The Youngstown Professional Firefighters Union Local 312 has notified the Youngstown City Law Offices of dissatisfaction with its investigation and findings into alleged racism claims involving Youngstown Fire Chief Barry Findley from an incident from September.

Jon Racco, President of Youngstown Professional Firefighters Local 312, submitted the letter of dissatisfaction to the law office on Monday and notified the office of filing an appeal for reconsideration.

The letter sent to Youngstown Law Director Lori Shell Simmons stated that the city failed to notify the union of its findings over and asked for consideration for an appeal that decision.

The letter submitted by the union stated that Shell Simmons and Mayor Jamael Tito Brown both claimed racial discrimination claims were the fault of years of issues with the union and stated that the union had been "publicly vilified and defamed" with false allegations and claiming that Cheif Findley as the victim.

The union letter states that the law director and the mayor made false claims against fightfighters saying there is "no history, evidence or testimony to support your allegations of racism against us. In a combined 33 years of service the City has never received a complaint of racism against either of us, never investigated either of us for racism and never disciplined either of us for racism. Similarly, there is no history, evidence or testimony to support claims that Chief Finley has ever been the victim of racial harassment or discrimination."

The letter to Shell Simmons also states, "You promised to fairly and objectively investigate the incident, but you have not done that. Your summary of findings does not describe an investigation. It does not offer any evidence or testimony about the details of the incident. It
does not provide any findings of truth as to what happened that day. Your summary of findings is essentially just a PR statement that only describes vague support for Chief Finley from anonymous sources. It exists only to provide justification for Chief Finley’s actions, which you don’t even dispute happened exactly as we described.

Here is the official release on the investigation from the Mayor on December 9:

"In response to the summary of findings from the city’s law department, I will not take disciplinary action against Chief Finley regarding this matter. 

Following a career of over 30 years putting his life on the line for our community and country, Chief Finley was chosen to lead the Youngstown Fire Department because of the shared vision to bring innovative thinking to modernize the department and efficiently deliver the public safety needs of our community. 

Unfortunately, what is evident is an environment of continuous tension and distrust between union and department leadership, and a history of antagonistic behavior towards Chief Finley. This resistance to change threatens the ability of the Chief to implement the needed initiatives to modernize the department and ensure the safety of our community. 

To that end, my administration is committed to working with the brave men and women of YFD to create a best-in-class department that is reflective of the true needs of our city. A modernized, efficient department that is united in the cause of putting the safety of Youngstown residents first is a vision I share with Chief Finley. I look forward to him continuing to work towards that vision. " 

Here is the full letter sent by Racco to Shell Simmons Monday:

 

The investigation originated after a meeting on September 6 that included Finley, along with union representatives Jordan Thomas and Jon Racco, along with assistant law director Joe Fritz. 

That meeting was supposed to be for a discussion over EMS training, but ended early after becoming heated, including an exchange in which Finley was accused of invoking race. 

The report from the law department details discussions with Finley and the union members who were present at the meeting, beginning on October 16 with Racco and Thomas. 

Racco and Thomas both told law director Lori Shells Simmons they did not see any way to move forward without Finley being removed as chief, saying he's got a "bad temper and always screamed at them for one reason or another." 

When Shell Simmons interviewed other ranking officers under condition of anonymity, Simmons writes that every one of them believed Finley should remain as chief and put at least some of the blame on Racco and Thomas for the negative relationship between the chief and union, saying they "know how to push his buttons." 

The report says about half of those interviewed felt Finley should receive some type of discipline, but all felt he is doing an overall "good job." 

Some recommended additional management training for Finley to improve communications and hiring an assistant chief to allow Finley to delegate more tasks. 

Following those interviews, Simmons conducted a ride-along on November 15 with battalion chief Tim Frease where they went to several stations and spoke to department personnel, who echoed the ranking officers' feelings that they are largely happy with Finley as chief. During these discussions, previous incidents from when Finley first became chief were brought up, particularly shirts, hats and mugs around the department that said "FBF," an apparent profane reference to Finley. 

They called those incidents "disrespectful" and said they were removed as soon as they came to the attention of battalion chief Charlie Smith. 

Finley's past issues with anger prior to being named chief resulted in his being placed on "last chance" agreement with the city, meaning that any additional infractions could result in his termination. 

 

Tensions with the union have long dogged Finley's tenure as chief, primarily over allegations from the union that rolling station closures due to lack of manpower put the safety of Youngstown residents in danger. Finley has long maintained he has no choice, citing repeated call-offs by members of the department making it impossible to staff all of the city's stations at all times. 

21 News contacted the city's spokesperson, who said, "The law department has received the letter and is currently reviewing it."

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