![]() ![]() "Personally, I feel like my hands are tied. Velazquez says that representatives have met with Curl but have not received her support.Ĭurl did not respond to a request for comment. Union leaders are calling for Montoya's full removal, an action that can only be undertaken by City Manager Shasa Curl. "If he doesn't go to those meetings, we don't have a seat at the table, Therefore, we don't have a voice," Velazquez said.Īccording to the union, its leaders have received the support of Mayor Eduardo Martinez and the Richmond City Council. Velazquez noted that Montoya is often absent from important meetings where his presence might benefit firefighters and the city - for example, the City Council budget meeting where councilmembers ask questions regarding the Fire Department budget, and Contra Costa County executive fire chief meetings where Montoya's absences resulted in Richmond's exclusion from grant funds, the press release alleges. They said he was absent when the Emergency Operations Center was activated in a recent Point Richmond hillside emergency and at the scene of a three-alarm fire resulting in the loss of the historic International Hotel, the union said in the press release. ![]() Union leadership also argues that Montoya is regularly absent from his office as he spends a considerable amount of time at his home in Orange County. ![]() Montoya did not respond to a request for comment. When the union expressed the need for programs to address firefighter mental health, Montoya dismissed these concerns as "union propaganda," Velazquez said. City of Richmond cracks down on illegal dumping as residents fed up with garbage problemsĬentral to their grievances against Montoya are allegations that the fire chief has allowed staffing levels to get so low that firefighters have been forced to work an unreasonable number of hours with no time off to rest.Īccording to a union press release issued Tuesday, Montoya has remained unwilling to meet with union leadership to discuss their concerns, leading Local 188 to begin an unfair labor practice complaint with the state's Public Employment Relations Board. ![]()
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