Former San Francisco Fire

Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Robert Demmons Robert Demmons: First African American Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department California Fire Departments Oral History Project Interviews conducted by Shanna Farrell in 2016 Copyright © 2017 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Robert Demmons dated June 8, 2016. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/bancroft-library/oral-history-center/rights It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Robert Demmons “Robert Demmons: San Francisco Fire Department Oral History Project” conducted by Shanna Farrell in 2016, Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2017. iii Mayor Willie L. Brown swore in Chief Robert L. Demmons as the eighteenth Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department on January 17, 1996. He joined the San Francisco Fire Department in 1974 and was successfully promoted through the ranks. iv Robert Demmons was the first African American Fire Chief for the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD). He joined the department in 1974 and was successfully promoted through the ranks. He was sworn in as Chief on January 17, 1996. In this interview, Demmons discusses his childhood and education, early career with PG&E, taking the civil service exam for the SFFD, roles held in the fire stations, joining and reforming the Black Fire Fighters Association from a social organization to an advocacy group, taking on leadership roles, working to integrate the department, challenges and triumphs, discrimination, legal battles and the consent decree, working with city officials, moving up the ranks and into the role of Chief, creating effective programs for training, strategic plans, neighborhood engagement, and paramedics merger, reforming exams, retirement, and his hopes for the future. v Table of Contents—Robert Demmons Interview 1: July 19, 2016 Audio File 1 1 Birth in Dallas, Texas — Family moves to San Francisco area — Segregated Richmond — Parents’ divorce — And upheaval — Memories of his friend Napoleon — Denver, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland — Oakland and San Francisco public schools, teachers, racial discrimination — Parents, Richmond shipyards, the Fillmore district — The police — The Marine Corps — Enrolling at City College, testing into engineering classes — Marriage, family, jobs, course work — A job offer from PG&E — Applying to the San Francisco Fire Department — Testing and re-retesting — Station assignments Interview 2: July 25, 2016 Audio File 2 24 More about the SFFD and protocol, station assignments, operations — Departmental rescue squads and emergency medical response — Emergency Medical Technicians [EMTs] — More testing, more racial discrimination — The San Francisco Black Firefighters Association [SFBFA] — Inequities in testing — The Western Addition Community Organization [WACO] — Dianne Feinstein orders a Civil Service hearing — Access to training manuals and test preparation — Irish Americans in the SFFD — Moving from station to station — More about the BFA — Bernie Lee and the Asian Firefighters Association — Becoming a fire chief — Departmental leadership, mission and value statement — More about the social and advocacy aspects of the SFBFA — Educating the membership — Frank Scales, Jimmie Braden — John Harris — Meetings and votes — Demmons becomes president of the SFBFA — Robert’s Rules of Order — SFBFA advocacy initiatives — Fire department promotions — Demmons is sabotaged, endangered, and injured at work — Reflections on mortality and sacrifice — The SFBFA leaves the union — Communications and social life among SFBFA members — Service to youth in the black community Interview 3: July 29, 2016 Audio File 3 55 Media communications and the SFBFA — Publicity and coalitions — Belva Davis, Eva Paterson — “Separatism” — Educating the community — Three issues: hiring, promotion, harassment — Ann Howden and Ed Howden — Mediation — BAPAC [Black American Political Association of California] — More about Belva Davis — A violent incident, and a protest — Chief William Korbus — Chief Emmett Condon — Safety, selective enforcement of rules, racism — The lawsuit that led to the consent decree — Getting legal vi representation — Office of Revenue Sharing — Eva Paterson, Bill MacNeill — Discrimination against women firefighters in the SFFD — A coalition of women and black firefighters — Hiring inequities — John Keker — SFBFA finances, expenses, and accusations — The consent decree — “A demonstration against a racist union” — Media coverage — Demmons’ sense of fairness and diplomacy Interview 4: August 3, 2016 Audio File 4 83 Moving into the role of fire chief — Pressure to replace Frank Scales — Demmons sets conditions for his appointment — Binnie Singh — The EEO complaint process — Theresa Madden— Chief Ed Phipps and Chief Fred Postel — Holding chiefs accountable — Skill set for fire chiefs — Diagnostic and conceptual skills — Law suits — Interviewing for the job — Soliciting the endorsement of the Sun-Reporter — Getting the job — A ninety-day plan to improve management practices — The swearing-in ceremony — The budget process — The finance committee — The supplemental budget — The 9-1-1 call center — Developing the Division of Training — Increasing the number of women in the SFFD — Marching in uniform in the Gay Pride Parade — The consent decree and harassment complaints — Compensation claims — Stress — Training, and learning from people in other departments Interview 5: August 5, 2016 Audio File 5 108 Creating a strategic plan for the SFFD — Gathering personnel for retreat and a review of mission and value statements — Enforcing and overseeing the consent decree — Special master Jim Jefferson and court monitor Tamar Pachter — The termination of the consent decree — Establishing the positions of the public information officer and the community affairs officer — NERT [Neighborhood Emergency Response Team] — Facility renovations — The merging of the Emergency Medical Service and the SFFD — Taking over the Navy’s site on Treasure Island — More about paramedics — Firehouse assignments — Working with city administrators — EEO complaints — The importance of chief operators — Retirement — Thoughts about SFFD exams and selection process and security — The Ford Foundation — Mission Alignment Solutions — Reflecting on his legacy and the SFFD — Hopes for the future [End of Interview] 1 Interview 1: July 19, 2016 01-00:00:12 Farrell: This is Shanna Farrell, with Robert Demmons on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 in Oakland, California and this is our first session for the California Firefighters, San Francisco Fire Department oral history project. Robert, can you start by telling me where and when you were born and a little bit about your early life? 01-00:00:32 Demmons: I was born in 1940 in Dallas, Texas, and two years later my family moved to San Francisco. My father came first to work at the shipyard during World War II. My mother, my older brother and older sister and I followed. I don’t know how much longer, but obviously a few months after he had found a job, and so we moved to San Francisco for a short period at that time. After that, we moved to Richmond in the public housing facilities there and we lived there until I was eight years old. My brother, he’s ten years older than I am, and my late sister, she was six years older, and she was sort of—I guess her main responsibility was looking after me, which wasn’t easy. When we lived in Richmond, I guess that was my first time really being aware of segregation because all the blacks lived in one area and all the whites lived in another

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