I am writing about the article on local public entities’ compliance with Colorado’s open records laws (Herald, Mar. 16). Specifically, the Herald’s request for various documents from the Durango Fire Protection District relating to Chief Randy Black’s performance and recent pay raise.
The DFPD board recently approved a 5% raise for fire district staff, an approximate $3,050 raise for an entry-level firefighter. They gave Black a 7% raise plus a $1,750 bonus to total $187,000 per year, an approximate $14,000 raise.
The district did not provide the Herald the requested documents because they only conduct oral, not written, reviews, and could not, nor were they required to, provide a record that did not exist.
Instead of explaining the pay disparity, DFPD Board President Karen Barger responded by saying, “That man is under review every single day in the public eye, and I think that there’s very little that isn’t already completely and fully in front of everyone, everything from a new building that is going up to how they respond to the public when there’s a call.”
School District 9-R’s board, by contrast, released 15 documents relating to Superintendent Karen Cheser’s performance. She is also in the public eye every day from overseeing a new middle school build to teacher performance.
Unlike Barger, 9-R seems to understand that the quality or pace of a new facility’s construction, or even faculty and staff competence and performance, is not a full or direct representation of the chief executive’s day-to-day job performance.
In fact, there is quite a lot regarding the fire district administration that is not completely and fully in the public eye. During my time with the department, even the staff was largely in the dark regarding the chief’s performance evaluations. The public is even less informed.
As a district taxpayer, I would like the DFPD board to publicly justify giving a first year chief a substantially larger pay hike than the other employees, many of whom have been with the district for decades.
Firefighters, police officers and teachers struggle to pay rent or buy a house in the community they serve. Shouldn’t the fire district prioritize the personnel that respond 24/7 in our community over the highest paid member of the department?
Frankly, I would have hoped that a self-aware leader might have respectfully declined the extra compensation in solidarity with the first responders under his leadership.
Steve List is a retired DFPD Fire Captain with 20 years of service and former Vice-Chair of the DFPD Board. He lives in Durango.
