5TH FIREFIGHTER FIRED; AMESQUA SEEKS OUSTER OF 2 MORE

As a fifth Madison firefighter was fired, Chief Debra Amesqua said
disciplinary hearings are not over.

Amesqua said Thursday that she will ask the Police and Fire Commission to
fire two more firefighters on allegations of cocaine use that arose from a
late-1990s police investigation of Jocko's Rocket Ship bar.

Amesqua will meet with the commission and attorneys for firefighters Dan
Madden and Joe Reznikoff on July 9 to schedule termination hearings, which
could begin in July or August, said Scott Herrick, the PFC's attorney.

Meanwhile, the PFC announced that firefighter Marc Behrend has been
terminated. The PFC said he lied to investigators during the Fire
Department's investigation. The commission dismissed two other disciplinary
charges Amesqua had filed. The charges accused Behrend of using cocaine or
possessing cocaine and of conduct that brought the disrepute to the department.

"Marc Behrend was discharged for his refusal to involve non-firefighters in
this investigation. He stands by his refusal," Behrend's attorney Jon
Jackson said.

Behrend played professional hockey as a goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets
from 1983 to 1986. He played in the 1984 Winter Olympics. He played at
Madison La Follette High School and for UW-Madison, including on the
Badgers' 1981 and 1983 NCAA championship teams.

Behrend was out of town, and Jackson said he did not know if his client
would appeal the PFC decision.

Unlike Behrend and four other firefighters who were suspended with pay
during their hearings, Reznikoff and Madden remain on the job. If that
continues through the hearings, it will dramatically reduce the cost,
Herrick said.

City officials estimate that costs associated with the previous five
hearings are approaching $1 million.

In December, when Amesqua asked the commission to fire firefighters Tracy
Patterson, David Barlow, Paul Elvord, Chris Gentilli and Behrend, she asked
that Madden and Reznikoff be suspended for a year and that all of them
submit to random drug testing for three years.

However, the PFC ruled during the Gentilli hearings said that it doesn't
have authority to order random drug testing.

Lacking such testing, Amesqua said, she decided to ask the PFC to fire
Madden and Reznikoff.

Attorney Bruce Ehlke, who represents both Madden and Reznikoff, blasted
Amesqua's decision.

"We've got a woman here who has no ties to the community, absolutely no
interest in this community and absolutely no rapport or interest in the
firefighters of the city of Madison. What you're telling me doesn't
surprise me, but, boy I think we really have something special here in
Debra Amesqua," Ehlke said.

Drug testing and the department's drug policies will likely be an issue
when the city begins contract negotiations with the firefighters union. The
current two-year contract expires Dec. 31. A drug policy committee of union
members and Fire Department administrators is working on a drug policy for
the next labor pact.

Amesqua said she was pleased with PFC rulings in the five terminations
because it reinforces the department's high standards.

"It should be a comfort to the community," Amesqua said. "They clearly are
sending a message that we expect high standards for our public safety
employees and we maintain those high standards."