Mayor Riley Endangers Fire Fighter Lives with Sofa Store Report Cover-up

May 4, 2008 – IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger issued the following statement about the long delay of the Sofa Super Store investigative report announced by Mayor Joe Riley late May 2.

“If Mayor Joe Riley is serious about keeping the fire fighters he is responsible for safe on the job, he needs to release the investigative report by the panel of experts immediately. The report is finished and all stakeholders -- Charleston fire fighters, families of the fallen Nine, citizens -- want it out now.

"The expert panel that produced the report said they discussed and used information from federal investigations, so that fake excuse used by Mayor Riley to attempt to indefinitely delay and bury it has been exposed as a fraudulent tactic.

"The reality is the report is said to detail flaws in the practices of the Department’s command. Any delay in releasing the report is another day the Mayor is irresponsibly risking the lives of the men and women who serve the city under the most dangerous of circumstances.

“The report is not the property of the Mayor. The report is the property of the citizens of Charleston, reflecting their own civic responsibility to their fire fighters, and releasing it now is the Mayor’s special obligation to the Nine.

"The panel should formally turn the report over to the Mayor and the citizens of Charleston without delay this Tuesday, as originally planned.

“My job is to protect the men and women of IAFF Local 61, and I have already authorized the strongest legal, political and public pressure campaign we can muster to reverse this dangerous, malicious delay.

“We will appeal directly to the citizens and ask them to express their outrage. We will appeal to the media to make sure the Mayor’s negligence regarding fire fighter safety is exposed. We will appeal to the City Council. Beginning this Tuesday, we will appeal to federal and state officials and elected leaders in South Carolina to bring pressure on Mayor Riley, and to the courts if appropriate."