Austin City Manager Supports Fire Chief, Condemns Union's No-Confidence Vote Push

As the Austin firefighters union was meeting to discuss a potential vote of no confidence in Chief Joel Baker, Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax issued a rare public statement condemning the association and announcing his support for Baker.

"It is disappointing that the Association would make these allegations and consider such a vote," Broadnax said, referring to explosive allegations by Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks that Baker had contributed to the death toll in the Kerr County floods by barring all mutual aid requests.

"The City of Austin, and the Austin Fire Department in particular, have a very long track record of supporting and sending aid to neighboring communities in need," Broadnax said in the statement.

Nicks plans to put forth a motion Tuesday at a regularly scheduled union meeting to initiate a no-confidence vote in Baker.

The American-Statesman reported Monday on claims by Nicks that officials with the Texas Division of Emergency Management sent an "informal" request for assistance to the Austin Fire Department on July 2 and 3 and that both requests were denied.

At a news briefing earlier Tuesday, Nicks said the denials were the result of Baker’s order temporarily suspending acceptance of mutual aid requests from neighboring regions hit by disaster.

"The message up and down the chain of command was 'do not deploy and do not even ask,'" Nicks told reporters.

In an interview late Monday, Baker told the Statesman he was unaware of the earlier aid requests but did not communicate the order clearly enough.

"Words matter. I should have added to that order that we would review requests on a case-by-case basis," Baker said.

Once he became aware of the requests, Baker said he deployed resources throughout the weekend.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.