City Manager Charlie Cabler Facing Career-Affecting Dilemma

City Manager Charlie Cabler

If nothing else, Fire Chief Lenny Perez must be an annoyance to City Manager Charlie Cabler.  A subordinate administrator whose labor problems consistently go up to the next level is tiresome and draining.  It's like Public Works' employees getting into a shovel fight every week or the Parks Department having constant sprinkler issues.   At some point you want to say:  "Lenny, handle it."

Cabler could go for a new Fire Chief, not necessarily even terminating Perez, just reassigning him, but the difficulty with that is that Mayor Martinez likes Perez right where he is.  Martinez prefers playing chess with pawns, not knights or kings.  His ultimate goal is compliant leadership in all city departments.  He needs Yes-men and Lenny Perez is the ultimate Yes-man, kiss-up.

Cabler also knows that Tony has Oscar Garcia in the on-deck circle to replace him as City Manager should he give the mayor the slightest justification.  Oscar, the somewhat challenged son of outgoing UTB President Juliet Garcia, currently occupies a token position at Carlos Marin's Su Clinica Familiar, but would likely be a better listener than Cabler, who may have cooked his own goose by questioning the mayor's entourage attending the Obama inauguration on city money.

Cabler, of course, could make a substantial argument for Lenny's termination or reassignment simply based

Oscar Garcia, Jr.

on asset management.  Losing case after trivial case sent into arbitration, racking up a small fortune in city legal fees is not good asset management for any city, any department despite how effective a gladhander the department head is.  The city has lost 24 of the last 26 arbitration cases, a whopping 92.3% of cases, handsomely enriching labor attorney Ricardo Navarro, but not doing much for the city's already challenged budget.  Cabler and Perez are the last tier of such cases, before they go into arbitration, sort of like a medical triage.  Displaying a modicum of common sense in deciding which cases are winnable would be smart asset management.

Instead, Fire Chief Perez with an assist from City Manager Cabler decide to decline tuition reimbursement for an EMS worker who has routinely received such reimbursement in the past.  WTF?  The case goes to arbitration.  The city loses the case plus costly attorney fees.  In another case, paramedics are disciplined when a medical gurney accidentally overturns in a rescue.  The paramedics win the arbitration, but the family of the victim uses the city's discipline as an admission of guilt and files suit.  Again, the city loses on appeal.  So, twice Navarro pockets the fees on a single incident, but now the city faces a lawsuit largely based on Fire Chief Perez's unwarranted discipline.   Navarro will likely profit from that suit, win or lose.

Lenny Perez with Attorney
Ricardo Navarro(on the right)
at Marco Longoria hearing

Someone immaturely, foolishly suggested that Fire Chief Perez scrutinize the personnel files of those who spearheaded the "No Confidence" petition presented to the City Commission.  That would be such a blatant violation of civil rights, illegal in several ways, not worth analysis.  But, make no mistake, there will be retaliation.  The two firings of former BFA President Marco Longoria were purely vindictive and retaliatory.  No surprise, they were easily overturned in arbitration hearings with Longoria getting a nice settlement including back pay.

Actually, retaliation is a Brownsville Fire Department tradition of sorts.  In the 90's a BFD chief received a vote of "No Confidence" from the rank and file.  The city chose not to act.  The chief carried a copy of the signed petition with him at all times.  As he made his rounds to the various stations handing out roster duties,  before a particularly unpleasant assignment, he would scan a list of all who signed the petition against him, looking for "volunteers."