Posted in Local Politics, News

South Milwaukee Fire Chief returns to work

   July 14, 2009

South Milwaukee Fire Chief Jay Behling returned to work today after serving a 90-day unpaid suspension for repeatedly making racist comments at the South Milwaukee firehouse. The union representing South Milwaukee firefighters had originally asked that Chief Behling be fired or demoted for his remarks, and the union issued a statement saying the suspension “didn’t fix anything. We have a leader who failed his community and fire department.” While there’s no denying punishment leveled against Chief Behling was severe (he forfeited roughly $21,000 in pay), I believe he deserved to be shown the door for his remarks. As the Chief of South Milwaukee’s Fire Department, he should be setting a good example for his subordinates, while reflecting positively on South Milwaukee. Behling’s comments have done a tremendous disservice to the City of South Milwaukee, and he should have been fired for what he said.

As an interesting (or ironic) side note, Chief Behling’s reinstatement comes as the federal racial discrimination trial involving South Milwaukee’s Lake Bluff Apartments gets underway in Milwaukee. At issue in that suit is whether or not the City of South Milwaukee is engaging in discrimination against the residents of Lake Bluff based on race, in violation of federal fair housing laws. The Lake Bluff apartment complex is home to a number of families of color, comprising a good percentage of the total number of minorities in South Milwaukee, whose residents are 99% white according to the most recent census data.

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9 thoughts on “South Milwaukee Fire Chief returns to work”

  1. It is ironic but I don’t think the razing issue has anything to do with race.

    I don’t feel sorry for the firefighters. Somehow I just don’t buy they were “shocked” by the language. In my opinion…this incident was all political which is why the Chief didn’t resign. You heard the comments on the news from residence of SM…some of them didn’t see anything wrong with what he said or thought he shouldn’t be suspended. I bet the firefighters are preemptively claiming the Chief is going to retaliate against them because the Chief knows more than they like about their own (unacceptable) behaviors. I hope he disciplines everyone that even slightly violates the city’s “language” policy…especially when it comes to using words like “bitch” and “fag” or “gay” in a derogatory way. I sure hope the SM firefighters are ready to walk the talk.

    1. Anon, I don’t think the issue is completely race, but I do think it does play some part in this. I’ve had occasion to witness the reaction of some in South Milwaukee when I’ve told them where I live, and the reaction is typically, “Oh, you live there.”

      I know the city’s arguing the building should never have been built, but at the same time, why did the city issue occupancy permits if that was their position?

      1. I’m not familiar with how neighborhoods are looked at in SM…because I’m not from SM…but hasn’t the city been fighting to raze this complex before anyone even moved in there? To think it’s about race then you would have to think the city knew minorities were going to move in there before it was even built. Although…I guess you could also argue had “other” people moved in there the city wouldn’t be fighting to raze the complex…but I think that’s pretty darn hard to prove. The issuing of occupancy permits is hard to explain…except you do have to remember this is SM we are talking about. 😉

        In any case…I can’t wait to see how this all turns out. I hope there is a reporter at the trial. I noticed there isn’t much being reported on SMNOW.com lately.

  2. Oh…okay. I just wanted to make sure because I know I’ve complained enough about SM so I didn’t want you to think I was being mean-spirited about this situation.

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