WPBFD History

said, "It's probably the same as looking at a photo album. I haven't made an altar and I don't burn incense to him. There's no insane attachment here." Skurka went on, "If this is de- stroyed, there's nowhere to get another." The firefighters had to agree with that as neighborhood dogs stared in confusion at the rigid giant standing in the yard. Jo Ann Lester was honored as the West Palm Beach Fire- fighter of the Year by the VFW Post 2007. Her recommenda- tion recounted her heroic actions at several serious fires. 1988 In January the city instituted an affirmative action plan aimed at increasing the number of minorities hired by city de- partments. The predominantly white public safety departments (fire and police) were the first targets of the plan. The fire pension controversy was at the incipient stage by January of 1988. The city stored all pension records at City Hall. Marion West, who maintained the records in a small of- fice in the finance department, had been pension coordinator for many years. Poor Marion was caught in the middle. In reality she worked under the direction of the fire pension board, but was hired and paid by the city. Mrs. West was the widow of retired Fire Captain "Speedy" West and their son, Larry, was currently employed as a West Palm Beach firefighter. The fire pension board had a great deal of concern about the old records. There was no doubt that Marion West would act in good faith, but other city personnel were not entirely trusted. The old documents were of critical importance in any lawsuit to recover misappropriated funds from past years. At the fire pension meeting of January 14, 1988, a motion was made to remove the pension files from City Hall. Steve Bloom, legal counsel, advised that the board had the right to store the records anywhere as long as they were safely maintained and easily accessible to the public. Assistant City Manager Elvenn Richardson, the only city official to attend the meeting, had been dozing through most of the proceedings. He said that he didn't have any problem with the motion. The meeting was adjourned and within thirty minutes all fire pension records were loaded into Chairman Alton Ashby's truck. The next day Kathy Hankins suspended Marion West for allowing the records to be moved even though Marion had only followed the direction of the pension board. The city still did not understand that the fire pension board was operating as a legal entity entirely separate from the city. The board felt terri- ble about Marion, an innocent victim caught-up in the mael- strom. There was no doubt that Marion would resume her du- ties, but the newspapers had a field day with the story. The records were returned to City Hall that day with an agreement that copies of all the files would be supplied to the board. The next week Marion was back to work with back pay for the days that she had been suspended. The city stalled signing both the police and fire contracts for 1987-88, trying to use the contracts as a lever to prevent pension changes (the police were in a similar situation with their pension as the fire department). This was in direct violation of state law, and the city fi- nally settled as police and firefighters picketed outside on March 3, 1988. The city agreed to allow the 175 funds to pro- vide extra benefits, to allow ten year vesting for pension bene-

fits, to remove limitations on maximum pension benefits, and to recognize the pension board as an independent entity with sole authority to administer the pension without interference from the city. The agreement still did not settle the dispute over the 2.43 million dollars from previous years. Police and fire con- tracts were signed a few weeks later with retroactive pay back to October 1, 1987. By February of 1988, the Firefighter News had been re- named the F.O.F. News. Robert Berlin was still President of the Fraternal Order of Firemen and was actively trying to re- build membership. The building fund was growing, but there was no place to build a clubhouse. It was finally decided to approach the city to see if the leased property on Tuxedo Ave- nue could be purchased by the F.O.F. Another option being considered was to obtain a piece of property at the newly pro- posed Training Facility location off Haverhill Road. Pat Morris headed a committee to deal with the city. By 1988 many older sections of West Palm Beach had deteriorated. A multitude of vacant houses provided easy hid- ing places for vagrants to camp and dopers to conduct their illegal business. The media often reported how other communi- ties handled this problem by tearing down or burning dilapi- dated buildings to drive out the unsavory element. Mayor Pat Pepper Schwab seized the idea of burning these old buildings as a dramatic way of cleaning-up the city. Chief Reese responded by strongly opposing such tactics, saying, "There is a true prov- erb within the fire service that says 'don't play with fire because fire doesn't play by the rules.' I would recommend that burning these houses is a risky way to go and be used only as a last re- sort." By openly disagreeing with the mayor, Reese had un- knowingly taken the first step in an escalating personal conflict that would eventually contribute to his downfall. Two developers had a vision for an older West Palm Beach neighborhood. They began quietly acquiring properties west of the F.E.C. Railroad between Gardenia and N Street under the New South Corporation name. Most of the run-down properties were in their hands when word got out that David Paladino and Henry Rolfs wanted the 67 acre section as a future investment. The Downtown/Uptown project was a dream of the future to most people, but it would become a nightmare for the fire department. Some 630 old structures, ranging from small houses to large apartment buildings, were simply boarded -up, waiting to be bull-dozed at some later date. The area be- came an arsonist's fantasyland, and several came to play. Vagrants soon learned how to gain access into the vacant buildings without detection. By crawling under a house they could knock a hole in the floor and climb in, leaving the exte- rior boarded-up with the appearance that no one was there. The first outbreak of fires involved these supposedly vacant homes that transients found to their liking. Monday, July 25, 1988, the fire department was suddenly crippled when all the telephone lines went dead at 10:10 a.m. Southern Bell Telephone had a man at Central Fire Station within ten minutes and the emergency telephone lines were rerouted to the police department. A two-way radio was rushed to the police station so that fire calls could be relayed to fire dispatch. A construction worker near the WJNO radio station had accidentally cut phone lines to about a hundred downtown customers. By 12:15 p.m. the damage had been repaired. Luckily, no emergency calls were delayed during the time the 2