Firefighters association to endorse Sam Johnson for Columbia mayor. Here’s why

Eleven years ago, the Columbia Firefighters Association endorsed Steve Benjamin in his first run for mayor of Columbia.

Now they are supporting his protege in the 2021 mayoral election.

The firefighters association will endorse Sam Johnson, Benjamin’s former chief of staff, in this year’s mayor’s race, according to association president Victor Kemper. The endorsement is expected to be made formal in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Johnson is one of four people seeking the capital city’s top political post. He is joined in the race by former District 3 City Councilman Moe Baddourah, at-large Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine and District 4 City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann. Benjamin, who has served for three terms and is Columbia’s first Black mayor, announced earlier this year he wouldn’t seek re-election.

The Columbia Firefighters Association consists of about 200 active capital city firefighters, and is affiliated with the International Association of Firefighters. The Columbia group functions like a union, though it doesn’t collectively bargain contracts.

On Sept. 24, Columbia Firefighters Association president Victor Kemper accompanied Johnson as the candidate knocked on doors and met potential voters in the Shandon neighborhood. Kemper said Johnson has been seeking the association’s support for months, and has come to several of the group’s meetings.

“I think Sam has a plan for public safety,” Kemper told The State while he was door-knocking for Johnson. “He has a plan for the fire department. He understands we have certain challenges and he’s willing to talk about them. More importantly, I think he’d be willing to try different things to make things better for us. And ‘better for us’ means staffing on the trucks, that means expanding service if we need to, that means working with the county, because the fire service is consolidated with the county.”

Kemper said the association works to keep lines of communication open with local elected officials year-round.

Johnson said it was “huge” to get the backing of the firefighters association. The mayoral hopeful has said he would push to address staffing shortages and attrition at the fire department, and push for better pay for firefighters.

“They have to have the tools to do the job,” Johnson told The State. “We are the capital city and we should be the shining example of what a fire department should look like. And at the end of the day, we have to make sure we are setting a priority on retaining our firefighters. We can’t have a revolving door.”

There are at least 27 open front line firefighter positions at the fire department, per a discussion Chief Aubrey Jenkins recently had with Columbia City Council. However, functional openings are likely higher because fire trainees count toward the department’s workforce. Jenkins also shared that the department’s annual attrition rate in the last few years has been about 11%, and that he would like the number to be about 3%.

The State will host a virtual mayoral candidate forum on Oct. 6. All four candidates have been confirmed for the event.

The city’s election is Nov. 2. Aside from mayor, there are also races for an at-large seat, District 1 and District 4.