BRENHAM CITY MANAGER RESPONDS TO STATEMENT FROM FAMILY OF BRENHAM FIRE CHIEF
Brenham City Manager James Fisher has issued a response to the statement provided by the daughter of Brenham Fire Chief Ricky Boeker concerning his early retirement.
After Amanda Landry provided a statement on Saturday discussing what led to the city’s decision to pursue early retirement options with Boeker and her opinion on the matter, Fisher released his own statement this (Monday) afternoon explaining his reasoning for the city going this direction.
In his statement, Fisher explains that he has “consistently” been provided information revealing concerns about the fire department’s ability to respond to incidents, the availability of paid and volunteer personnel, and other “critical issues.” He says these issues were addressed in several discussions with Boeker over the past few years, and ultimately led to a meeting and a memo being provided to Boeker on March 15th regarding the status of these issues. Fisher says he feels a new leader was needed to “move the department forward to meet the expectations of a growing community.”
In the memo given to Boeker, Fisher expresses concerns that 12 years after the department began adding full-time staff, the fire department is “still struggling with the transition to a full-time paid department that incorporates the skills, service and heart of volunteers.” According to Fisher, the department has 18 paid positions and 20 active volunteers, comprised of 15 command personnel, nine apparatus operators and 14 firefighters. Fisher says this model is “not sustainable” and that more of an emphasis should be put on firefighters, not commanding officers. He also says the department should be utilizing its volunteers and encouraging them through training exercises with paid staff to be ready for incidents and to fill paid openings if they are interested.
Fisher also says in the memo that there have been communication issues between the city and the fire department in knowing what equipment needs to be replaced in any given year. He points to when the city suggested in 2015 that the department replace half of its Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) tanks at a time to reduce the financial impact to the budget. He says the department applied—but failed to receive—a federal grant in the 2020-21 Fiscal Year, leaving the city to attempt to find $500,000 in unbudgeted funding to purchase the SCBAs.
Fisher, according to the memo, says there are two phrases that have been said to him that he feels are part of the culture at the fire department: “If downtown catches fire, we will set up defensive position and watch it burn, trying to prevent it from spreading” and “we are a one incident department.” He called the comments “alarming,” though he did not attribute them to any particular source. He says, “It appears we are coasting and that is not acceptable. Something needs to change.”
In Landry’s statement, she says Fisher called Boeker during last month’s winter storm to help his family after their home suffered a busted pipe. Fisher says Boeker was not the only person he called, adding that he reached out to neighbors and other people to turn off the water and help out however they could. He noted that he was out of the state before the beginning of the winter storm, as he had flown to North Carolina on Friday, February 12th to visit with his son who is in the US Marine Corps. After he was unable to secure a flight out of the state for several days, he began driving home Wednesday, February 17th.
KWHI has asked Fisher when Boeker was informed of the city’s intent to move on, if Fisher is seeking to add more paid firefighters to staff, what forms of training exercises are done for city firefighters, if funding for the SCBA replacements was requested but not included in the city’s final budget, and who is attributed to the quotes he references in the memo.
Fisher's full statement can be seen below.
First, I would like to address the severe winter storm that impacted our community and State February 13 – 19, 2021. I flew to North Carolina on Friday, February 12th to visit with my son who is in the US Marine Corps. The main purpose of my visit was to help him with options as he transitions out of the Marines in the summer of 2022. We were looking at educational and career ideas for him to consider. One of the reasons is if the military has a career training program available that he would like to pursue after his military service, he can apply for that during his final year of service. He may or may not get in, but at least it is a possibility. I was scheduled to fly back early Monday morning. I was monitoring the weather here and was in regular, ongoing contact with my staff members. My flight home was canceled Monday morning, Tuesday and Wednesday. Once it became clear that I would not be able to get a flight out of North Carolina, I began driving home on Wednesday. I was in consistent contact with my staff regarding the situation in Brenham. In regards to my own home, when the pipes burst at my house, I contacted multiple people to come, turn off the water and help in any way that they could. Yes, I also contacted Ricky Boeker. My neighbors responded immediately and were beyond gracious and helpful (They went above and beyond in helping my wife and mitigating the damage). Everyone needs neighbors like mine! My house had multiple pipes break and damage was extensive. A claim was filed with my insurance company and we waited for repairs to begin. A friend sent over their maintenance man to patch what he could so we could at least have running water. Eventually, we were able to get a plumber over to fix the broken pipes and completely restore water to my residence. I have the invoices and insurance claim if you still want proof. Hopefully this week, all of the repairs will be completed and some normalcy can begin to return.
