Arbitrator rules in favor of city firefighters
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An arbitrator has ruled in favor of the city's firefighters over out-of-classification work assignments rather than full-time promotions into management positions.
Arbitrator Mark Pearce ruled in late July that the city’s contract with the union representing Jamestown’s firefighters requires vacancies to be filled by selection from an existing Civil Service List while limiting management rights to assign out-of-title work is subject to applicable state and local laws. The city argued that the contract states the city determines when a vacancy exists, and the city has determined there is no shortage.
Pearce said that designating positions as “acting” acknowledges the positions as openings it staffs for every shift for 15 months, sometimes for positions Pearce said the city has had notice of for a year and for which active Civil Service lists and pending examinations exist.
“The discretion conferred by Section 2 is the discretion to determine when a vacancy exists; it is not a license to acknowledge a vacancy in practice while denying it in name in order to staff it deliberately out of title. Once the city has determined and acted upon the existence of an opening, Section 2’s companion obligation attaches: it ‘will make every effort to fill such a vacancy as soon as practicable.'”
The city also argued that none of the acting posts satisfies the definition of a vacancy because they arose from the SAFER grant rather than a departure. Pearce disagreed, saying a battalion chief’s retirement falls within the definition of a vacancy while the SAFER-related lieutenant positions were determined by Pearce not to be emergency driven, meaning the city should make permanent appointments to lieutenant positions involving SAFER grant-funded firefighters.
Another document filed by DeAngelo shows the amount of shifts worked by firefighters in the city acting out of class as Battalion Officers or Lieutenants. In January 2025 there were 116 shifts, February 2025 111 shifts, March 2025 110 shifts, April 2025 131 shifts, May 2025 133 shifts, June 2025 137 shifts, July 2025 143 shifts, August 2025 126 shifts, September 2025 137 shifts, October 2025 146 shifts, November 2025 180 shifts, December 2025 161 shifts, and January 2026 150 shifts. In total the document says there were 1,781 total shifts and 21,372 hours acted out of class in the last 13 months.
Pearce gave the city permission to continue with its acting fire chief title while residency requirement issues are worked out that would allow the city to name Ryan Roush the fire chief rather than the acting fire chief. But the use of the title for Roush ends up affecting an acting lieutenant. Pearce directed the city to report on its progress toward resolving the acting fire chief impasse “so that the cascade does not perpetuate out-of-title staffing without end.”
Other positions that have used out-of-title designations – a battalion chief, SAFER, injury-related and code-enforcement lieutenant positions – are being handled differently by Pearce. The battalion chief position could be filled from an active eligible list with a reachable candidate and is not caused by the acting fire chief designation. The remaining acting lieutenant positions are out-of-title assignments. Pearce said active lists and June 2026 Civil Service tests mean the city should be able to stop using acting titles and promote firefighters into the positions in which they are working.
“The grievance is sustained as to these positions, and the city shall be directed to initiate and complete the civil service appointment process for them on a defined timeline," Pearce wrote in his decision.
Elliot Raimondo, city corporation counsel, had argued in court filings the city agrees that assigning employees in acting positions is not the preferred method of operation, but the city in making these appointments is in compliance with the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and state law. The response also states that there are many changes occurring with regard to the structure of the Fire Department that can only occur in a specific sequence. Those changes led to a delay in certain appointments being made, Raimondo said, but earlier this year the city was nearing the end of the work it needed to do. Structural changes with department leadership were expected in a period of weeks.
Pearce gave the city 30 days from the June 30 decision date to request certification of all current eligible lists for fire lieutenant and fire battalion chief positions, and identify in writing to the union all candidates reachable on those lists. Within 60 days, or within 30 days of the creation of a new Civil Service list from the June 2026 examinations, the city was to complete “canvass and selection procedures” for the vacancies and, within 180 days, complete the permanent appointments to fill the vacancies with required training enrollment to begin “promptly.”
Pearce also requested updates on efforts to resolve the fire chief’s residency/Fire Officer III impasse within 90 days and then further updates at 180 day intervals until the chief position is resolved.
Pearce’s decision doesn’t cost the city any money, with the union seeking compliance with the contract and no back pay. Both sides are splitting the costs of the arbitrator equally. Pearce also said the city can continue using overtime or short-term coverage for genuinely unscheduled or emergency absences as defined in the contract and state Civil Service Law.
Charles DeAngelo, the attorney representing the union, filed a memorandum in state Supreme Court asking Justice Stephen Cass to issue an order confirming Pearce's decision. A reply from the city has not been filed.