Too many chiefs

Who will run the city’s fire department?

By PEGGY CIDOR
Too many chiefs (photo credit: ORIT HAZON MENDEL )
Too many chiefs
(photo credit: ORIT HAZON MENDEL )
We all know that sometimes dreams come true. The problem is that nightmares also come true from time to time, and one of those nightmares happened last week, when former fire chief Moshe Suissa, who had been suspended for the last three years, showed up at Safra Square wearing his official uniform.
For Mayor Nir Barkat, Suissa’s visit couldn’t have come at a worse time. A year and a half before the next elections, the last thing Barkat needs is a high-ranking official suspected of a felony (so far, Suissa has been cleared of only one of the charges against him, albeit a major one) back on duty in his administration.
To understand what makes Suissa such a nightmare for the mayor, we need to go back about three-and-a-half years to when Barkat became mayor. One of the first issues on his desk was to decide how to proceed regarding Suissa, whose deputy and other firefighters had just accused him of corruption and misuse of his rank. Faithful to his public image, Barkat submitted a complaint to the local disciplinary court and suspended the fire chief immediately, arguing that he couldn’t go on with his duties as long as legal proceedings were going on.
Suissa has been suspended since, despite repeated attempts by himself and the city’s workers committee president, Zion Dahan, to keep him on duty until proven guilty.
Barkat and quite a few high-ranking officials, including some city council members, were convinced that this time, Suissa was doomed to give up his position.
After a year and a half, the mayor decided the time was ripe to publish a new tender for the job and to give the city a permanent, full-time fire chief, instead of a temporary one. Dahan warned him not to do so, arguing that Suissa would probably come out clean (despite a slew of firefighters who had finally dared to testify against their former boss). But Barkat wanted to send a clear message: People accused of corruption have no place at Safra Square under his watch. So Shmulik Friedman became the new fire chief two years ago.
But – and now we’re back to the nightmare mentioned above – last week the local disciplinary court issued a decision that hit Barkat’s administration like a thunderclap – Suissa was completely acquitted of the corruption charge (he was suspected of bribing a candidate to drop out of the race for the post of fire chief four years ago, in order to remain the only candidate).
What has remained on the court’s agenda are minor charges: cases in which Suissa is accused of using the services of some of the firefighters for his private needs – such as electrical and other repairs, something Suissa explained to the court as “little things not worth a mention.”
Asked if such “little things” were not an obstacle to holding such a high position, Dahan answered candidly that they certainly were not, and added, “They all do it all the time, so why make a fuss of it now?” But apparently, at Barkat’s office on the sixth floor at Safra Square, they are making a fuss over it, and Suissa was firmly requested to stop wearing the official uniform of fire chief.
Still, that’s nothing compared to the real imbroglio the court’s ruling caused. According to that ruling, Suissa is not accused of a felony and thus has the full right to resume his work as municipal fire chief, the position he held before he was prosecuted. But what will Friedman’s fate be? “Are we going to have two fire chiefs for one city?” asked a senior municipality official sardonically.
On one hand, Friedman has been lawfully appointed as fire chief, having won the tender that the Labor Court president issued more than two years ago at the mayor’s request. But now the same court says that Suissa can return to his former position. Suissa is not going to give up, nor will he make things easy for the mayor. Dahan said this week that he had warned Barkat not to appoint Friedman or anyone else to the job, and he now expects the mayor to give Suissa back his rights.
And what about Friedman, who, according to his superiors at Safra Square, has been a doing a wonderful job all this time? Dahan replied without hesitation that there was no choice but to go to court, again. Asked if this could turn into a serious labor dispute and perhaps even lead to a strike, he burst out laughing.
“Certainly not, that’s not a reason to strike,” he said. “I’m sure the mayor will act reasonably.”