Well, then.
I guess this is the type of egotistical and flippant response that is in order when accused with the rather serious charge of sexual harassment. Apparently, this is why we are supposed to believe that the allegations must be unfounded.
Just change the focus.
Then get out of Dodge for an “extended 30-day vacation.”
According to a report by the Chicago Sun Times, mayoral chief of staff Ray Orozco, a former fire commissioner himself, was described as livid about Brooks’ remarks. That leaves me wondering how the normally animated Mayor Richard Daley must have reacted.
When the mayor was repeatedly asked last week if Brooks still enjoys his confidence, Daley refused each time to say “yes”.
Oops.
Again, methinks Brooks is bestowed with enough confidence already.
From the exclusive report by staff reporters Fran Spielman and Frank Main, a payroll auditor for the Fire Department, Deidre Green, claims Brooks told her he “desired her in a sexual manner” and wanted to see her breasts, Green said. She claims that Brooks called her repeatedly and moved to lay her off when she refused his advances.
“He told me he liked me and to call him back, which I did,” she said.
But she said she didn’t like his attitude in later calls.
“He would say, ‘I am a breast man. I want a wild woman,’ ” Green claimed. “I said, ‘I don’t like this picture.’ He felt I was subordinate to him.”
If Brooks intended to help her professionally, he didn’t need to do it in late-night calls on his personal phone, Green said.
“Why would we talk at 11 o’clock at night? Why would I have his personal number? When things didn’t go his way, he got upset with me,” she said.
Green said they spoke a few more times on the phone before she confronted Brooks in the office, saying she heard he had a girlfriend.
“He said, ‘I saved your job.’ He said, ‘They want to get rid of you. I can hire you, and I can fire you, and you can sue to get your job back.’ “
The calls ended in October 2008, Green said, but she claims Brooks continued walking past her desk and making harassing comments.
As if that weren’t enough, also in hot water is the Commissioner of the Office of Compliance, Anthony Boswell, who is already serving a 30-day suspension for allegedly mishandling an intern’s sexual harassment claim against a 911 Center deputy. Boswell denies his guilt and is appealing the suspension.
Boswell, a friend of Brooks, is also accused by an unidentified source of trying to spike the investigation of Green’s claims, according to the Sun Times.
Methinks the self-professed well-endowed and God-blessed Brooks will have plenty of opportunity to fend off the women once the investigation by the city’s Office of Compliance has been completed and he finds his calendar wide open, unencumbered by the suffocation of the time constraints of any continued duties as fire commissioner.
You know, I really enjoy the dance that occurs between the top and the bottom in the fire service organization. At the top, the vision and direction of the group are put into play. Those at the bottom need to accept, or buy into that vision in order for the group to move forward in a unified and cohesive manner.
MAYDAY’s are like aircraft crashes- very rare but we’d better be ready to act decisively when they occur. This is when you need to be at your peak performance. It’s Showtime.
Although they share the building with the Chicago Bulls, nearly all of my visits to Chicago’s United Center have been to watch our beloved Blackhawks in action. Now the UC is not just a sports stadium. Holding nearly 23,000, the UC has been host to huge concerts and other events. The circus comes to town for a couple of weeks every winter (insert Chicago joke here).
Th
As usual, Rhett and I will have our own takes on a few of the more interesting and notable firefighter stories out there. We’ll also have a new Training Drill Bit as well as another look at the upcoming events at FDIC in Indianapolis in April.
You may recall the tragedy in Dunwoody on January 24, 2010 in which Ann Bartlett, 74, died when a fire swept through her home after firefighters responded to her early morning emergency call and left when they couldn’t find a blaze. Five hours later, they responded to a second 911 call from neighbors and found the home fully engulfed. Her body was found in the home’s remains after the fire was extinguished. 
Two of the four officers initially fired are looking to be reinstated. They say they were fired for violating a department guideline in that they failed to establish command during the initial response. They claim they could not establish command because they had no scene yet. 
We knew 
In VentEnterSearch’s blog post 
According to firefighter reports, a man was heating grease on the stove when he decided he needed to go to the store. 
Firefighters are warning drivers to unplug all electrical chargers from their vehicles when they are not running, after a charging iPod reportedly caused a Chevrolet Suburban to burn up last week.
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Firefighters Local 176 President Stan May (center) announces the firefighters will accept a pay cut amounting to $304 per month for each firefighter. Photo Sherry Brown / Tulsa World
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