Austin firefighters union delivers vote of no confidence against fire chief over flood response delays

The Austin Firefighters Association on Friday delivered a vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Joel Baker, with 93% in favor of the resolution. Baker was criticized this week in the aftermath of extreme flooding in Texas that left over 100 dead, though that number is expected to rise.

Baker had not deployed swift water rescue teams ahead of the flood, though he was asked to do so by Texas Task Force 1, and AFA head Bob Nicks accused him of delaying the deployment of those teams to aid in recovery efforts. Ncks said that Baker was more concerned about the cost of deployment than with helping the Kerrville community.

"Austin ultimately deployed three firefighters on July 4 to San Angelo, Kerrville, and Seguin," CBS reports. "Eight personnel and a department boat were sent July 5-6 to assist in Burnet and Travis Counties, and six firefighters joined Texas Task Force 1 on Monday."

"I'm generally against no-confidence votes," said Nicks, who brought the vote. "Many times they are done by fire associations over some labor issue that comes across quite whiny to the public, and I've always been against them. I don't think they have a lot of value. But in this case, I think it's in the public interest; this information really needs to come out."

On June 6, Baker had issued a memo saying that there were to be no more deployments of Austin teams outside their jurisdiction until after the fiscal year ends on September 1. At issue for Baker was the cost of deployment and the failure of Texas to reimburse Austin for $800,000 in previous deployments.

"I absolutely believe that lives were lost because Austin firefighters did not deploy," Nicks said. "This is just the tipping point where we can no longer pretend the fire chief is competent enough to be our leader."

The vote doesn't remove Baker from leadership, though it does send a message to those who can ask for him to step down.

"I'm very disappointed in Bob," Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said of Nicks. "In this awful time, he shouldn't be politicizing this horrible loss by making it part of budget negotiations and the collective bargaining with the union."