Second, in regards to the Brenham Fire Department. Ricky Boeker is great man and has done a lot for our community. I have never said otherwise and hence, the reasons for the separation agreement discussions. However, as City Manager I am responsible to this community and when I consistently learn information revealing issues concerning the Fire Department’s ability to respond to incidents, availability of personnel (paid and volunteer), and other critical issues, I must act accordingly. These issues were addressed in numerous discussions with Chief Boeker over the last couple of years, ultimately resulting in a meeting and a memo to Chief Boeker on March 15th concerning the status of these issues. I felt a new leader was needed to move the Department forward to meet the expectations of a growing community.
Finally, I know that many do not care for me because I am not from Brenham. I am considered a “big city” manager because I came from the metroplex, where in reality I have managed communities 20,000 or less almost all of my career. I followed a good man (he is also a friend of mine) who served Brenham for 18 years and I knew that following him would not be easy. I have made some hard decisions during my first three years, but I assure you that the decisions were made in the best interests of the community after numerous discussions with the Mayor/City Council, staff and members of the community. Brenham is a fantastic community, it is located in a prime spot for opportunity of growth, economically and population. It is important that as we grow, we do not lose the foundation that has made our community a special place to live, work and play. I also want you to know that we still have some hard decisions in front of us that will involve serious discussions about the necessity, timing and funding of certain projects. Let me be clear, the City is on a solid financial foundation, our recent (and past) Annual Financial Report affirms the City’s stability. However, we have some projects that to address them prudently and correctly, may require some type of debt financing to completely address. The City has been working on a rolling 5 year Capital Projects program that addresses large projects/needs, how they could be funded and a timeline for funding. The staff first addressed these at a City Council Retreat in Fall 2018, began working on them in 2019, put the brakes on in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and are resuming work on them in 2021. The City is preparing for our tomorrow’s by planning today and asking the hard questions along the way.
Never truer said Ms Duch! Fisher proved how much he cared for Brenham, his position,his helpless wife and even his own home knowing like we all did in plenty of time how bad our city and county was going to horribly be hit with the bad weather and what does he do? Run! Not stay and help as everyone stuck together to reach out to help one and other as real Brenhamites do! No he goes to play day dreams of what his son can’t figure out in another year. But also didn’t wrap his pipes or stay to take care of his wife that couldn’t call anyone for help and you chose to used the Chef for your personal matter which he was good enough to comply. You’ve never done anything but sit and lie. You’re so not wanted or needed so save yourself and just leave! You never put us back as the birthplace of Texas which is something to be very proud of or any of anything! I’ve never been so negative about one person like you deserved
Completely wrong for Ricky Boeker to be put through this fiasco. He has worked faithfully for the city of Brenham for many years. He deserves much better. Shame on you, Mr. Fisher.
I don’t know if this will be posted up or not, as I used to work on other media in the area.
Honestly, I question this whole statement.
I’ve known Chief – as I’ve always called him – for years, still thought of him when I moved – not entirely by choice (but no regrets) – to another town.
He was ALWAYS there at fires, many times even having to help extinguish fires or use the jaws/etc.
Too many command positions…? Really?
If I recall they only have one Fire Chief, Fire Marshal and Asst. Fire Marshal, which are clear command positions.
Is he counting Captains as commanders?
Apparatus operators you need several because of certification to drive the vehicle – in fact do double duty and help out in fires.
Honestly, my opinion on staffing is this is more a money complaint than anything.
I’ve seen Chief donate his time to do other things, he was literally everywhere in the fish fry and steak dinners, and he always talks with people and listens to the concerns.
He kept me apprised of fun stuff going on too that was to boost FD’s image… even if at least twice I was over 500 miles away on vacation and couldn’t get there in time.
And his family was there when my father passed. Kept checking on me off and on top. Call me biased, whatever: but I have in my opinion 3 fathers: my own dad, Eddie Harrison and Chief. (Only Chief is still with us as most know).
You need people like him – good for PR, good for city.
He needs to retire on his own terms and with respect, which this City Manager isn’t doing.
Your City Manager clearly is not studying what’s going on in real time. (I have speculated some other stuff reading up here, but I will not state them as they are speculation).
Mr. Fisher ….. a legend in his own mind!
