IN JANUARY 2014, Ann Arbor Fire Department Chief Chuck Hubbard will retire. His departure opens the door for the promotion of Assistant Fire Chief Ellen Taylor to the top spot in the AAFD. Should she be moved into that job, Taylor will serve as the first female AAFD Chief.
In 2011, when Talyor was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief, it was the first time in the AAFD’s 123-year history that a woman had occupied the Assistant Chief’s job. Prior to her bump up the ladder, Taylor served in the AAFD for 17 years. She worked as a fire prevention inspector, as well as a lieutenant in the department for five years.
When Taylor was promoted, current AAFD Chief Hubbard spoke enthusiastically about her: “Ellen’s history with this department, her knowledge, professionalism, and her rapport with our other fire personnel are among the qualities which make her the ideal candidate for this role. I am pleased to have her leadership in place as we continue to provide the highest quality of service and protection to the Ann Arbor community.”
In Berkeley, California, that city’s first female firefighter, who then rose to serve as the Chief of the Berkeley Fire Department, retired after 27 years. Debra Pryor was the nation’s second black female fire chief. The first known female fire chief in the U.S. was Ruth E. Capello. Capello was born in 1922 and in 1973—at a time when more women were beginning to pursue such jobs—became fire chief of the Butte Falls, Oregon fire department.
In 1985, the same year Debra Pryor joined the BFD Chief Hubbard joined the AAFD. After starting out as a rank-and-file firefighter, Hubbard was a driver operator, then lieutenant, battalion chief, and assistant fire chief before becoming chief. Chief Hubbard, popular with the rank-and-file, was moved into the top slot after Chief Dominick Lanza resigned in March 2011.
Ann Arbor has had a difficult time keeping the job of Fire Chief filled. Lanza left in response to cuts to the city’s fire staff which he concluded put both residents as well as fire fighters in danger.
Shortly after he was hired, Chief Lanza told Council members and the public that fewer firefighters wouldn’t impact public safety.
Lanza then quit one year later “for family reasons.” He did so after former City Administrator Roger Fraser floated the idea of a blended on-call/paid fire department in order to cut costs. After he resigned, Lanza sent a letter to City Council members telling them that Ann Arbor’s fire safety levels were below standard and presented an immediate danger to residents.
In part that letter said: “Public safety, while costly, is the most important service that government must provide. Ann Arbor Fire Department is at a point where public safety is jeopardized. Our city is full of homes and commercial structures that were built over 100 years ago; they have questionable wiring and lack current safety standards built into the codes.”
In 2009, Chief Sam Hopkins retired “quietly.” He did not speak to the media prior to his departure from the department. However, in April 2009 Hopkins wrote in the Fire Department’s newsletter, “I…am concerned about keeping our staffing levels where they are…I do not believe that we can continue to make staffing cuts and still provide the protection to life and property as we are committed to perform.”
Over the past dozen years, seven Ann Arbor residents have died in fires. Over the same period, firefighters have rescued 13 people from their homes. A total of 10 citizens have had to jump from roofs and windows before firefighters got to the scenes of those fires.
Hopkins left the department before Mayor John Hieftje and his Council allies could follow through on a threat to cut 14 positions from the AAFD in 2010.
Former City Administrator Roger Fraser, in support of a total reorganization of the AAFD, hired a consulting company to evaluate the efficiency and response times of the AAFD. The move backfired on Fraser, as well as on politicos who had assured the public deep cuts to the AAFD had not impacted service or safety.
National standards require that a fire department be capable of delivering 15 firefighters to a scene of a house fire within 8 minutes of being dispatched. A study conducted revealed that the Ann Arbor Fire Department was capable of meeting that goal in only about 61 percent of the city, and only if all the trucks were in their stations and not out responding to other emergency calls.
Despite this fact, Chief Hubbard floated the idea of closing two of the city’s five fire stations. Then the following December 2012 Chief Hubbard announced that his department was in merger talks with the Ann Arbor Township department.
