Letters to the Editor
Giuliani, 9/11 and the Truth

To the Editor:

The true facts of Rudy Giuliani and his response to the International Association of Fire Fighters video about him:

In his press release he calls NYC "The Cadillac of Preparedness." How bad was the rest of the country? We had firefighters with radios that didn't work properly in 1993 and in 2001. He placed the city's Emergency Command Center next to a terrorist target, the World Trade Center. On 9/11, his seven years of inaction resulted in a non-unified command structure with separate command posts for the Fire Department (West St.) and the Police Department (Church St.). There was no NYPD representative at the FDNY command post to relay urgent messages (of potential collapse) - their Police Commissioner, Bernie Kerik, was running north away from the WTC with Giuliani.

Rudy states that he created the Office of Emergency Management, yet he placed an incompetent person in charge on 9/11: Richard Sheirer, a former FDNY Dispatcher and longtime political crony. Sheirer lacked the qualifications to run OEM and oversee emergency operations. Jerry Hauer, Sheirer's predecessor, had the qualities needed. Hauer had a strong personality and a take-charge attitude at emergency scenes. He was highly regarded by both the NYPD and the FDNY, but got little assistance from Giuliani to make the Fire and Police Departments cooperate fully with each other.

Months after 9/11, Fire Commissioner Tom Von Essen and other FDNY officials tried to blame the communications breakdown on malfunctioning repeaters. The 9/11 Commission confirmed that the repeaters worked that day.

Giuliani says Jerry Hauer insisted on placing the Emergency Command Center at 7 WTC. That is a blatant lie, according to Jerry Hauer (who has documentation to prove it.) It was Giuliani's personal insistence that it be located at 7 WTC - Jerry Hauer suggested Brooklyn. Rudy wanted it within walking distance of City Hall, complete with a cigar room for Rudy!

Giuliani's people have stated that the city had terrorism exercises during his administration. While regular drills were held by Commissioner Hauer, the number of emergency drills plummeted under Sheirer's watch. Still, the FDNY and NYPD had trouble cooperating at these drills.

Giuliani was forced to secure bunker gear after 3 firefighters were killed as a result of fighting a fire on Watts St. - he did not do it out of the goodness of his heart. Ironically, a pilot program was put in place before the Watts St. fire to see which bunker gear was best for the FDNY, unlike the defective radios Giuliani and his FDNY Commissioner Tom Von Essen bought in 2001. Although Giuliani claims to have purchased "PASS" alarms for firefighters, it was the Dinkins administration that first purchased the device. Radios, bunker gear, and PASS alarms are basic equipment that all firefighters in America need.

Tom Von Essen (a Firefighter who never passed a promotional exam) was Giuliani's top selection for Fire Commissioner who decimated the "staff chief" positions from 23 to 13, losing some of the most knowledgeable and most experienced men on the job. Von Essen refused to listen to input from his Chiefs because he "knew better." He replaced the most brilliant man in the Department - Frank Cruthers - as Chief of Department because he didn't like him (a result of Von Essen's previous history as union president).

Giuliani was so "loving and caring" at firefighter funerals - baloney! These were photo ops for him. He insisted human remains be treated carefully and respectfully, but only if the remains were found before Nov. 1, 2001. After Nov. 1, remains were more likely to be recovered at the Staten Island Fresh Kills dump because the paltry 25 firefighters were not even close to the number of personnel needed to search for remains at Ground Zero.

Was Giuliani concerned about the safety of firefighters? If so, why did Giuliani lie about the air quality at Ground Zero in late Sept. 2001 when he was told by the Department of Environmental Protection that 27 of 38 tests of air quality showed high levels of asbestos? Firefighters were not given face-fitted respirators until November 2001. The Department of Design and Construction (DDC) was Rudy's choice to run the operation (the first time they ever handled a disaster site) and did not enforce the respirator requirement, as was done by the Federal Government at the Pentagon. Giuliani's people have disingenuously linked the victims' families with conspiracy theorists. No family member or firefighter organization ever mentioned or condoned any conspiracy theory or government implication in the attacks. These are not in the video, and to attach us to the conspiracy theorists is a total distortion. Rudy's people will stoop to anything. It is totally out of line, but Rudy's people don't mind telling blatant lies.

One Giuliani defender, former firefighter Lee Ielpi, says the union is "Democratic." The UFA backed Mr. Bush in 2004 as well as Mr. Pataki. The video is not Democratic or Republican - it only tells the true story of one candidate, Rudy Giuliani. He is not presidential material however you spin it.

Hopefully, the truth will prevail and people will educate themselves about the candidates. Read the 9/11 Commission, National Institute of Science and Technology's report and the McKinsey reports concerning 9/11. You will see the shortcomings and errors of the Giuliani administration. His capacity to put people in his inner circle who lack the ability and qualifications to perform their tasks is a severe liability.

The IAFF video was made by the union after many requests by the 9/11 families who were seeking to tell the truth about Rudy Giuliani and 9/11. We wanted to get our message out that Rudy should not be running on his horrible 9/11 record. His legacy will be numerous sick and dying first-responders who did not get proper face-fitted respirators until November 2001. I don't know how he can look at himself in the mirror. The spirits of 9/11 will haunt him in the end. I know that terrorists initiated the actions that killed my son, but Rudy Giuliani gave him a radio that didn't work on 9/11. Terrorists did not provide him with faulty equipment; terrorists did not tell us that the air quality was fine when it was gravely contaminated. Doesn't America deserve better than Rudy Giuliani?

JIM RICHES, Deputy Chief, FDNY; Father of fallen Firefighter Jimmy Riches