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Wwkvoter,

There are 2 issues. Here is what happened. Pertaining to the "record of sick time" reports. After reviewing them for 2015-16 and cross referencing them with the sick pay reports, I noted that there were numerous employees time sheets missing. I made a list, submitted it to the city and made another APRA request. 3 weeks later, the mysterious missing documents re-appeared. It was evident that they were torn out of the 3 ring binders in an effort so that I could not see them. I then discovered that all of the missing records belonged to Acting Captains, Captains, Acting Battalion Chiefs, and Battalion Chiefs. They also removed and did not replace the chief and assistant chief records, and those that have retired in those 2 years. They are missing to this date.

As far as the records being destroyed. There were over 4000 Form 109 Change of Shift Records destroyed in direct violation of the State of RI records Retention Act. After the filing of the complaint, the Secretary of State and the AG conducted a training program on record retention for the WFD. During that training, the WFD convinced the SOS that the form 109's were duplicate documents which they are not. I have all of the communication from the SOS office to the WFD. The SOS was under the impression that all of the information on the Form 109"s was transferred to the Accountability Sheets, which it is not. Due to that fact, they are not a duplicate document. That is still under review, but the bigger question is, if the document is so innocuous, what is the rush to destroy them? During that "training" it was also discovered that WFD the WFD did not have the required written protocol for record retention. The reason is that the 1652 changes of shift last year, where used for issues such as extending vacations, playing softball, and preserving sick time. Furthermore, now, since no record of each mans "shift swapping" exists, how do they re-pay the shift? As an example, last year one man swapped out almost 30 shifts and never re-paid any of them.

I would encourage you to read this article to understand the impact. This is only one of many examples around the country.

http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/30/system_that_lets_boston_firefighters_swap_shifts_a_costly_free_for_all/

I hope you understand that there are two separate issues, both of which impact the taxpayer.

One more note, the firefighters continually say that the change of shit has no financial impact and no money is exchanged. At the budget hearings the fire chief admitted that if a higher rank covers for a lower rank on a change of shift, that he is paid the rank difference. The accountability sheets also document that fact.

As I have said many times, I am willing to show anyone the documents at any time.