Both of the city’s fire fighter’s unions endorsed the Mayoral campaign of City Council President Lawrence A. Bell, III, yesterday in a joint press conference held at a Southwest Baltimore union hall.
Captain Stephan Fugate, president of the Baltimore City Fire Officers Association – Local 964 made the official announcement at a press conference yesterday at the Ridgley Street headquarters of Baltimore Fire Fighters Local 734. Fugate spoke for both organizations.
Referring to the other mayoral candidates, Fugate said “none of them measure up, or have the track record of
Lawrence Bell.”
Pointing out that the firefighters were making their endorsement weeks before the July 6th deadline for mayoral candidates to file, Fugate said the union leaders had decided not to hedge their bets or court other candidates, because they expected Bell to win.
Fugate continued by saying that Bell had helped the local unions, and that it was “time for labor to step forward and do the right thing.” When asked to explain, Fugate noted that the seven major unions in Baltimore had agreed to support Bell back in February, but that the “Mfume debacle” and “other concerns” had so far kept the others unions from committing to Bell.
Before the conference, Bell said he expected the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police to endorse him by Wednesday of next week.
Fugate then added to some conspiracy theories swirling around Bell’s candidacy, saying that Bell had been given “certain opportunities” to “sell out”, but had refiised. Bell recently spoke of a meeting where a group of leaders offered to support him if he would do their bidding as Mayor. He has declined to name those leaders.
Former City Council President Mary Pat Clarke stepped to the podium to introduce Bell as “Mr. Public Safety.” The fire fighters endorsed Clarke in the last mayoral race.
Bell continued on the “Mr. Public Safety” theme, stating he had sponsored and passed more safety legislation than any other council member. “The most important thing we do is provide public safety,” he said.
Bell made one of his first campaign promises yesterday, saying that all fire engines would have four-man crews and that he would not close any more fire stations, if he was elected Mayor. The reduction of staff had caused friction in past years between Mayor Kurt Schmoke and the fire fighters.
Bell then stated that Baltimore would have a higher homicide rate, if not for the care given to the wounded by fire fighters and police on the scene.
After the conference, Fugate talked about an issue which he feels will need to be addressed by the next Mayor’s administration, whoever it may be. An estimated half of the fires in the city are in vacant or delapidated buildings, he said, which are extremely hazardous to the fire fighters. “We can’t even assume they’re empty,” he said “often the homeless are living in there.” He noted that Daniel Henson, the Housing Authority Director, was having a number of the condemned buildings tom down, but that the current policy was “about paying contractors, not about neighborhoods.”