Eric Vinitsky

Most sports fans recognize these words of the legendary US Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks, characterizing what it truly meant to be a member of a team. To this week’s profiled firefighter it is creed that has inspired him to serve causes bigger than himself. When the United States claimed gold in the 1980 Winter Games, Americans shocked the world. Back then, there was nothing more American than being part of a team, working together toward a common goal. Some say those values are old fashioned and if that’s the case, Eric Vinitsky of Engine 39 is a throwback and anything but old-fashioned.

Raised and educated in Savin Hill, Eric always knew that he wanted to be a Boston Firefighter. He graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy with a degree in Marine Engineering, where he also played baseball. With a history of military service in his family -his grandfather served in the United States Navy during World War II- and the attacks of 9/11 a haunting reality, Eric enlisted as an infantryman in the United States Army. (He would later be commissioned as an officer in 2003, rising to the rank of Captain.) Eric has been deployed to Kuwait and Iraq, where he served as platoon leader and convoy commander. His most recent combat tour brought Eric to the mountains of Afghanistan. Enduring battles with the Taliban throughout, Eric’s missions included training, supporting and fighting with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), treating Afghan civilians’ medical issues, and supplying Afghan villages with food, clothing, school supplies and other equipment.

In 2006 Eric became a Boston Firefighter. When asked, Eric reiterated the reason he couldn’t see himself doing anything else for a living, “I love being a Boston Firefighter because I am part of a team working towards a common goal-protecting the City. We, as a group, do something that is for the greater good, not for our own personal needs. We get to help people usually on the worst day of their lives.”

Eric’s service doesn’t end after a shift or military deployment. When a fellow firefighter and the son of a firefighter were diagnosed with a brain tumor, Eric asked how he could help. He was told he needed to run the Boston Marathon and raise a few thousand dollars. His response: “No problem.”

Drew Lee

Name: Andrew C. Lee

Favorite Band: Pogues

Favorite Boston Icon: Ted Williams (the Marine)

Born and raised in South Boston, our next featured firefighter is Drew Lee of Engine 24 in Grove Hall.  Like many other Boston Jakes, Drew has proudly served our country overseas. He grew up in a neighborhood with a well-documented and much-envied history of military service, which motivated him to enlist as a Marine. Currently a USMC Captain, Drew served five years on active duty and seven years on reserve in the Corps. After being stationed at various Camps around the US, Drew has been deployed to Iraq three times, the Baltic Region and Okinawa, Japan. After deployment, Drew came back to the States and became a Boston Firefighter.

During his teenage years, the harbor was his playground. He learned to sail at the Harry McDonough Sailing Center on Castle Island and then at the South Boston Yacht Club, where he became an instructor. The ocean had such an influence on him that after graduating Copley High School (now Snowden International School) in 1993, he went on to earn his degree in Maritime Science at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Cape Cod. It is easy to understand why his favorite Boston landmark is the USS Constitution, ‘Old Ironsides’.

Drew has been all over the world and seen many places, but Boston will always be home base. When he is not at the firehouse, Drew spends as much time as he can with his family. He enjoys taking his four children to the parks and beaches in South Boston, sharing with them his many happy memories. Family and friends are at the center of his life. Drew also spends time teaching fire safety, speaking to young children at their schools.

Known for his conditioning, Drew quietly goes about his job, prepared physically and mentally at a moment’s notice to answer the alarm. He answered that alarm on February 10, 2007 responding to a fire at 60 Cheney St, Roxbury. According to the newspaper account of the fire, ‘Drew and his crew were returning to their fire station after a nearby medical call, when they received the report of the fire. People outside the building told the firefighters children were inside the burning apartment. Lee raced up the four flights, put his mask on, and entered the apartment on his hands and knees. “All I was thinking was, ‘Get the kids out,’ ” Lee said. After pulling out the two older children and handing them to other firefighters — “It was a chain of guys and we just handed them off” — Lee kept searching. He found the youngest child on the floor in the bedroom. Drew was further quoted in the article, “It was the same size and weight as my son. I thought,’The little guy ain’t making it,’ so I just ran with him.” The child did make it, thanks to Drew’s quick reaction and the efforts of his fellow firefighters.

