Firm clears Fire Chief McDonnell of financial wrongdoing while union president

[Omaha Steve]

Chief McDonnell is a friend of mine. I voted all my locals votes to help get him elected on the State AFL-CIO board a few years ago.

OS

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10589851

Published Wednesday March 18, 2009
Firm clears Fire Chief McDonnell of financial wrongdoing while union president
BY JASON KUIPER
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

An accounting firm's analysis appears to clear Omaha Fire Chief Mike McDonnell of any financial wrongdoing while he was fire union president, according to letters obtained by The World-Herald.

The firm's analysis came after federal labor officials began an inquiry into union finances – a probe that Omaha fire captain Darren Bates made the centerpiece of a Wednesday press conference in which he criticized McDonnell.


Omaha Fire Chief Mike McDonnell, left, and Darren Bates


The chief has recommended firing Bates after the captain was cited in a Council Bluffs police prostitution sting last month.

James Martin Davis, Bates' attorney, said McDonnell dislikes Bates and that affected his decision.

During their press conference, Bates said the relationship between him and McDonnell's went bad about a year after Bates took over as union president and began asking questions about the union's finances.

The World-Herald reported last month that U.S. Department of Labor representatives, acting on a complaint, visited the Omaha Firefighters Union hall seeking financial records.

FULL story at link.