[TGE-mail] From Mayorslay.com

[Charles Bryson]

Friday, August 31, 2007

Simon Said?

Did an action taken by the City’s public safety director, Sam Simon,
nearly leave the Fire Department without some necessary firefighting
equipment? It is a question worth asking, but only if one is willing to
accept the truth as an answer.

Five years ago, two St. Louis firefighters died tragically. Their
widows filed suit against the manufacturer and distributor of some of
the Department’s equipment. In the course of the first trial,
testimony suggested that equipment might be defective. Both widows are
convinced the equipment contributed to the deaths of their husbands.

Armed with that information, Simon wrote to the distributor asking for
a $1.2 million refund. The distributor responded by offering to remove
the equipment, but without refunding any cash. Simon declined. At no
point did Simon ever order the equipment removed.

That’s the simple chronology that "supports" the baseless assertion
by some partisans that Simon’s actions were improper. And that
assertion, of course, inflames critics of Chief Sherman George, who see
his hand behind charges made against his boss.

Meanwhile, the second trial is underway, and the equipment remains on
the fire trucks. The City’s lawyers continue to negotiate with both
the manufacturer and the distributor. Partisans and critics alike
continue to bicker, sometimes egged on by bad reporting.

The City will put a bond issue on the February ballot to fund the
purchase of new equipment, which will settle only the simplest aspect of
the Fire Department’s problem.