I drove Over to City Hall to talk to this man or the mayor about some issues pertaining to ordinances that apply to some people and not others after talking to me for 30 seconds he called the city marshal and ordered the city marshal to point his gun at me in the city Marshall loaded it pointing at me and escorted me off City Hall property to me with criminal trespass which seems to be a favorite thing with this guy when you don’t agree with him I know him to be a bully and possibly dangerous
And he did not tell me the truth about an agreement that we had concerning repairs on a building and the scheduling of that he went back on his word and changed it and cost us a lot of money I do not believe a thing at this man says
One thing has been made very clear to me by reading all the comments mr Fischer does not have the respect or confidence of most of the people of Brenham. I can see why he was asked to leave his last city manager job. I would like to hear from our mayor and council members as to where they stand on this issue.
As someone who just moved out of Brenham after being raised and starting my career there and who was a member of the Brenham Fire Department for 15 years, I’m going to take this opportunity to shed some perspective here.
First of all, since the beginning of James Fisher’s tenure at the City of Brenham, he has been a micromanager that never allows his face to be seen in the problems that he meddles in. For someone that puts their finger into every problem going on but never takes accountability for the negative results to speak about leadership is a complete and total joke.
Chief Boeker has been a public servant in the Brenham Community for 30 years. Virtually every Fire Department comparable to Brenham’s size has a Fire Chief, an Asst. Chief and/or Fire Marshall, a district chief per shift and a lieutenant per crew. Brenham FD is EXACTLY comparable to that model plus one administrative assistant. The other command level positions are incident specific level commanders and most of those positions are volunteer leadership. These positions allow volunteers who have put in time in the department and reached certain benchmark certifications to be able to serve as leaders for their fellow firefighters and also provide incentives for promotion within the volunteers. Does the city need more paid firefighters, yes. Does the city need more volunteers, yes. What the citizens of Brenham need most of all however is a city manager that supports the leadership of the fire department and steers them in the right direction. Not with passive aggressive leadership classes and insightful quotes but by ACTUALLY BEING A LEADER AND A MANAGER AND SETTING CLEAR AND SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS OF HOW HE WANTS THINGS ACCOMPLISHED.
I will be the first to say that Chief Boeker isn’t perfect. He’s had opportunities to change the direction of the department and hasn’t always made the right choices. He’s had a lot of very qualified people try to accomplish cultural change inside of the BFD over the last several years and those people usually get passed over for people more ready to accept the way it’s always been done. Ricky has served this community 24/7. He works nights, weekends, accomplishes huge fundraising efforts to keep the burden of financing a part of Fire Department operations off of the shoulders of the tax payers and I’ve personally seen the man work for nights on end.
The Fire Department has some problems, show me an organization that doesn’t… The city manager is the failure here however. He has been here for long enough to have done his job and been a leader. He could have been specific and gotten involved long ago. In the years he’s been here I’ve never seen him come to a meeting and speak to the volunteers. I’ve never seen him out back at the training center during functions visiting with his employees and volunteers. The only time that the city manager shows his face is when cameras are around and he feels like he can achieve political points in town. He couldn’t care less about the people he claims to lead. The Fire Chief may indeed need to go but if the City of Brenham parts ways with a dedicated public servant, they darn sure ought to part ways with their self-interested political hack as well.
I think it’s time for a new city manager, and/or his salary cut in half if we’re firing good people to save tax dollars.
Citizens must realize that managing a city is no different than running a business in many ways. Having department managers who are knowledgeable in the development of personnel to the best advantage of the people served. Selecting and hiring well educated, intelligent, service oriented personnel and providing continuing education make for a great, efficient, support staff. When this is not practiced, it can be costly. Liability insurance premiums are high due to large payouts. One of the most important jobs of a city manager is costs control. Why? To keep our taxes as low as possible. When managers have been asked to up their performance and they do not respond with requested results, it is time. So many here want the conveniences ( well appointed shopping centers) but don’t realize that those conveniences come with added costs in infrastructure, and that means money and well trained, cooperative, experienced personnel.
Are you saying Ricky Boeker is not well educated, intelligent oriented?
Thirty years experiences in my opinion qualifies.
Has anybody noticed the turnover rate of the paid members they have been loosing & why? Volunteers Being pushed out Why? I understand their is a long term answer that has been festering as to where we are now. Why not just go back to a Volunteer Chief & assistant chief let them run the fire side & put a couple hundred thousand dollars back into the yearly budget & lets hire an administrative assistant the handle the business/legal side, the spectator may want to get this side of the story!!
