(From Star Tribune report – http://www.startribune.com/investigators/94636289.html?page=3&c=y)
May 24, 2010…The report, jointly prepared by Rocco Forté, director of regulatory services, and Fire Chief Alex Jackson, said the Fire Department was “behind schedule” in a plan to inspect all properties in five years, because it appeared to be repeating some inspections.
Debate on blame continues
Both Forté and Jackson declined to comment before Monday’s presentation of the report to a council committee.
Samuels said he is certain the proposal will pass. He said that the city had made “tremendous improvement” in inspections, noting that at one time, it inspected all buildings every 17 years, and that five years ago it developed a plan to complete all inspections using the firefighters as inspectors.
But there were indications that the report could lead to some sharp debates over who ultimately is at fault.
Although Forté, a former fire chief, proposed to the council more than five years ago that firefighters take responsibility for inspections, Council Member Schiff blamed Jackson for problems with inspections by the Fire Department. “I have ultimate confidence that the firefighters who are properly trained and properly scheduled can do this work,” he said. “I just don’t have confidence that the chief can be effective in administering the program.”
Told of those comments, Jackson said, “I have nothing to say until after the [Monday] meeting.”
Ron Edwards, who chaired a federal court-appointed committee that monitored the desegregation of the Minneapolis Fire Department for 20 years, beginning in the 1970s, said, “I think that the record will show that Alex Jackson has served both with competence and also with compassion.”
Elizabeth Glidden, chairwoman of the council’s Regulatory, Energy and Environment Committee, called the report “a strong recommendation for ensuring that we have consistent, properly done inspections.”
The council had evidence last fall that Fire Department inspections were yielding relatively few citations, and Glidden said the issue was discussed in one committee on which she served. But, she added, “Quite frankly, we did not have the kind of detail that’s in the report.”
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