Rudy Brings His Arrogance to South Carolina Firefighters Conference
July 20, 2007
One week after family members of firefighters lost during 9/11 publicly questioned his leadership credentials (www.rudy-urbanlegend.com), Rudy Giuliani plans to address the South Carolina Firefighters Association in Myrtle Beach today. Given that Rudy has not taken responsibility for neglecting the needs of New York City firefighters, exposing firefighters to debilitating toxic air at Ground Zero, or his poor decision to put the emergency command center in the shadow of the World Trade Center, Giuliani's speech will likely prove to be another one of his displays of arrogance.
"After the families of fallen New York City firefighters criticized Rudy Giuliani's leadership in the aftermath of 9/11, his speech today is nothing more than a display of arrogance," said DNC Spokesperson Dag Vega. "How can the man who bucked responsibility for the health of firefighters and failed to prepare New York City for a second attack after the first one credibly claim to be a strong leader? Americans will reject the arrogance of someone who misleads voters about his leadership credentials."
IN THE AFTERMATH OF 9/11, GIULIANI'S MISTAKES LED TO DEATHS AND ILLNESS
Despite Data Showing Dangers, Giuliani Dismissed Health Concerns, Exposing Workers And Public. In late September 2001, Giuliani flatly denied that air quality at Ground Zero was an issue, saying at a press conference: "The air quality is safe and acceptable. And I know there are people that are concerned about it and people that are worried about it, but that's just the reality." But uncovered documents show that "Giuliani re-opened sections of downtown Manhattan weeks after the 9/11 attacks despite knowing the air was toxic," and that he "overruled" the city's Department of Environmental Protection. According to the Daily News, 27 of 38 tests before the statement showed elevated levels of asbestos. [Giuliani, 9/28/01; UPI, 9/7/06; New York Post, 9/7/06; Daily News (New York), 9/6/06]
Firefighters Fell Ill and Died As They, Assured The Air Was Safe, Did Not Wear Protective Gear At WTC Site And NYC Did Not Enforce Safety. Assured by the Giuliani administration that the air was safe, three out of four firefighters didn't wear respirators, which cover the nose and mouth and filter out contaminants, or used "practically useless" paper masks. The New York Times reported that legal testimony and interviews revealed that New York City "never meaningfully enforced requirements that those at the site wear respirators, even long after the last survivor was rescued." Thousands of firefighters developed gastrointestinal problems and what has become known as World Trade Center cough and a 2007 clinical study directly linked the World Trade Center toxic dust to sarcoidosis, a debilitating and potential fatal disease that firefighters developed at 5 times the rate after exposure to the toxins. The deaths of at least four responders died of "a direct consequence of their service" at the WTC site. [Giuliani, 9/28/01 (emphasis added); UPI, 9/7/06; New York Post, 9/7/06; Daily News (New York), 9/6/06; New York Times, 5/8/07]
Healthcare Costs Estimated At $250 Million Just For Rescue Workers. [New York Times, 1/31/07]
NYC Facing Lawsuits For Giuliani's "Inexcusable Violation" Of Safety Laws. Groups of recovery workers and first responders are suing the city, claiming "that after the first two weeks the city was guilty of an 'inexcusable violation of basic safety laws' because it did not ensure that the workers had proper protective equipment, like half-face respirators, and the training to use them." [New York Times, 6/23/06]
Giuliani Administration Gave Flawed Public Representation Of Health Threat As They Worried About Law Suits After 9/11. "Administration officials also on some occasions gave flawed public representations of the nature of the health threat, even as they privately worried about exposure to lawsuits by sickened workers" [New York Times, 5/14/07]
FIREFIGHERS CALLED GIULIANI'S CUTBACKS ON 9/11 BODY SEARCHES "CRIMINAL"; GIULIANI CALLED UNION LEADERSHIP "SINFUL"
Firefighters Called "Criminal" Drastic Cut In Number of Firefighters Allowed To Search For Bodies. In November 2001, Giuliani's administration reduced the number of firefighters who could search for bodies at the World Trade Center site. Initially, the number was cut from 102 to 25, then after protests, the city agreed to allow 50 firefighters on the site. George Burke, spokesman for the IAFF Fighters, said, "The unions were never consulted. The widows were never consulted. They have cut the search in half. It is criminal." IAFF president Harold Schaitberger, told union members, "When the city essentially ended this Herculean recovery operation, it made a decision to leave ... your brothers at the mercy of the seagulls at the world's largest garbage dump." [Gannett News Service, 11/9/01]
Giuliani Pressed Charges Against Emergency Workers Who Protested Giuliani's Decision To Cut Workers at WTC. Under Giuliani, New York City accused emergency workers of criminal trespassing and harassment following their demonstration against Giuliani's downsizing of the WTC recovery work. Charges were dropped against 17 men but remained against one firefighter accused of assaulting a police officer. [Bristol Evening Post, 11/12/01]
Giuliani and His Fire Commissioner Criticized Firefighters and Union Leaders. Giuliani criticized union leaders for provoking the ire of their ranks, saying "the name calling that they're engaging in is disgusting and what they're doing is really, really sinful." During the Sept. 19th edition of "60 Minutes II," [Giuliani Fire Commissioner Thomas] Von Essen said New York firefighters "complain a lot" and "I told anyone who has a problem to suck it up and move on." [Gannett News Service, 11/9/01]
GIULIANI MADE NYC LESS PREPARED FOR ATTACK; CRIPPLING FIREFIGHTERS ON 9/11
First Responders Had Ineffective Radios As A Result of Giuliani Failing To Implement Recommendations From 1993 WTC Attack. "Giuliani, the leader in polls of Republican voters for his party's nomination, has been faulted on two major issues: His administration's failure to provide the World Trade Center's first responders with adequate radios, a long-standing complaint from relatives of the firefighters killed when the twin towers collapsed. The Sept. 11 Commission that investigated the attacks noted that the firefighters at the World Trade Center were using the same ineffective radios employed by the first responders to the 1993 terrorist attack on the trade center." [AP, 3/30/07]
