by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Despite calls from a segment of the local African-American community and a group of retired firefighters, State Attorney Harry Shorstein announced Monday that he will not ask a grand jury to look into racial allegations within the department.
Since February when a noose was found on the equipment of two black firefighters at a Downtown fire station, racial tensions within the department have escalated. Shorstein said the noose incident was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and turned over to the FBI. Shorstein said he hasn’t been told the results of the JSO investigation.
Recently, the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission looked into the problems within the department and made several recommendations to Mayor John Peyton, including the dismissal of Fire Chief Richard Barrett. Peyton didn’t fire Barrett, a move that didn’t sit well with the Commission and several other groups.
Shorstein said he met last week with Peyton, Barrett and Fire Union President Roger Lewis. Based on those meetings, Shorstein is confident the matters will be, and can be, resolved without a grand jury investigation.
“My recommendation is not to conduct an investigation at this time,” said Shorstein, who also explained the grand jury is currently in the middle of a “very, very, very complex” matter that was moved from Flagler to Duval County. “I am pleased with the response of the people looking into the matter and the internal group should be given a chance to look at the issue.”
That internal group is a 17-member advisory panel created by Peyton and headed by Rogers Towers attorney Bill Scheu. According to Shorstein, that group was created a couple of weeks ago and has 60 days to return what mayor’s office spokesperson Susie Wiles calls an “implementable” plan.
“It’s very representative of the department,” said Wiles, explaining the panels consists of men, women, older, younger, black, white, labor and management within the Fire Department. “It’s a carefully constructed group that will look at 21 of the 22 recommendations of the Human Rights Commission and maybe the 22nd, which was to fire Chief Barrett.”
Wiles said the mayor’s office is represented on the panel by Chief Operating Officer Alan Mosley and Chief Administrative Officer Dan Kleman and the goal is to change the department from the inside out. When asked if a mountain was being made out of a mole hill, Wiles said, “Based on what we know today, there’s no chance of that.”
Scheu was an obvious choice to moderate the panel, which will meet weekly for a few hours at a time, said Wiles. Also, the panel is not subject to Florida Sunshine Laws, so its meetings are closed to the public and the media.
“Bill has done extensive work in these kinds of arenas,” said Wiles, mentioning areas such as race relations and contract negotiations. “He was the natural choice. They will meet weekly for multiple hours and will tackle the tough issues. They are on the ground and in the department every day.”
Shorstein said there is a chance the grand jury will go against his recommendation and conduct an investigation anyway.