While Vallejo's finances were plunging faster than a roller coaster at the Six Flags amusement park, the city's firefighters were going abalone diving, grilling tri-tip and drinking cocktails on the public's dime, records show.

Under their contract, the firefighters union has been allowed since 2003 to charge the city 600 hours a year - at a cost of more than $24,000 annually - for union activities that were approved by the union's chief. The junkets included an annual Seafood Extravaganza at the fairgrounds, a 10-kilometer run ending with a party at the amusement park and a dunk tank at the Waterfront Festival.

The Solano County grand jury blasted the fire union's unusual business-leave arrangement in a 2006 report, as did an Oakland attorney hired by the city in November. But firefighters say they used the time to raise money for Little League, Boys and Girls Clubs and other local charities.

"Was it true we had a cocktail every now and then? Absolutely. Were we out boozing and not coming back (to work) because we were hung over? Absolutely not," union President Kurt Henke said Tuesday. "It's no different than going to a business lunch or reception."

Dwindling tax revenue and ballooning public safety expenses have put Vallejo on the brink of becoming the largest city in California to declare bankruptcy. Officials there have until April 22 to devise a long-term plan to stave off financial ruin.

Public safety workers' salaries are being cut, two firehouses have been closed, 12 police officer positions are being eliminated, and city staff members will be laid off. In addition, funding to senior centers, libraries, museums and other amenities is being slashed to zero.

Practice criticized

"I think city-funded union business leave needs to be abolished," City Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes said Tuesday. "It's an obvious violation of public trust and a misuse of public funds."

Katy Meissner, a community activist, said the firefighters' paid leave angers residents who are dealing with dwindling public services.

"You have this group that's been going fishing and drinking and doing charity dunk tanks on city time. It's pretty despicable," Meissner said.

City and union leaders last week whittled the 600-hour cap to 500 hours and limited the activities to firefighter and union conventions. Still, the allowance is more generous than those in many other Bay Area cities.

In Hayward, firefighters hold about 600 hours' worth of charity golf tournaments and fundraisers each year, but they use time donated from their own vacation and compensatory-time allowances. In San Francisco, the firefighters' contract doesn't limit the number of hours for union business leave, but the fire chief must approve the time off.

In Oakland, the firefighters union gets 576 hours a year of such leave, but it is split among 504 union members - roughly six times the number in Vallejo. Even then, the hours are rarely used because they must be approved by the chief and the individuals must pay their own expenses, said Donna Hom, the fire department's chief financial officer.

In its report, the county grand jury slammed Vallejo's firefighters for charging full 24-hour shifts for union business when they used a few hours for an activity. The report added that the city had to pay replacement workers overtime at time-and-a-half to fill in.

In the city-funded private investigation, attorney Douglas Freifeld described the union leaders as "unapologetic" about using city time for charity events, dinners and political campaigning.

"The fire chief's 'hands-off' approach to (union business leave) was taken advantage of by union leadership to greatly, albeit not openly, expand the utilization of (such leave)," Freifeld wrote.

Union president's response

Henke called both reports "absolutely biased." The city has long been trying to break the union, he said, and often seeks damaging information to erode public support during contract negotiations.

"They hired an investigator to come up with a predetermined result," he said. "They want to make it look like we did something wrong. We did nothing wrong."

From 2000 to 2006, the Vallejo Firefighters Local 1186 and the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce threw an annual Seafood Extravaganza and happy hour at McCormack Hall at the county fairgrounds in Vallejo.

Henke said several firefighters are licensed abalone divers who took union business time to harvest the prized shellfish off the North Coast before the event. Proceeds typically amounted to between $8,000 and $10,000, Henke said, which was split between the chamber and donations to charities.

Firefighters also would barbecue tri-tip steak for the party, which typically drew about 400 people paying $60 per ticket.

"We had to stop because it was getting to be too much work," said Connie Howard, the chamber's community promotions coordinator. "But it was fun. And the food was fabulous. It took us a week to recover."

City and union leaders are meeting almost daily, furiously trying to renegotiate the fire and police contracts in advance of the April 22 bankruptcy deadline. The talks are confidential, and neither side will say if union business leave is under negotiation.