HOUSTON – The Houston Fire Department union has filed suit against the city of Houston alleging the administration has failed to act in good faith.
HFD Chief Sam Pena is a part of that administration and says he was surprised at the suit but is optimistic about the process.
VIDEO: Newsmakers July 2: Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena responds to HFD union lawsuit part 2
“It’s healthy for the organization,” he said. “We really need to acknowledge the value that our firefighters provide to this community but also something that’s respectful of the taxpayer.”
Pena is also dealing with fallout from a not-so-kind audit of the area of the Fire Department tasked with inspections of the city’s buildings. He says he asked for the audit to help focus on areas that need improvement.
“The records management system that we have in place is inadequate,” he said. “Where we store our information, where we store our records, how we mine that data or our ability to mine that data is inefficient. That is one of the steps we have taken already to try to correct.”
ALSO
State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, tells Khambrel the upcoming special session of the Legislature called by Gov. Greg Abbott is mostly a waste of time, except for sunset legislation that needs to be passed.
“All the others are items, quite frankly, that if you got a GOP primary list of things that will really bring out the base for Republican candidates next year, this is the list,” Garcia said.
VIDEO: Newsmakers July 2: State Sen. Garcia: Special session is waste of time and money
She adds that having the "Bathroom Bill" on the agenda is also a wasted effort.
”They’ve not been able to name one instance in this state where anything has happened in a public bathroom,” she said. “Where someone masquerades as a woman or masquerades as a man, I suppose to come in and do harm to someone.”
Great conversation from both guests on this week’s "Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall" Every Sunday at 10 a.m. right after "Meet the Press."
• State Sen. Sylvia Garcia Jr., 713-923-7575, www.senate.texas.gov/member Twitter: @SenatorSylvia
• Chief Sam Pena, Houston Fire Department, 832-394-6702, Houstontx.gov/fire/divisions/firechief, Twitter: @FireChiefofHFD