Story Created:
Sep 4, 2009 at 2:08 PM PST
Story Updated:
Sep 4, 2009 at 2:08 PM PST
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has nominated Battalion Chief Millage Peaks to head the Los Angeles Fire Department.
If his nomination is confirmed by the City Council, the 33-year department veteran would become the second African-American chief in department history after Douglas Barry, whose retirement began Monday.
Peaks, 56, will serve in an interim capacity pending council confirmation. The salary range for the chief's job is $217,945 to $326,856 a year.
Peaks takes charge at a critical time for the department, which has been forced to reduce the number of firefighters on duty every day to address budget cuts.
Villaraigosa said he chose Peaks out of the 12 candidates considered by the Board of Fire Commissioners because he was “the right man at the right time.”
“The recession has left our most vital public services vulnerable to the changing winds of the national economy,” the mayor said. “In these uncertain times, we need a certain kind of leader — a leader who can act decisively in the face of turmoil; a leader who can manage effectively during this historic budget deficit; a leader who can think creatively when the old ways of doing business no longer apply.”
Peaks urged the firefighters union — which has bitterly opposed service reductions — to work with the department to find solutions.
“Maintaining our current level of service to the residents of Los Angeles will require innovation,” he said. “We must reshape the business model to make it more responsive to our current needs and reset the trajectory of this department. This is all done for the next generation of firefighters.”
Peaks added that he believes “this kind of change is possible if we invite more people to the table.”
“I welcome the input of all members of the department,” he said. “My goal is for us to create a truly open dialogue and work together to ensure our department is the best — bar none. Thus, I urge my sworn and civilian colleagues from every level of the department to come to the table, offer new solutions and participate in our vision of the future.”
Peaks’ experience as an employee relations officer is sure to come in handy during negotiations with United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, whose president hailed the mayor’s choice.
“He’s a good man. I’ve known him for a long time,” union President Pat McOsker said of Peaks. “[He’s] a strong leader and I think it’s a good step for the mayor, kind of a good re-start with rank-and-file firefighters because we haven’t been in agreement on anything lately.”
Peaks is currently the battalion chief supervising fire stations at Los Angeles International Airport, Westchester, Venice and Mar Vista.
Villaraigosa said he was most impressed by Peaks’ actions in 1995, when he was named to an investigation team tasked with reviewing allegations that female recruits were being mistreated.
When the team concluded the allegations were unfounded, Peaks broke rank with then-Chief Donald Manning and testified before a City Council committee that he believed the allegations were true.
Born in Berkeley, Peaks graduated from El Camino College, where he studied chemistry, and went on to Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
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