Gallant quits safety panel

Charleston City Councilman Jimmy Gallant abruptly resigned as Public Safety Committee chairman on Monday, saying he could no longer tolerate "unethical and immoral" efforts to stifle debate about the Fire Department in the wake of the deadly Sofa Super Store blaze.

Gallant's resignation came just minutes after Mayor Joe Riley declared that a scheduled meeting to discuss recent, controversial promotions and transfers within the department was illegal. Riley, backed by city lawyers, held that Gallant had failed to follow the proper procedure for calling the meeting.

Shaking his head in frustration as Riley stood at his side, Gallant apologized

to the more than two dozen firefighters in attendance and questioned why the mayor waited until everyone had gathered to spring the legal interpretation on them. Gallant said he was "mystified" by Riley's action, as the committee has previously called meetings in the same manner and had never been challenged by the mayor.

"These guys are hurting and this man is still playing games with the lives of those men," Gallant said later.

Gallant called the meeting to question nearly 50 promotions and transfers approved by Fire Chief Rusty Thomas last week in the waning days of his tenure. Thomas, whose last day is June 27, has been sharply criticized for his department's handling of the sofa store fire in which nine firefighters died.

Riley and his administration insist the promotion process was fair, professional and methodical and that the transfers were simply needed to ensure stations are fully staffed. But some firefighters who were transferred think the moves were payback for speaking publicly about safety concerns, the need for a new chief and other issues.

Though Monday's meeting was deemed "illegal" at the outset, it went on for nearly two hours, even after Gallant packed his bag and stormed out of City Hall. Riley's attempts to have city staff present a dispassionate accounting on the personnel moves quickly devolved into a series of emotional statements, finger-pointing and what Councilwoman Yvonne Evans described as "grandstanding."

Before leaving, Gallant said he plans to contact the state Attorney General's Office today to seek an opinion on what rights and powers council members have. But he said he could no longer lead the committee while the city tries to quash dissent and avoid tough questions in the wake of fire. Gallant, who is a pastor, said he was concerned about the "appearance of impropriety" in the city's actions, and that his faith tells him to step aside.

"There are some thing goings on here that God knows are not right," he said. "This is a spiritual matter now — it's out of the hands of human beings."

Retired fire Capt. Ricky Koger followed Gallant into the hallway as he left and embraced the councilman in a tearful hug. But at that same moment inside, Riley launched into a denunciation of Gallant's stand, calling it a "charade."

Riley said it wasn't council's place to intervene in personnel decisions and accused Gallant of seeking headlines when the city should be focused on moving the Fire Department forward.

"This shouldn't be a public relations feeding frenzy," he said. "This must be about making progress in the city of Charleston Fire Department."

Riley became noticeably agitated and shouted as he described how allowing council to interfere in day-to-day personnel issues would create anarchy. "That's ridiculous, patently and unequivocally ridiculous."

But Gallant's arguments seemed to strike a chord with some council members.

Councilman James Lewis followed Gallant into the hall, where they expressed mutual frustration with Riley's domination of city affairs. Lewis told Gallant to be patient while he tries to build consensus to change Charleston's form of government and dilute the mayor's power. "I'm going to get eight votes by November, and we're going to get ourselves a city manager."

Inside the meeting, Councilman Tim Mallard grilled fire officials about the timing of the transfers and asked how the city could break up tight-knit crews of firefighters so close to the first anniversary of the fire.

Assistant Fire Chief Ronnie Classen, who will lead the department on an interim basis when Thomas retires, stood up and called out firefighters in the crowd, urging them to get behind the department's effort to change and improve. "We are starting from scratch here," he said. "You have to give us a chance."

Others in the crowd, however, said they remain convinced the moves were a form of payback. Engineer Brian Rivers, who was shuffled between two stations on the peninsula, told the crowd he is convinced his transfer is retribution for speaking out about problems in the Fire Department.

"I know I've been retaliated against," he said. "Mr. Mayor, unfortunately the truth is lacking here."

As he left the building, Councilman Wendell Gilliard urged firefighters to raise their concerns again at City Council's meeting next week. He said the transfers and promotions should have been left up to the incoming chief. "Because of the sensitivities of the case, just hold off on everything."