IAFF: Edzo’s Big Expense
And He Wants To Be President?
Eight months ago, secretary treasurer Ed Kelly lowered the boom on president-for-life Harold Schaitberger regarding a shady pension and pay for extra vacation days, etc.
It seemed, for a bright shining moment, that ethics were making a comeback.
Kelly, of Boston, was late to the party as he has been treasurer for over three years, time aplenty to know Schaitberger’s a crook.
Some say Kelly will have a run at Schaitberger, if he’s still around, who after 20 years as president and at age 74, has done about all the damage he can do.
But then, a crazy thing happened.
Kelly submitted an expense voucher for payment.
And not just any voucher, either.
It was
-for $43,000,
-had over 200 separate charges,
-was past the due date for submission,
-and lacked required documentation.
If you were giving an entry level union officer class on vouchers, it would be your worst case scenario.
Kelly’s action is some mix of immature, unprofessional and reckless.
Talk about not having your eye on the ball.
Such is the current IAFF, where the chief financial officer accuses the president of financial misdeeds and then tries to outdo him.
It shows a stunning failure in leadership on multiple levels as he fails to set an example for others and demonstrates questionable management skills at the same time.
If you’re in charge and it happens on your watch, you own the incident and what it indicates about your capabilities.
Kelly is open to the charge that he cannot do the job he has but would like to be promoted; he’s the dodgy company officer who wants to be battalion chief.
His voucher might not rise to the level of Schaitberger’s pension filching but between the two of them they are one sorry act.
On Labor Day, Kelly, apparently still working shifts in Boston, posted a silly video where he ended by saying, “This IAFF belongs to you.”
With a $43,000 expense voucher which apparently included a mystery dinner for ten in Boston, the IAFF belongs to him, or will shortly.
Can’t these guys ever spend their own money?
If Kelly can do that kind of damage while in Boston, imagine what happens when he is in D.C.?
Or, if this is what we know, imagine what we don’t.
Kelly’s recent actions give no confidence that he is any better (or different) from our current swindler-in-chief.
May God (or at least the feds) save the IAFF.
