Arlington County’s firefighter union has taken a vote of no confidence against Fire Chief David Povlitz.
The vote passed by wide margins today (Wednesday), with about 81% of voting members calling for the chief to resign, IAFF Local 2800 announced. About 71% of the union participated.
This is actually the second time the union has called for Povlitz’s resignation, but the first time it has publicized the news. Last November, 76% of voting members cast votes of no confidence, according to emails shared with ARLnow.
Both votes took place amid ongoing disputes about staffing, administration and pay at the Arlington County Fire Department, as well as unresolved concerns about workplace culture.
“Our members have made their voices heard now for a second time, change is needed,” said union President Brian Lynch, “We ask that those in power heed what the men and women who protect this community are saying.”
In statements to ARLnow, Arlington County Board members signaled support for Povlitz, who County Manager Mark Schwartz appointed in 2018.
Outgoing Chair Libby Garvey highlighted his strategies to boost recruitment, add rotating days off, expand safety and accountability initiatives, and oversee the department’s first collective bargaining agreement in over 40 years.
“The Board remains confident in Fire Chief David Povlitz and his ability to lead the Arlington County Fire Department,” she told ARLnow. “With more than 30 years of experience in fire, rescue, and emergency medical services, Chief Povlitz has worked diligently to maintain the quality of service our community expects and to improve employees’ well-being — a major factor in retention.”
ACFD did not respond to a request for comment.
‘We reached a breaking point’
Today’s vote comes amid widespread concerns about staffing at ACFD.
The fire department currently has 38 vacancies, representing a little over 10% of its 372 allocated positions, according to the most recent data from Local 2800.
Last month, the lack of staffing caused a Ballston-area fire engine to go out of service for 12 hours. In a recent presentation to the County Board, Povlitz said it was “the first time ever” that this has happened at ACFD.
“We reached a breaking point,” the chief said. “We were six people short, so we made an operational decision assessing the risk to our providers, our workforce and also the community.”
In a press release, Local 2800 underlined “critical staffing issues and lack of a strategic plan to deal with the ongoing staffing crisis.” Other noted concerns included “issues with organizational culture,” “willful neglect regarding harassment of women,” lack of transparency and uncompetitive compensation.
The union alleged a surge in mandatory holds over the past year — from 6,785 hours this time in 2023, to 19,910 hours this year.
“For the past year, Union officials attempted to find some common ground surrounding the concerns members communicated with Chief Povlitz and County management,” the press release says. “Unfortunately, the union had limited success in finding common ground on most of these concerns.”
Povlitz acknowledged some of these concerns.
“Top priorities,” he told the County Board, “are to make sure we provide emergency preventative services for the citizens, residents and visitors of Arlington County — and also [to make sure] we have a safe and ready workforce. And right now, they are stressed and they are strained.”
The union’s view on understaffing
Partly to blame for understaffing, in Lynch’s view, are administrative failures.
The union president said Local 2800 has presented plans for better overtime incentives, making firefighters more likely to sign up for extra hours and reducing reliance on mandatory holds.
For instance, he said the union has asked for better pay for overtime work, as well as compensation in the form of getting extra time off for overtime hours.
“We could have incentives, and we’ve proposed incentives, that have been rejected by management,” he said.
Additionally, he argued that unresolved issues around accountability and workplace culture have played a role. Prior to last year’s no confidence vote, 32 female firefighters signed a letter alleging “a troubling pattern of misconduct and a culture that jeopardizes our safety and wellbeing.”
Several of the firefighters said they received “numerous malicious emails and text messages.” They pointed to a “culture of retaliation,” an “opaque investigation process” and safety concerns such as a lack of locks on sleeping quarters.
Last year, Povlitz promised numerous changes in response to the letter. ACFD has since expanded health and safety programs and established an Office of Professional Standards, which is responsible for independently investigating compliance with laws, regulations, policies and agreements, Garvey said.
Nevertheless, Lynch argued that many systemic issues remain unresolved.
“We’ve made some strides forward, but fundamentally, this was a good old boys system,” he said. “There was an expectation of Chief Povlitz, when he was hired, to come in and change some of that good old boy system that was in place — and what happened was, it just continued.”
The County Board’s view on understaffing
County Board Vice-Chair Takis Karantonis, meanwhile, believes larger economic factors are to blame for staffing issues at ACFD.
“The labor market for public safety was very thin — the supply was very reduced during the pandemic,” he told ARLnow. “That is also true for law enforcement, etc. This is not … primarily because we are not competitive, but mostly because the pool of eligible workers was greatly diminished.”
Povlitz said nearby fire departments have also struggled with vacancies in recent years.
When asked about Local 2800’s doubts in Povlitz, Karantonis said he believes they have little merit.
“It gives me pause, in a sense that we take stock of that, we see that,” he said. “But every time that we see the arguments that are behind that … I don’t see sufficient argument for the challenge of lack of confidence, etc. It actually — in my opinion — it actually collides with the reality that we see.”
Karantonis declined to comment on how issues around accountability or misconduct might contribute to staffing levels, saying any opinion “would be completely speculative.”
Garvey argued that the county has taken significant recent steps to improve recruitment and retention, including adding a one-time retention bonus and creating extra incentives for lateral hires.
“But I want to be clear: it takes time to train and recruit,” she said. “There is no overnight solution to these staffing challenges, and progress can only be made iteratively and deliberatively.”
County Manager Schwartz, meanwhile, expressed “unequivocal support” for Povlitz as well as “appreciation for the hard work of our understaffed and overworked firefighters.” His complete statement is below.
In response to the action of the fire union, I wanted to state my unequivocal support for Chief Povlitz and appreciation for the hard work of our understaffed and overworked firefighters.
It is no secret that the Arlington County Fire Department is dealing with staffing shortages. And I have no doubt that our firefighters and ACFD personnel are feeling the strain of those shortages. It’s likely little consolation for our firefighters that find themselves understaffed and overworked, but this is a problem not unique to Arlington – many of our public safety partners in the region are experiencing the same shortages. What should serve as some consolation is the tireless work being done by the Fire Chief, County Board, and County Staff to address these recruitment and retention concerns.
To ease the burden of our firefighters, Chief Povlitz has advocated for incentives to hire lateral firefighters and the County Board did include those incentives in the FY 2025 Budget, separate from the collectively bargained package agreed to during the current three-year contract term.
The recent additional one-time bonus for our firefighters and the unprecedented investments in a Kelly Day to relieve scheduling stress have been some of the steps this Chief has pushed for with the full support of me and the County Board.
This is a problem that is not remedied overnight. This issue is also bigger than one person, and it cannot be laid at the feet of one person—especially the person that is working night and day to find a solution.
We need to all work together to find the answers to the problems we face. And I encourage the union to partner with the Chief and the County to tackle these staffing challenges and bring much-needed relief to the Fire Department.
