American Fire Chief and the honorable Chiefs who preceded him has, with this effort, been reduced to gratuitous folly and the time for it to stop has now arrived. Finally, and most egregiously, that "the Unions were ‘okay’ with it" which is not only FALSE, but the exact opposite of the position made known to the Bill’s principle sponsor months ago.

It is not our desire or intention to "air dirty laundry" by cataloging the litany of substantive complaints and charges in support of our position and we are refraining from that herein. It is our sincere hope that there will NOT be a public hearing in the matter as you can expect that there will be a no-holds-barred rebuking of Mr. Goodwin and his tenure as Chief. As strongly as we and our members feel that Mr. Goodwin’s tenure has all but destroyed OUR once proud Department, we would find no pleasure in demeaning and denouncing him in a public forum and, quite frankly, all we’ve wanted is for him to go away and that is now done.

Finally, we respectfully request that if you were misled into signing as a co-sponsor of CC 08-0098, that you withdrawal your support and engage in the proper legislative procedure to avoid a public hearing.

Your Council colleagues will be receiving this letter as well and we will make the content available to our members on our websites. We encourage you to discuss this with those you may know who are serving in our Department and trust that they will concur with the view presented herein. Thanking you in advance for your consideration and support.

                                                                                                                                                             Sincerely,

                                                   Richard G. Schluderberg,                                                             Stephan G. Fugate,

                                                   President                                                                                         President

                                                   Baltimore Fire Fighters                                                                  Baltimore Fire Officers

                                                   IAFF Local 734                                                                                IAFF Local 964

RGS/SGF/cas