Kenneth B. Ellerbe
[citation needed] In early 2000, a group of firefighters claimed they were unfairly transferred by Ellerbe, who was then interim fire chief.
The American Civil Liberties Union took up their case, and one of the first acts of the newly appointed permanent replacement fire chief, Ronnie Few, was to repeal those transfers.
[7] During a June 28, 2010 meeting, two senior supervisors in the Sarasota department met with Ellerbe to discuss the concerns of female employees who said "they feel uncomfortable around the chief because he looks them up and down and 'talks to my chest'".
Media coverage of the policy upset Chief Ellerbe and led him to threaten the union president with reprisal.
[11] In February 2012, Ellerbe ordered maintenance crews to paint over the "DCFD" on the doors of Engine Co. 7's quarters, where the local union president worked.
[14] In April 2012, Ellerbe demoted one of his battalion chiefs for a decision he had made as a hearing officer in a disciplinary case.
[15] In July of the same year, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the DC Attorney General's office, questioning whether firefighters could expect due process in disciplinary cases.
[17] In September 2013, Ellerbe transferred a paramedic firefighter to desk duty and placed him on "non-patient contact" for writing a letter to the DC City Council warning of a "dire situation" in emergency medical services being provided to the city due to a lack of coverage created by a lack of advanced life support providers.
The paramedic's engine company was sent on the call from over two miles away due to the lack of advanced life support units in operation.
[18] At a D.C. Council's public safety committee hearing in March 2014, Kevin Byrne, a deputy fire chief, testified that after arriving in 2011, Ellerbe "went to war with his senior staff".
Her immediate supervisor, the Medical Director, was unaware Ellerbe "fired" his right hand and wasn't made aware of the unlawful decision until the former employee notified him that she had been removed.
Prior to this order, members of the department had purchased their own outerwear, and had it embroidered with "DCFD" and their fire company affiliation.
[29] In response, Lon Walls, the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Communications Director, tweeted: "Just witnessed a blatant display of racism and disrespect shown to an African American leader.
"[30] In November 2012, Ellerbe made public a plan to remove all advanced life support ambulances from service overnight, a total of 14 transport units.
[34][35][36] In late June 2013, the DC City Council's Judiciary Committee recommended against approving Ellerbe's plan to reduce the number of ambulances in service overnight.
[38] In February 2013, at the behest of Committee Chair Tommy Wells, Ellerbe provided the council with an inventory of the fire department vehicle fleet.
Ellerbe had previously stated that firefighters living outside of Washington, DC were a "homeland security threat",[39] if he needed to call them back to emergency duty.
Despite firing a series of high-profile government officials for relatively minor issues, Mayor Vincent Gray stood by Ellerbe.
Tom Sherwood then produced footage from NBC4, shot in January 2011, where Ellerbe talked about knowing the mayor since he was 14 years old, and that they were "good friends".
In the same article, influential local activist Dorothy Brizil was quoted referring to Ellerbe's agency: "I frankly find it quite questionable that FEMS would have a grade of A+ in the month of March.
