07:58 AM CST on Thursday, December 22, 2005

By Cliff Despres / Staff Writer

City officials say the “odds are great” that Denton will finally hire its first black firefighter, but critics remain pessimistic.

About 14 percent of the 234 certified firefighters who took a civil service test Saturday were black — the largest-ever total — and at least one black person scored high enough to get on an initial 58-person hiring eligibility list, said Deputy Fire Chief Mark Klingele.

A Hispanic man also tied for the highest score.

The city will use top scorers to start filling 20 firefighter vacancies, starting mid-March, with background checks expected to eliminate some candidates.

City officials hope the test allows them to diversify a 97-percent white fire department.

“We had a very positive outcome, given our efforts to increase minority participation in the test,” said Assistant City Man­ager Jon Fortune, noting the city spent $24,000 on ads on a Dallas radio station with a primarily black audience. “The test is really a foot in the door. Now we’ll do the hard part of going through applications.”

Willie Hudspeth, a steadfast critic of the city for never having hired a black firefighter, doesn’t believe Denton will have one soon.

“I hope they do what seems to be the right thing: hire an African-American firefighter. But I don’t think they will, even though they have the numbers,” said Hud­s­peth, who argues that the city puts too much emphasis on a test he says is skewed against blacks. “It’s something they haven’t corrected in years.”

More than 600 people signed up to take the test Saturday, given simultaneously in Denton and Houston, but only 234 took it.

Such a drop is not unusual, officials say.

About 58 test-takers scored a 95 or higher, including at least one black and two Hispanics, according to Klingele.

Officials will perform background checks and interviews with those 58 people, eliminating some along the way. They expect to then move onto the next set of highest scorers, perhaps those who got at least a 93. The top 58 scorers likely won’t fill all the jobs, because some may not make the cut or take other jobs.

It may take going through about 80 top test-scorers to hire 15 firefighters for the planned Fire Station No. 7 and fill at least five expected retirements in 2006, officials say.

“I’m very confident that the city will be able to hire an African-American,” said City Council member Charlye Heggins, who attended the test-taking in Denton Saturday and saw several minorities there. “I was very pleased with the turnout.”

Currently, fewer than 4 percent of the Denton Fire Department’s more than 140 workers — civil and non-civil service — are non-white, according to 2004 statistics.

Local blacks haven’t expressed much interest in becoming firefighters, fire officials say. Community leaders are unsure if blacks don’t feel welcomed by the city or if their culture impacts their low interest level.

Denton city officials say they’ve tried to diversify.

They’ve conducted off-site tests at minority colleges and formed a diversity task force to hand out fliers and conduct test study sessions in minority neighborhoods.

Last month, the city readied several new programs, including a fire-cadet training program and marketing, funded by $275,000 the city expects to save by giving Saturday’s test to certified — already trained — firefighters and paramedics.

Hudspeth, however, said the problem is with the reliance on hiring tests.

Denton uses civil service to govern firefighter hiring, promotion, discipline, salary and benefits. A standardized test generates a hiring eligibility list. The city must hire those who score highest on the test, although some are disqualified after background checks.

The test aims to make hiring and promotions free of subjectivity or political influence, but it also disallows the city from handpicking candidates to hire.

The city has used its current test since 2003.

It tests mainly math and reading comprehension. Denton offers practice questions on its Web site, such as: “In 1984, there were 312 structure fires in Oregon. In 1985, the number of structure fires in the state decreased by 26. By what percentage did structure fires decrease in Oregon?”

None of the city’s minority firefighters complained about the test, officials say, and the Fire Department has invited any interested parties to view the actual test.

But only Lou Lowther, a white woman and self-proclaimed interested person, has done so. She says the test isn’t biased against blacks, but would prefer that a panel of collegiate experts review and amend the test to clean up some “confusing” wording.

Hudspeth said past test-takers, including his son, told him the test has biased questions.

Hudspeth said he has never seen the test, however.

He said he plans to view it soon.

Hudspeth also said he’s found several cultural tests on the Internet that are skewed in favor of minorities, with questions that ask definitions of “baby’s got back” and “jackleg preacher.” He said only minorities could answer many of the questions, as only whites can correctly answer the city’s test.

Klingele said he has made Hudspeth an offer, good any time “24/7,” to swap tests, and he’s frustrated Hudspeth hasn’t obliged.

He says the city has worked hard to diversify the Fire Department, including Saturday’s test.

“Statistically, the odds are better than they’ve ever been” to hire a black firefighter, he said. “Personally, I think the odds are great.”

CLIFF DESPRES can be reached at 940-566-6876. His e-mail address is cdespres@dentonrc.com

FIREFIGHTER TEST

The city of Denton gave a civil service exam Saturday in Denton and Houston. Test scores generate a hiring eligibility list that the city will use to fill several open firefighter vacancies, starting mid-March. Here is the demographic breakdown of test-takers:

Race Test-takers Percentage

White        167       71%

Black          33       14%

Hispanic      21         9%

Asian/Pacific 5         2%

Indian/Alaskan            4           2%

Other            4         2%

Total         234     100%

Source: City of Denton