Another heroic public servant whose name will be
scrawled on the John O'Neill Wall of Heroes...
CNN: One day after she was fired, former U.S. Park
Police Chief Teresa Chambers accused the Bush
administration Saturday of silencing dissenting views
in the rank and file.
Chambers' departure may not garner the same spotlight
as those of former counterterrorism expert Richard
Clarke and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, but
it appears to fall into a similar category: officials
who leave or are forced out after questioning Bush
administration policies.
Chambers said that she didn't expect to be fired seven
months after the Interior Department put her on
administrative leave with pay for talking with
reporters and congressional staffers about budget woes
on the 620-officer force...
"The American people should be afraid of this kind of silencing of professionals in any field," she said. "We should be very concerned as American citizens that people who are experts in their field either can't speak up, or, as we're seeing now in the parks service, won't speak up."
Save the US Constitution, Show Up for Democracy in
2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/10/park.police.chief/index.html
Ex-chief of Park Police denounces firing
Chambers: Administration 'silencing' dissenting views
Saturday, July 10, 2004 Posted: 8:56 PM EDT (0056 GMT)
U.S. Park Police are responsible for protecting the
Washington Monument.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One day after she was fired,
former U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers accused
the Bush administration Saturday of silencing
dissenting views in the rank and file.
Chambers' departure may not garner the same spotlight
as those of former counterterrorism expert Richard
Clarke and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, but
it appears to fall into a similar category: officials
who leave or are forced out after questioning Bush
administration policies.
Chambers said that she didn't expect to be fired seven
months after the Interior Department put her on
administrative leave with pay for talking with
reporters and congressional staffers about budget woes
on the 620-officer force.
She was fired Friday, just two and half hours after
her attorneys filed a demand for immediate
reinstatement through the Merit Systems Protection
Board, an independent agency that ensures federal
employees are protected from management abuses.
"It wasn't the reaction we expected," she said. "But
we weren't surprised.
"But it's not about me," she added. "I'm a player in
it. It's got far-reaching implications.
"The American people should be afraid of this kind of
silencing of professionals in any field," she said.
"We should be very concerned as American citizens that
people who are experts in their field either can't
speak up, or, as we're seeing now in the parks
service, won't speak up."
National Park Service officials said Chambers broke
rules barring public comment about budget discussions
and prohibiting lobbying by someone in her position.
Chambers said she did nothing wrong except argue for
adequate funding for the Park Police, which falls
under NPS authority -- and perhaps fail to understand
that she was required to "toe the party line."
"I came from outside and was naive about federal
agencies," she said. "I had no idea that's what they
wanted me to do. I really believed that's what they
wanted, for me to be frank with them."
The Bush administration says the Park Police budget
has increased during its tenure, but critics argue
that the increase has not offset inflation and
additional duties.
According to a study conducted by the nonprofit
National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the
entire park service operates on about two-thirds of
the budget it needs -- about $600 million short -- and
that about $50 million of that shortfall stems from
duties related to homeland security at the so-called
"icons."
"Icon" duty refers to protecting locations such as the
Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument and the
Golden Gate Bridge from terrorist attack -- duties
that fall to the Park Police.
In an affidavit filed in her effort to be reinstated,
Chambers said her troubles with the bureaucrats in the
park service and the Interior Department began with
budget processing in 2003.
"Each time I would sound [the alarm] just a little
louder," she said, "but always internally. It
culminated with the notice I put on the director of
the park service ... that we have problems."
In that November 28 memo, Chambers wrote that the
budget crisis put new hires in doubt, potentially
bringing the Park Police staff to its lowest level
since 1987, and seriously undermined her officers'
ability to protect the "icons."
"My professional judgment, based upon 27 years of
police service, six years as chief of police, and
countless interactions with police professionals
across the country, is that we are at a staffing and
resource crisis in the United States Park Police -- a
crisis that, if allowed to continue, will almost
surely result in the loss of life or the destruction
of one of our nation's most valued symbols of freedom
and democracy," she wrote.
A week earlier, Chambers had spoken with a Washington
Post reporter about the budget shortfalls, and the
article appeared December 2. Three days later, the
chief was on administrative leave.
Chambers said her story effectively put a chill on
National Park superintendents who were facing their
own shortfalls. She said she has spoken with current
officials who know the situation but fear for their
jobs.
According to the Coalition of Concerned National Park
Service Retirees, a group of more than 250 former NPS
officials, the Interior Department sent out memos to
park superintendents to make further reductions -- and
"to mislead the news media and public about the
service cuts in order to avoid ... 'public
controversy.'"
One of the memos suggested "service level adjustments"
including closing the parks' visitors centers on
federal holidays, eliminating guided tours, closing
the visitors centers two days a week and closing them
for an entire season.
The memo argues against discussing the situation with
the media, then adds that "if you feel you must inform
the public through a press release," refer to "service
level adjustments" rather than "cuts."
The cuts rip into services. Everglades National Park,
for example, cut ranger-led education programs from
115 per week to fewer than 40; Death Valley National
Park cut staff, leaving ancient rock art unprotected;
and Great Smoky Mountains -- the nation's most-visited
park -- has cut all seasonal hires for this year.
CNN's KC Wildmoon contributed to this report.