FIREFIGHTERS GRIM AS SESSION BEGINS

They are before the commission to answer disciplinary charges
alleging that they used or sold cocaine.

Seven grim-faced firefighters made their first appearance Monday
night before the Madison Police and Fire Commission to answer
disciplinary charges alleging they used or sold cocaine.

Only one showed any emotion during the session, in which the
commission took under advisement motions by all seven to dismiss
charges.

Christopher Gentilli, 45, a firefighter since Feb. 4, 1980, fought
tears and dabbed his nose with a red cloth.

Fire Chief Debra Amesqua seeks to fire five of the seven, whom she
said sullied the department's reputation. They are Dave Barlow, 47;
Tracy Patterson, 38; paramedic Paul Elvord, 44; Marc Behrend, 39, and
Gentilli. She also accused Barlow, Gentilli, Elvord and Patterson of
giving or selling the drug to others.

Amesqua wants to suspend without pay for one year firefighter Joe
Reznikoff, 26, and apparatus engineer Dan Madden, 46, on allegations
of cocaine and marijuana use.

Amesqua filed the disciplinary charges following an internal Fire
Department investigation that began last spring after the men's names
surfaced in police reports. The reports were part of a far-reaching
probe of a cocaine ring operating out of Jocko's Rocket Ship, a now
defunct tavern.

Nine cocaine dealers were convicted as a result of the Jocko's
investigation. No firefighters were criminally charged.

At Monday's hearing, attorneys for the firefighters attacked
Amesqua's charging documents as defective, saying they did not follow
police and fire commission rules.

The documents are mislabeled, "statement of charges," when rules
require they be labeled a "complaint," they said. When Amesqua
attorney Paul Schwarzenbart suggested the objection was
"hypertechnical," Patterson lawyer Bruce Ehlke responded that
firefighters' livelihoods and reputations were at stake. Later, Ehlke
told the commission, "destroying peoples' lives should not be taken
lightly and where a rule has been promulgated, it should be followed."

The documents also failed to include a required statement that
Amesqua believed the allegations were true, the defense lawyers said.

Lawyers for Amesqua and the city said they could and would file
amended documents, if necessary. Commission president Alan Seeger
said the body will rule later on the firefighters' motions to dismiss
the cases.

City attorneys estimate it will take more than 70 hours to present
their cases against the firefighters, ranging from four hours for
Behrend's case to 25 to 30 hours for Patterson's case.

The commission has not yet decided whether it will appoint one or
more hearing examiners to speed the hearing process. The firefighters
union opposes using hearing examiners and contends that the
commission has no authority to use them.

Outside the meeting, Ehlke told reporters the punishment Amesqua
seeks is too harsh.

"These men have all devoted their lives to the citizens of Madison,"
he said. "They were asked if they used drugs. For the most part, they
responded truthfully ... In any other city department, the first time
you're accused of abusing drugs or alcohol, it's treated as a medical
problem and you're sent for an assessment. Here, the first reaction
is discipline."