Let’s see…The guy who manages the city makes $166,000 a year and yet he was unable to manage the pipes from freezing & breaking in his own house. Yet, I make less than $40,000 and had no broken pipes. Hmmm ??? I’m definitely in the wrong business.
I was thinking the EXACT same thing. I find it interesting that someone who has so many important responsibilities within our city cannot even manage to proactively protect his home during a weather event.
Will someone please explain where the mayor or city council is on this issue? Why do we hold Brenham city elections if there is no accountability, official statement or leadership on a big debate like firing of a longtime fire chief?
We should demand answers. Citizens have nowhere to turn at this point. The Spectator is our last and only hope for any closure for this scandal .
Mr. Fisher needs to be gone immediately. He’s not good for Brenham and never had been. I’ve been in Brenham all my life, so has my mom and dad, my grandparents, my great grandparents and great great grand parents. To be quite honest my family has been in brenham since the late 1850’s, it is a shame the way the leadership of Brenham does nothing good for Brenham and that includes Mr. Fisher. If you have ever dealt with him you would know he is a communist and will trample on you civil liberties at the drop of a hat, just like most of the leadership of Brenham. The swamp needs to be drained in Brenhsm Texas.
Yet they pay a guy to be a “sign enforcer” for the city. He goes around nitpicking signs. Signs.
Why are we not focused on how James Fischer still has a job when he left to visit his son (which could have been rescheduled) during the worst winter weather we have seen in decades? I guess the forecast were wrong. No, wait, they were not. He just ignored them and left it to the rest of the city employees to pull the weight of the job he has been paid to do. He literally abandoned the city during the worse crisis it has seen in years (see his statement above.) Yet somehow, he is in a position to make judgement calls on someone else’s performance? City council, you have failed miserably, and the fact James Fisher is still employed in this wonderful town is downright shameful. If you can’t tell, he has very little support or trust and he’s had plenty of time to earn that. Time to move on.
This guy is a joke. First of all when it comes to being a leader he apparently is not the greatest if he cannot show how he gave tools and resources to the fire department to help where it was needed. Shoving a bunch of “we had discussions” down the citizens throats mean nothing from a man that has proven himself to be untrustworthy and egotistical. One memo to Boeker is the reason for early retirement ultimatum? One? Do you have documentation of previous “memos” that you asked for changes? Or is this one of those “I have someone else that I have promised this spot for so get to moving on”. Come on Fisher if Boeker is so horrible where is the documentation?? Lay it out there! Who said what?? Do you expect this community to take your word? How many things have been slid under our noses and you think these good ol country folks will forget about it in a couple of months. Do you think we are brain dead and just want to throw our money out the window? You and the mayor AND council need to think real hard about what your plans for this city are. Elections are coming up and maybe you won’t have those 4 and we can replace them with some fresh blood that can hold you accountable for your actions. All we can do is get out and vote and get your butt on the next train out of here.
me thinks he doth protest too much!
Oh believe what Fisher says, If you do some digging there are more issues to be found…
Don’t believe what this man says… $500,000 for SCBA’s? Come on… 20 sets will run you about $150,000 without any grant or discounts. You specified needing tanks only? Fisher I suggest you get your facts together first. It sounds like Fisher has failed our community and he is going to point fingers at everyone else. On another note he flew to North Carolina knowing bad weather was coming to help his son transition out of the marines in 2022. Over a year away from now. come up with a better excuse. A true leader would not point fingers.. A true leader is able to sail the boat away from trouble waters. It sounds like Fisher is heading straight for it.
Obviously you have not bought SCBA’s in a while. They are ridiculously high and Brenham has about 45 to replace. Better check your prices first. $150,000 might get you 12-14 maybe.
You are incorrect about the cost of new ones, the old ones can be sold (traded in) to offset the cost. It happens all the time, we used to buy the refurbished ones for oilfield use. Besides that new ones cost 2500-3000 ea so even at that price it is less than 150k
You are incorrect, $8650 on packs alone and we need 44, we need 95 cylinders also which are $1618…Put your calculator on that…I’ll do it for you…$533,710 to be exact. Yes there will be discounts but not to the level you are stating. We have to follow NFPA and TCFP guidelines for our air packs. Our packs are 3-4 NFPA standards behind and they cannot be traded-in due to the fact that the manufacturer is not producing replacement parts. And using packs that are refurbished by a non-manufacturer entity is not acceptable, you are opening up a great deal of liability if you use them. That’s great that the oilfield uses them, they aren’t regulated by the NFPA or TCFP and they don’t do interior firefighting, totally different standards. I would not risk my life on a refurbished pack ever!!