His actions were recognized not only by his fellow firefighters, but by the Governor of the Commonwealth and in 2007, Drew was named a ‘Firefighter of the Year’. The consummate firefighter, Drew enjoys the respect and admiration of all who meet and work with him.

In July of this year, Mayor Menino temporarily closed down firehouses 27 times in neighborhoods across the city. The Mayor used two trojan horses to publicly justify the firehouse closings. The first was the allegation that firefighters were abusing sick leave and overtime. This was clearly an attempt to try to embarrass Boston Firefighters and leverage the firehouse closings against the union in bargaining. The fact was that less than 3% of the scheduled workforce was sick, which was below city average. When it was discovered that the Fire Department staffing levels were down by 200 members and that there was in fact a manpower shortage, the Mayor shifted his public stance to that of blaming the city’s finances. This too was readily refuted by the Mayor‘s spokeswoman and the Mayor himself:

“the city’s finances remain strong and in excellent standing…”

-Mayor Menino’s spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, Bulletin Newspaper, August 13, 2009

“We have had the highest bond rating of ever in the past.”

-Mayor Menino, WBZ TV Mayoral Debate, September 2, 2009

When Local 718 was notified by a media outlet that the Mayor would implement temporary firehouse closings, President Kelly wrote to Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser, seeking information on the City’s operational plan for fiscal 2010 and an implementation plan for the temporary closings. President Kelly received no response from Commissioner Fraser. Bottom line – Mayor Menino, without fact-based justification, orchestrated a political ploy that jeopardized the lives of Bostonians. Click here to see President Kelly’s emails to Commissioner Fraser.

In addition, President Kelly wrote to the Administration warning them of the public safety risks such a plan would pose to the citizens of Boston. In a letter of response to President Kelly, Mayor Menino’s Director of Labor Relations, John Dunlap, revealed their strategy to again circumvent collective bargaining with outright threats. He stated that if Local 718 would change the sick leave language in their contract, Mayor Menino would stop bullying them and halt the firehouse closings. The Menino Administration all but admitted in the letter that the Mayor is willing to use the lives of Boston residents as a bargaining chip to further his political agenda. Unbelievable! Click here to read President Kelly’s exchange with the Menino Administration.

Incidentally, Mr. Dunlap’s behavior in these matters is chronic. Instead of doing his job as a negotiator, Mr. Dunlap spends most of his days using public resources to draft letters to the editor and op-eds, researching which City employees aren’t supporting Mayor Menino and trying to find ways to manipulate the collective bargaining process. Is anyone surprised why the Firefighters don’t have a contract with the City yet? Click here to view the latest ethics complaints filed against Mr. Dunlap.

Firefighters Step Up

Firefighters took an oath to protect the citizens of Boston. In the spirit of that commitment, President Kelly and firefighters across the City of Boston volunteered to staff firehouses without pay to keep the residents of this City safe. Mayor Menino’s response: He refused to allow firefighters to volunteer, and actually said he would consider it stealing if firefighters responded to a citizen in need on a fire truck. Bottom line – it was not about the money, it was about dictating to the firefighters.

The facts are that during Mayor Menino’s “brownout period” firefighters in Boston responded to over 7,000 incidents. Residents at this Roslindale complex were not too happy with Mayor Menino’s political gamesmanship. Click link to hear reactions from Roslindale residents.

So if the city had money and excessive absenteeism wasn’t the problem, why would he employ this risky tactic? The answer: Because rather than negotiate in good faith, Mayor Menino and his staff resort to bullying, smears and intimidation.

The Mayor’s brownouts plan had two objectives:

1.) Try to embarrass firefighters enough in the press to force them to submit to his bullying demands and

2.) Test sample which neighborhoods he could politically afford to abandon after the election, when he plans to permanently close firehouses.

Unfortunately for the Mayor, the plan backfired. After a wave of citizen outrage, the brownouts were quietly stopped. The lesson here is simple: rather than bargain in good faith, Mayor Menino will play politics with people’s lives to further his political agenda. That’s not leadership. That’s a dictatorship.