Giuliani and His Director of Emergency Management Both Said Giuliani Ultimately Made Wrong Choice To Put Emergency Command Center at WTC7. Giuliani, in June 2004, admitted to ultimately deciding to put the Emergency Command Center at WTC7: "[S]peaking separately to reporters after their testimony [to the 9/11 Commission], Giuliani and Hauer were consistent in their accounts of how the command center came to be removed from 1 Police Plaza in 1996 and put in leased space at 7 WTC. Both said Hauer and other mayoral aides drove the decision, but Giuliani guided them and ultimately made the choice." A February 1996 memo revealed that a top mayoral aide said that Giulaini would not accept a Brooklyn location though his director of emergency command recommended a building in downtown Brooklyn as the best site, noting that the "The building is secure and not as visible a target as buildings in Lower Manhattan." According to the New York Times, "many officials have since said that the decision was not the right choice." [New York Times, 5/15/07]
Giuliani Neglected to Outline A Clear Chain of Command for Emergency Workers. "Giuliani and his top aides did not put in place a clear chain of command for police officers and firefighters." [Washington Post, 8/17/06]
GIULIANI ADMINISTRATION HAD LONG NEGLECTED NEEDS OF NEW YORK FIREFIGHTERS
Firefighters Union Were Upset Over Radios Before 9/11. "The firefighters union accused department brass yesterday of trying to dupe employees and the public by saying the new radio system yanked last week after reports of malfunctions was used by two other major cities. The Uniformed Firefighters Association - representing the city's 8,100 rank-and-file firefighters and fire marshals - demanded that Mayor Giuliani and the City Council investigate who authorized the digital radios as well as the claim they had been field-tested in Boston and Chicago. 'I think someone screwed up and someone has to be held accountable,' union President Kevin Gallagher said at a hastily called news conference. [Daily News (New York), 3/25/01]
Giuliani Dismissed Unions and Comptroller Fears About Radios. "The Fire Department failed to properly field test new digital radios that eventually functioned so poorly that the department returned to its old models again, Comptroller Alan Hevesi said Tuesday. 'We now know, through field reports written by officers during the first days the radios were in use, that had these radios been properly tested, they might never had been purchased,' said Hevesi, whose department conducted an investigation..Last month, about 2,700 of the 3,800 digital radios manufactured by Motorola were shelved after the Uniformed Fire Officers Association complained that firefighters were having difficulty sending and receiving transmissions. The radios are supposed to provide firefighters with greater voice clarity and range while they are in buildings. The Fire Department said the decision to pull the radios was made when the department's 'staff chiefs began to hear anecdotal concerns about the radios.' Hevesi on Tuesday ordered all payments for the radios to be stopped and has asked the city Department of Investigations to look into the matter. But Mayor Rudolph Giuliani dismissed Hevesi's actions, saying that the comptroller - who is running for mayor to replace the term-limited Giuliani - is seeking the support of the fire department's unions. The unions are in a power struggle with Fire Department Commissioner Thomas Von Essen. 'That's in exchange for their endorsement,' said Giuliani. 'And it's a shame he's doing that.' Giuliani said the problem with the radios is that firefighters were not adequately trained in the new digital technology." [AP, 4/3/01]
NYC FIRE UNIONS OFTEN HAVE BACKED GIULIANI, REPUBLICANS, BUT NOW CRITICIZE THEM
New York Local Firefighters Have Long History Of Supporting Republicans
"Historically, the New York City firefighters unions have backed presidential candidates from both parties." [New York Times, 6/17/07]
NYC's Uniformed Firefighters Association, Local 94 of the IAFF Endorsed Giuliani All Three Times He Ran For Mayor. This New York City union representing rank and file firefighters cooperated and participated in the new video according to the credits and links to it prominently on their website (http://ufanyc.org). Not partisan, the local consistently supported Giuliani in his past campaigns, and broke with the national union to support Bush in 2004.
UFA Endorsed Giuliani in 1997. The Uniformed Firefighters Association, the rank-and-file firefighters union endorsed Giuliani in 1997 for his reelection campaign. The New York Times described their endorsement as "early and loud." [Newsday (New York), 7/11/97; The New York Times, 2/13/98]
UFA Endorsed Giuliani In 1993. "The Uniformed Firefighters Association.among the few municipal unions that supported Giuliani in 1993." [Daily News (New York), 6/8/01]
UFA Endorsed Giuliani In 1989. "The Republican picked up the endorsement of the Uniformed Firefighters Association on the steps of City Hall." [Newsday (NY), 10/20/89]
UFA Endorsed Bush in 2004. "Endorsed President Bush in 2004" [NYT, 6/17/07]
NYC's Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Local 854 of the IAFF Endorsed Giuliani In 1997. This union local, representing FDNY officers, also cooperated with the video and promotes it on their webpage (http://www.ufoa.org/).
UFOA Backed Giuliani In 1997. The union backed Giuliani in his last mayoral bid. [Newsday (NY), 8/12/97]
IAFF Is Known As Among Least Democratic Unions. "The IAFF is known as one of the least partisan unions, especially on Capitol Hill. They give thousands to GOP candidates, endorse more than a few and are generally known as the least hostile of labor groups to the Republican cause" ["Jonathan Martin," politico.com, 7/11/07 (http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0707/Prebutting_the_IAFF.html)]
IAFF Gave More Than 1/3 Of Its PAC Contributions To Republicans. The IAFF's PAC "gave 34 percent of its political action committee contributions to Republicans." [Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, 7/31/05]