Chris M , you are 100% correct. What’s also important to point out while NFPA are recommendations, Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) has adopted NFPA into law and therefor can levy fines against departments for noncompliance.
And to add to my above comment, the oilfield is regulated by NIOSH not the NFPA. The air packs are half price due to the fact that the oilfield packs are not rated for interior firefighting, they are only rated for an IDLH atmosphere.
Ricky has proven himself an excellent fire chief. Mr Fischer has yet to prove himself. And it sounds like Fischer has a personal beef with Ricky for not taking care of his broken water pipes. Mr Fischer’s concern about too many members on the command staff is an attempt to confuse the public since most of them are certified fire fighters. He should also be looking at City Hall which is also very top heavy. Ricky does not need to be forced out. This community needs the best fire protection leadership possible. Brenham does not need a self important City Manager who is willing to say otherwise.
Maybe the city manager needs to step up and be a
volunteer fireman and i’m sure there’s no law written where it says he can’t?
Maybe that would give him a different stance on the current situation at hand.
Sounds like he’s trying to push out the volunteers and go all payed. That will cost the tax payers 2-3 million extra for Brenham to go fully payed. What the city is paying per year for 38-40 volunteers is equivalent to one payed personal.
If the job had a salary of 40-50K There would be no whining on either side.
You know how we rectify the ungodly wrong? We, THE citizens of Brenham and Washington County, come together and peaceful march to city hall and show our support for Fire Chief Ricky Boeker. He is a man of conviction, courage, leadership and most of all, faith. We must support him in this time of cowardice.
Yes!!! That is how it’s done … count me in!id like a comment from the SPECTATOR On this matter… when is the next city council meeting
There was a bond issue many years ago that had funds set aside for a second needed fire station. The funds were used for equipment and no second fire station. Please question where the records show who made that decision and why it is still not happening. We do not have the facilities for a full time paid fire department. Also most towns keep the fire and EMT in the same stations but we have one city controlled and one county controlled.
Brenham is way behind on fire stations. The bond that was passed was for the second statiin, but was used on the water Tower in HWY 299 by Westwood. Also a consultant came in years ago and said the city should have already been planning for the 3rd station. Response times to the area of 36 south are unacceptable, especially during peak traffic areas. The city is behind the times, until something happens to a very important person, nothing will change. Sad but true
You are correct there was a bond that was suppose to build a second fire station, along with a new police station. It also listed 2 replacement fire trucks and water tower. The police station went over budget so there was not enough money to build the second station.They built the water tower on Hwy 290 with remaining funds. Fire dept did get 2 replacement fire trucks.
Two sides to every story
Fire Chief Ricky Boeker is a Christ warrior. We know his story is the true story.
There are actually 3 sides to every story. His side, her side( in this case his side as well), and the truth. Getting the 3rd side, the truth, is the hardest part. I would guess that there are problems on both sides, which side is more to blame? Time will tell. Hopefully the problems can be worked out before it affects the citizens who will need the fire department. I am sure we will all need the fire department before we need the City Manager. Work it out folks.
Who believes anything this man says???? Brenham needs new leadership and not one that creates drama and divide. And I bet anyone he brings in one of his buddies to replace him Boeker.
Anyone who reads The Banner Press has surely read the Brenham Beat. I do not live within the city limits, however, I question Fischer’s motives. I have read many articles regarding some kind of grass fire, car accident, or even a house fire which took place “outside” the city limits. Yet, more often than not, the Brenham Fire Department has arrived on scene in “case they were needed”. Much of the time, it was an unnecessary move on their part. The wonderful Volunteer Fire Fighters of our very own Washington County arrive, plan the course of action, then get busy, without help from the city paid employees.
Where exactly does Brenham think they are getting the money from in order to have “only” paid firemen/women? Raise taxes?
I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t any of the people involved in this fiasco,but I assure you, it’s time for Brenham to start looking for a new city manager. Volunteer Firefighters are the backbone of this community. City managers come and go.
This is so true! If it weren’t for the volunteer fd departments in the city and the county we would all be in trouble this Fisher person needs to leave on the same transportation he came to town in, don’t mess with the citizens that have lived here forever we are a tight community, so bye bye Fischer! Your not from here or welcomed!!!!
Amen and that is the truth