Supporters back embattled Long Beach commissioner

Supporters of a Long Beach civil service commissioner who may lose his seat over building code violations urged government leaders to keep him at Tuesday night's city council meeting, while dozens of others pressed officials to reinstate minimum staffing rules for paid firefighters.

Leary Wade, who's served on the city's three-person commission since 2004, was asked to resign last month after he acknowledged in city court that he rented illegal apartments at two of his properties, court records show.

The independent commission, whose members are appointed by the city manager and confirmed by the city council, is responsible for ensuring fairness in employment practices for more than 1,000 public jobs.

A public hearing on whether to remove Wade is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

Though neither Wade nor the firefighter item was on the agenda, most of the audience of more than 200 attended because of those issues.

Members of Concerned Citizens of North Park defended Wade and criticized officials, saying they unfairly targeted Wade because he championed racial diversity in hiring and denounced irregularities in the city's merit system.

" should be across the board because there are many apartments in Long Beach that are not classified as legal dwelling places," said group member Cecil Garrett, a deacon at Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church, which Wade attends. "They're using that as a means to silence him."

When council member Mike Fagen questioned why Wade should be subject to one of only 25 prosecutions for illegal dwellings this year, council president Thomas Sofield Jr. responded: "[Wade has] pled guilty to violating the law and violating his oath of office."

The other heated topic was the expiration last month of a policy guaranteeing overtime to ensure that at least four paid firefighters and an officer respond to working fires.

Joseph Robson, vice president of the Professional Firefighters Association, Local 287, said the new minimum of three firefighters and one officer would strain the 27-member department as it seeks to keep up with some 4,700 calls a year.

"You can't mess with public safety," he said. "That's the last thing that should be done in a bad economic situation, not the first."

City Manager Charles Theofan said the requirement caused overtime spending to balloon over the past several years from about $100,000 to more than $440,000 last year.

He said the department should be able to sustain the old minimum with current staffing without resorting to overtime, especially with an average of only eight working fires a year. "We simply can't afford it," Theofan said. "There will be minimum manning, just not at the expense of the taxpayer."