They were astonished when 8,000 applicants showed up for 23 firefighter openings. Chaos reigned as the fire officials swooped down on the crowd and picked the people they wanted to be firefighters, including the fire chief reputedly picking his son. The article below is an amazing read.
There have been numerous other stories of insider help to get preferred (mostly family) candidates selected. This would not be as big a problem if the CA cities and counties paid closer to market wages — comparable to what most other states pay (ignoring the volunteers). But as long as this job (a job many want even without the high compensation) is in absurdly high demand, this sort of tomfoolery will continue, in one form or another.
http://calfire.blogspot.com/2007/12/oakland-fire-hiring-fiasco-part-2.html
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007
Oakland Fire hiring fiasco part 2 – Oakland Fire chief picks his own son?
Oakland Fire chief hand picks his own son in the hiring process?OAKLAND, Calif. (CFN)– Earlier this week, the Oakland Fire Department passed out more than 8,000 applications. Only the first 1,000 would be accepted that was only the start of this ill conceived hiring process.
Some people began lining up three days ahead of time just to turn in applications for the 23 available positions.
Hundreds of people spent a cold Friday night near Oakland’s City Hall forming a organized line, hoping to become firefighters.
Then the Oakland fire department perverted the process by hand selecting specific people out of the line resulting in a near riot! And of those few selected during the process…
Applicants claimed that some minority applicants, specifically African-American and women, were hand picked over others which seems to be shown in the news videos,There also have been rumors that relatives of high-ranking City Hall officials or people with connections to the fire department were singled out to submit applications.
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To read the rest of the article, go to the link.