Both ideas were wholly supported by the city’s mayor and his allies on Council. However, after the 2011 elections of Ward 2 Independent Jane Lumm, and the re-election of Ward 3 Council member Stephen Kunselman, talk of merging the two departments and closing stations played poorly at public meetings.
Then in 2012 Ward 4 Council member Margie Teall won a 16 vote victory over Jack Eaton, who vigorously opposed any merger or closing of fire stations. After the 2012 victory of Ward 1 Council member Sumi Kailasapathy, talk of mergers and station closures stopped. City Administrator Steve Powers emailed Council members that he no longer planned to pursue the closure of any of the city’s fire stations.
In 2013, Jack Eaton, again running a campaign in which he hammered home the idea that funding services such as police and fire must take precedence, beat 14-year incumbent Marcia Higgins.
It was Assistant Fire Chief Elen Taylor who had the pleasure of introducing seven new firefighters at a recent City Council meeting.
In August 2012, before Sumi Kailasapathy and Ward 2 Democrat Sally Petersen took office, Ann Arbor City Council members voted to accept a $645,000 grant to fund six firefighters at $38,000 per year each.
Thanks to those hires, whomever ends up as the next Chief of the AAFD, will oversee a department of haves and have nots. New AAFD hires earn just a bit more than $14 per hour and do not enjoy the same generous health care and pension benefits as do the other 80 members of the department. Furthermore, the newest members of the AAFD have jobs funded by a two-year SAFER grant. Should the grant not be renewed, the new hires will be terminated unless recurring revenue can be found to fund the positions.
Ward 2 Council member Jane Lumm has repeatedly introduced budget resolutions aimed at reallocating funds in order to find the money for more firefighters. When the 2012 SAFER grant was announced, true to form, Council member Lumm said she would be “working to increase public safety staffing in next year’s budget, but that’s a conversation for another day.”
Thus far, every resolution Independent Lumm has introduced aimed at increasing funding for safety services, including police and firefighters, has been voted down by a cohort of Council Democrats.
As for Assistant Chief Ellen Taylor, like Chief Hubbard, she rose up through the ranks and is well-regarded by the rank-and-file firefighters.
“She’d be a great choice to move into the Chief’s spot,” said a firefighter who has known and worked with Taylor for over a decade.
“Ann Arbor would be getting someone who understands the challenges this department faces. That’s really important as far as I’m concerned.”
Assistant Chief Taylor did not return requests for comment on whether she thinks it’s possible she’ll be tapped for the job.
“I wouldn’t expect her to comment,” said another of her long-time colleagues in the AAFD who did agree to speak about Taylor’s chances. “With these new Council members, Sumi (Kailasapathy) Jack Eaton and Jane Lumm, we finally have people over there who understand that safety is a service our city needs to provide. I trust they’ll find the right person for the job, and if that’s the Assistant Chief, I’ll welcome that decision.”
None of the City Council member asked about the possibility of Ann Arbor appointing its first female Fire Chief had any reservations about hiring from within or hiring a woman.
“I have no problem with a woman in that job,” said one Council member, a man. “In fact, if she could bring some longevity and stability to the position, so much the better.”
The next Chief, whether it be Ellen Taylor or someone else, stands to lead a department that has been decimated by a decade of Hieftje administration cuts in staffing in order to divert General Fund money to capital and transit projects.
The Fire Chief will have to battle for more firefighters, updated equipment and the funding necessary to pay for both. While the election of new Council members who would not support closing fire stations forced the City Administrator to back away from that idea, the increases in fire staffing have been made only temporarily, and should grant funding dry up, the AAFD will be back to square one in terms of advocating for the need to increase staffing. That’s a daunting prospect.
“The next Chief needs to continue to tell the truth to Council members about what cuts to this department would mean to the safety of the city’s residents,” said a firefighter.