we need your help.
Join your firefighters and SIGN the LETTER to demand that the city council FIND THE TRUTH and PROTECT PUBLIC SAFETY in austin.
To Mayor Kirk Watson and Members of the Austin City Council.
I’m writing to you today with urgency and deep concern for the safety of our city.
I respectfully urge you to take two actions:
Reject the City Manager’s proposal to cut firefighter staffing and repeal Austin’s Four Firefighter Minimum Staffing ordinance.
Support an independent, third-party investigation into Fire Chief Joel Baker’s actions during the July 4th Kerrville flood disaster.
Your public commitment to public safety — and to the proven standard of four firefighters per fire engine — is why many Austinites supported you. Turning your back on that commitment now not only violates public trust, but puts lives at risk.
From wildfires and house fires to crashes and floods, Austin firefighters are the first line of defense — and they need four to do more. The four-person crew standard isn’t just tradition; it’s law, best practice, and lifesaving policy.
The Austin Firefighters Association has raised serious and credible concerns about Chief Baker’s leadership during one of the worst natural disasters in recent Texas history. For nearly 1,300 firefighters to stand together in a vote of no confidence is not something that should be brushed aside. It signals a department in crisis and leadership failures that deserve full transparency.
It is deeply troubling that Austin’s world-class, highly trained fire and rescue personnel were ordered to stand down during the Kerrville floods — not because they weren’t ready, but because of what Chief Baker described as “cash flow” concerns. That decision cost time, cost trust, and likely cost lives. In Texas, we help first. We sort out paperwork later. That’s who we are — and who our firefighters are, too.
If Chief Baker indeed issued a months long stand-down order over money, that is dereliction of duty, and he should be removed. Likewise, City Manager Broadnax’s proposal to cut fire staffing — just as public confidence is shaken — must be immediately rejected.
My neighbors and I proudly support public safety. We trust our firefighters to act. Now we must ask why they weren’t allowed to — and stop any plan that would weaken their ability to protect us.
We ask you to do the right thing:
Keep our four-firefighter staffing law intact.
Investigate Chief Baker’s actions thoroughly.
Protect the safety of the public and those who serve us.
I stand with Austin’s firefighters — and I urge you to do the same.