No Major Changes?

The City Manager recently told the Livingston Enterprise there are "no significant changes" coming to Livingston Fire & Rescue. The Commission echoed that message, assuring the public the department remains well funded, well equipped, and that no significant operational changes are expected.

Honestly... what would you call the last month?

The Fire Chief was placed on administrative leave over the length of a PowerPoint presentation.

The City hired an outside investigator after the City Manager previously argued there was never a reason to hire an outside investigator.

Taxpayers are now paying both a Fire Chief on administrative leave and an interim Fire Chief.

Those sound like pretty significant changes to me.

The firefighters and paramedics are still showing up every day. They're still answering your 911 calls because that's what they do. That's a credit to them, not to the chaos that's been created around them.

But here's what I can't get past.

On June 10, the Commission unanimously found that Grant Gager violated City policy after losing his temper with Fire Department leadership. He was directed to complete de-escalation training and received verbal counseling.

Just days later, Chief Chabalowski submitted a formal complaint about the June 4 transfer station fire.

He alleged that the City Manager entered an active fire scene without proper protective equipment and interfered with fire operations while the incident was under the command of the Fire Chief. The Enterprise mentions that complaint almost in passing.

Then, only days later, the Fire Chief was placed on administrative leave.

Not because of the June 4 fire scene.

Not because of the City Manager's policy violation.

But over the length of a PowerPoint presentation and comments praising his firefighters.

That's the sequence of events.

The public can decide for themselves what they think about it.

What I also can't get past is why Grant Gager says Chief Chabalowski was no longer a credible leader.

According to the suspension letter, one of the statements used to justify removing the Fire Chief was his comment that Livingston Fire & Rescue is, "pound for pound," one of the most highly trained fire departments anywhere. The letter says first responders were "appalled" by that statement and describes it as arrogant and divisive.

Really?

Because if I were the City Manager, I'd be shouting that from the rooftops.

I'd be putting it in grant applications.

I'd be telling every legislator who came to town.

I'd be standing in front of the Commission saying, "Look at what these firefighters have built."

"Pound for pound" wasn't a slight against any other agency. It was a compliment to the firefighters of Livingston Fire & Rescue. It recognized that a relatively small department had built an exceptional culture of training, professionalism, and preparedness through years of hard work and personal sacrifice. Every firefighter who earned those certifications deserved to hear those words from their Fire Chief. They deserved to know their effort mattered. Instead, that statement became part of the justification for placing the Chief on administrative leave. To me, that says far more about City Hall's priorities than it does about the Fire Chief. 

And here's another part that keeps getting lost.

Much of this training wasn't even outsourced.

Chief Chabalowski and his officers earned instructor certifications so they could train their own department.

Think about that for a second.

Instead of paying outside instructors every time someone needed advanced training, Livingston invested in its own people so they could teach the next generation themselves.

That's smart.

That's building a department.

That's being responsible with taxpayer dollars.

Then during the budget discussion, Commissioner Cindy Daniels suggested maybe we could save money if firefighters trained less.

I have a different suggestion.

Instead of cutting firefighter training, maybe we should stop spending taxpayer dollars cleaning up management decisions.

Because firefighter training isn't what's become expensive.

An outside investigator is expensive.

Paying two Fire Chiefs is expensive.

Weeks of disruption to the leadership of a public safety agency are expensive.

Thousands of dollars in staff time responding to an investigation that grew out of the length of a PowerPoint presentation are expensive.

Those costs didn't come from firefighters wanting to become better at their jobs.

Those costs came from decisions made by City Hall.

Grant Gager can spend all the time he wants talking about me.

He can criticize my Facebook posts.

He can question my motives.

He can try to make me the story.

I'm not the story.

The story is a City Manager who was disciplined for violating City policy, who then became the subject of a formal complaint over his conduct at an active fire scene, and who then removed the Fire Chief who reported those concerns.

The story is replacing a chief with decades of experience and extensive fire, EMS, instructor, and command certifications with an interim chief who does not hold any of those same qualifications.

The story is a City Commission that has watched all of this unfold and still wants the public to believe there have been "no significant changes."

The story is that the questions surrounding the June 4 fire scene still haven't gone away.

Whether the City Manager's actions that day violated policy, violated the law, or were entirely appropriate should be addressed through the proper process. Removing the Fire Chief who raised those concerns doesn't answer those questions. It simply shifts the focus away from them.

So let's keep the focus where it belongs.

Not on me.

Not on Facebook.

Not on who said what.

Let's talk about leadership.

Let's talk about accountability.

Let's talk about competence.

Let's talk about preparedness.

And let's talk about why the person who built one of the most highly trained fire departments in Montana was removed over the length of a PowerPoint presentation after praising the very firefighters who put in the work to make that statement true.

Because here's the question I still can't answer.

When did excellence in public safety become something to apologize for?

Public safety shouldn't be driven by personalities.

It shouldn't be driven by hurt feelings.

It shouldn't be driven by ego.

It should be driven by competence.

By preparation.

By professionalism.

By leaders who recognize excellence instead of punishing it.

Because when someone calls 911, none of the politics matter.

Nobody cares who won the argument.

Nobody cares who controlled the narrative.

They care that the people walking through their front door are the best trained, best prepared

professionals this community can provide.

To me, that's what Chief Chabalowski meant by "pound for pound."

And honestly...

That's something Livingston should be proud of.