PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – When the fire station at the Providence Pubic Safety Complex ran out of toilet paper, hand soap and cleaning supplies on June 20, firefighters weren’t sure who to call. Typically an administrative chief would assign an employee in the supply room to restock the station.

But with every position on the fire department’s command staff currently vacant, even the most menial requests end up in one place: the desk of Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare. Eight days and a follow-up email later, the station was stocked.

Welcome to life in the Providence Fire Department.

Eleven months after the Elorza administration restructured shift schedules to require firefighters to go from working an average of 42 hours per week across four platoons to 56 hours across three platoons, a wave of retirements has left the department over budget and understaffed. As it stands now, there are zero non-union employees left to manage the firefighters and Pare confirmed Tuesday the city has not yet offered the permanent chief’s position to any of the “handful of candidates” up for the job.

But as union officials claim the shift change has decimated the department – there are 344 firefighters in Providence today, compared with 418 a year ago – Mayor Jorge Elorza maintains that sick-time has decreased, processes have improved and services to the city have “continued uninterrupted in any way.”

“In terms of running the department, remember, there’s the operations and the administration side,” Elorza said in an interview Tuesday. “The operations have run just as well as they have always run and the administration side is running better than it ever has.”

When asked if he thought it would be ideal to have a command staff in place, Elorza said, “No, no I’m not agreeing with that.” He suggested that former Fire Chief George Farrell, who was brought back in a part-time role last November, and William Trinque, a longtime aide to Pare, have provided “administrative strengths” to the department.

“We have the leadership in the fire department that we need,” Elorza said.Costs pile up

The mayor’s optimistic outlook on the state of the department directly contradicts the views of current and former firefighters as well as other city employees, including internal auditor Matt Clarkin. One of the City Council’s top advisors, Clarkin has estimated an ongoing legal battle over the shift change could cost the city more than $9 million in back pay, a claim Elorza says has resulted in “inflated rhetoric.”

Under the four-platoon system, firefighters were paid a time-and-a-half rate for working more than 42 hours. The new system came with an 8% pay increase, but workers don’t earn overtime pay until after 56 hours. The union filed suit and a Superior Court judge ordered the two sides to grievance arbitration. (The city has appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court and any arbitration decision is also likely to end up before the high court as well.)

Clarkin said he also expects the fire department to end the current fiscal year more than $1 million over its $74-million budget even after the shift change. Elorza suggested about $3.2 million in severance payouts as a result of the spike in retirements was to blame for the overspending, but the department also benefited from not holding a planned fire academy in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

“The fact is, the fire department has overspent its budget,” Clarkin said Tuesday.

Clarkin also noted that the budget for the fiscal year that begins Friday does not include the $5 million in savings Elorza has said the changes could achieve. The mayor claims the new budget includes $5 million for a possible resolution to the legal dispute, but it also projects in the coming year the city will spend only $2 million – down from $9 million this year – on callback overtime. Separately, the City Council did set aside $1 million in the new budget to cover legal expenses.

Even state officials have acknowledged they are closely monitoring the dispute. In an interview last week, revenue director Robert Hull told WPRI.com a judicial decision that goes against the city could be harmful because Providence doesn’t have any cash reserves.

“They need to fix it and solve it,” Hull said.Safety a concern

Bean counting aside, others have expressed concern about the safety of the firefighters.

During a City Council Finance Committee meeting last month, Assistant Fire Chief Scott Mello said the current schedule has been “tough, operationally” on the firefighters. He said he was concerned about what the summer months would mean for the department because that is when more firefighters take vacation time, which would result in more overtime – and longer hours – for others.

Weeks after his comments, Mello, who served as acting chief until Farrell was brought back last November, filed his retirement papers. Pare announced another former chief, Michael Dillon, would fulfill Mello’s role overseeing day-to-day operations of the department until a permanent replacement could be found. But Dillon later said he did not want the job.

The firefighters’ union paints a bleaker picture.

After two large fires on Eaton Street and Laurel Hill Avenue left 26 firefighters injured in March, three veteran members of the department – all from the union – prepared a report that suggested the city’s failure to fill vacant management-level positions “has created a situation that prevents the Providence Fire Department from following command control procedures.” Pare said the report was incomplete and criticized the union for trying to “politicize the injuries.”

Paul Doughty, president of Local 799 of the International Association of Firefighters, said the shift changes have created a work environment that is harmful “emotionally and physically.” He pointed to a WPRI.com report last year that showed no other fire department in the country has a schedule that requires firefighters to work two 10-hour days, followed by two 14-hour nights with two days off.

Elorza has offered to change the schedule to something more common – possibly 24 hours on followed by 48 hours off – but Doughty said he fears the administration might attempt to make a legal argument suggesting the union agreed to the overall shift changes. He said the union currently has 77 outstanding grievances against the city.

“The guys still love the work,” Doughty said. “The boss, not so much.”

Doughty also said he hasn’t been shy about offering his views on the state of the department to potential fire chief candidates. He claims he’s had conversations with seven individuals who either applied for the job or were considering applying, making it “crystal clear about the situation we’re in.”

“I refer to myself as the minister of truth,” Doughty said. “I don’t think I’ve scared them away. I think the situation has scared them away.”New chief will be from the outside

When a fire chief is appointed, it will be the first time in the 162-year history of the department that the top job has gone to someone from outside of Providence, according to Pare.

Pare said he wants a new chief “sooner rather than later,” but declined to offer a specific time frame for when a hire will be made. He said he’s been “working long hours” serving as the de facto head of the department.

Although a scheduled academy of 80 new firefighters is planned for the upcoming fiscal year and could provide relief to the rank-and-file members, Pare said he doesn’t intend to appoint new members of the command staff until the city finds a chief.

“We thought that it’s best that the new fire chief selects his team,” Pare said. “If there’s nobody on the inside that’s willing to run the department, then the option is to get people from the outside that have the experience.”

As for an overall resolution to the dispute, the two sides remain far apart.

Elorza said he remains confident the Supreme Court will side with the city, but indicated he would prefer reaching a settlement. Doughty said the longer the battle goes, the less likely his members are to support a deal unless it includes changes to the contract in future years. The union’s contract is set to expire June 30, 2017.

Both sides acknowledge that a reduction in what’s known as “minimum manning” – the current contract calls 94 firefighters to be on duty at all times – and the closure of fire stations will be on the table, but they each said they’re waiting for a long overdue City Council study on the department to serve as a guide.

The two sides also acknowledged that retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams has agreed to serve as mediator in “global settlement” talks. The goal is to reach an agreement on the shift change dispute as well as every grievance and two unrelated federal lawsuits involving overtime calculations and the Family and Medical Leave Act.

“The hope is that we can resolve all of it at once,” Elorza said.

Continue the discussion on FacebookDan McGowan ( dmcgowan@wpri.com ) covers politics, education and the city of Providence for WPRI.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter: @danmcgowan