Kotraba, Jenkerson under investigation by police
By Chris King Of the St. Louis American
At 10 a.m. today at the Gateway Classic Sports Foundation, former Fire Chief Sherman George will announce that his lawyer has filed a complaint charging Mayor Francis G. Slay with racial discrimination against him.
Yesterday George’s lawyer, Thomas M. Blumenthal, said he was filing the complaint with the Civil Service Commission, the Missouri Human Rights Commission and the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission.
“I kept insisting my resistance to making promotions from the 2004 list was based on public safety, but the mayor kept making race an issue,” George told the American.
“Eventually I had to conclude that his motive was race or he wouldn’t have kept talking about it.”
Slay repeatedly argued that George should promote because FIRE lost its suit against the City regarding the 2004 test, which was based on a charge of racial discrimination. George was not party to FIRE’s suit.
“We kept denying this is about race, and the mayor kept bringing up race, so we concluded race must be what this is about for him,” Blumenthal said.
The complaint also charges that the way Slay handled George’s demotion was designed to drive him out of the department.
“After I was demoted, they appointed as my superior an individual I had previously disciplined who was the subject of two investigations started by the fire department under my leadership,” George said.
George said acting fire chief Steve Kotraba is being investigated for alleged misuse of the department’s internal ratings process and alleged use of firefighters under his command to perform personal work while on duty.
“They created an intolerable situation that was designed to drive me out,” George said.
George’s complaint questions both the legality and the motivation behind his demotion. He claims that the order for him to promote was illegal, based on a 2005 ruling that the fire chief has the sole authority to promote or not promote within the department.
“According to the court ruling, it was my discretion to promote, and you can’t order me to exercise my discretion,” George said.
“That would be like ordering someone to vote. It’s outside the rule of law.”
Though the filing appeals his demotion and calls for his reinstatement, George said he considers himself retired by “constructive termination,” a legal term for the use of improper or illegal methods to force an employee to resign.
He does not intend to return to the fire service, he said, but he doesn’t want Slay’s job either.
“I am not interested in running for mayor of the City of St. Louis,” George said.
“But neither should Francis Slay, if this city has any chance to heal the racial divide created by this mayor.”
Mayoral spokesman Ed Rhode has not responded to a series of recent editorial questions from the St. Louis American and has indicated he has no further comment to make to this paper (see A14).
Director of Public Safety Charles Bryson also did not return calls for this story or for last week’s edition.
Slay ally to be new chief?
With the permanent position of fire chief now vacant, the City of St. Louis has made an important change to the qualifications for holding the position.
Previously, the position was open only to deputy fire chiefs with a minimum of experience. Now the position has been opened to battalion fire chiefs, according to the Department of Personnel’s Employment Notice, amended October 3.
According to several black veterans of the department, this move was made so that Battalion Chief Dennis Jenkerson would be eligible for promotion to fire chief.
Captain Wayne Luster, vice chairman of FIRE, said Jenkerson is a personal friend of Mayor Francis G. Slay and has been groomed to replace former Fire Chief Sherman George.
“They have been planning this for some time,” Luster said.
Jenkerson was moved to department headquarters when Kotraba assumed power, according to fire department officials.
Kotraba, Jenkerson investigated
According to fire department documents obtained by the American, Jenkerson and Kotraba are subjects of allegations turned over to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
On July 2, Captain Abe Pruitt told fire department investigators that in the summer of 2001 Jenkerson had authorized a group of nine firefighters, including Pruitt and himself, to cut a diving board from a swimming pool at a private residence while on company time.
According to Pruitt, Jenkerson authorized this work done for the residents of 5228 Westminster Pl. because they were donors to a charitable fire department fund. The residents are Louis P. and Patricia E. Hamilton, according to property records.
Louis Hamilton told the American that uniformed firefighters did, in fact, pull out an old diving board platform on his property. He said it was done as a training exercise, not as a favor, and not at his request.
In a previous interview with the American, City Counselor Patricia A. Hageman said that authorizing personal work on City time could be prosecuted as a felony. She said this in reference to a City police investigation of allegations that Fire Academy recruits had been ordered to perform personal work on City time.
Yesterday Hageman did not return two calls from the American.
The fire department also submitted allegations made by two firefighters (one retired) that Kotraba had authorized fire department personnel to perform personal work for him on City time.
On June 7, Firefighter Jamie Randall told investigators that in the summer of 2005 Kotraba ordered an entire unit of firefighters on duty to come to a private property so someone could help him lift an air conditioner.
On June 11, Retired Fire Captain Gary Ruffin told fire department investigators that Kotraba ordered a number of firefighters on duty to come to his home in South St. Louis to help him lift some heavy equipment.
The allegations regarding Jenkerson and Kotraba were submitted to the police department by the fire department.
Fire department officials claim these allegations were not investigated, but police spokesperson Richard M. Wilkes said the department “is aware of the allegations and is in the process of doing a thorough investigation.”
Blacks disempowered?
The racial disparities in the new promotions to captain and battalion chief are being followed by other administrative moves that have the effect of disempowering other black leaders in the department.
Under the leadership of Kotraba, there has been a rapid diminishment in the authority of Deputy Chief Charles Coyle, the City’s only African-American deputy fire chief.
The Fire Academy and all of its officers were removed from Coyle’s supervision and now report directly to Kotraba, who is white. Personnel matters in Emergency Medical Services also were removed from Coyle’s oversight and assigned directly to Kotraba
Fire department spokesperson Kim Bacon did not respond to a question about these moves. However, she did deny that the department had made two internal transfers that strip authority from black leaders in the department.
According to department insiders, Assistant Chief Investigator Raynard Jones was removed from his position under Coyle’s supervision and placed in communications, under the authority of Deputy Chief William Erker, who is white.
Also, Chief Investigator Addington Stewart, chairman of FIRE, was replaced by Gerald Jacobsen, who is white, and moved to the airport.
Bacon said she had to check with the mayor’s office to see if these moves had been made. She said she was told that “no transfers had been made, but absolutely there will be transfers, after all these promotions.”
Community response?
In demoting George, making the promotions and suppressing their racial disparities, Slay bet that the black community would not rise up against him. After 10 days he is winning that wager, though there are rumblings of a recall.
On Tuesday, members of the aldermanic black council wrote a letter to Slay that contained no threat of retribution against his administration.
Instead it meekly asked for George to be returned to his position as fire chief.
Members of the Clergy Coalition of St. Louis vowed that it would take action. There have been several strategy meetings, but no plan of action has been announced.
According to activists and elected officials who have attended the meetings, a plan to recall Slay is in formation. The plan would involve church congregations working the recall petition for signatures. According to the Board of Election Commissioners, no public notice need be made of a recall effort, but a recall rally at City Hall reportedly is being planned for October 21.
– Alvin A. Reid contributed reporting to this story.
