On Monday, the first LGBT Fire Chief in San Francisco’s history was sworn in. Jeanine Nicholson plans to do a great deal more than just represent the LGBT community. Her plans for the city are very promising.
She’s been a paramedic, she’s been a firefighter, she’s been a lieutenant, a captain, a battalion chief and now deputy chief,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed told a crowd of people at City Hall who came to see the new chief being sworn in. – abc7news.com
What can a fire chief do? Well they can work to address the issues that affect them and the city. As chief, Nicholson vows to address the homeless crisis. You have seen in any US city, when there is an issue with a homeless person, more than the police are called out. Here in Broward County, Floirda, just the other day, I witnessed 3 police cars one fire engine and one paramedic vehicle descend upon a homeless guy who was laying down in the shade. These types of calls lay a heavy burden on all the departments and with an ever increasing and massive homeless population like San Francisco, the calls are endless.
Nicholson desires the city to create more access and more outreach to the homeless, definitely addressing the concern of the opioid addicted people on the streets. It doesn’t sound like the traditional fire chief worries or policies, but Nicholson feels it is important that the fire department work with the mayor’s office on such issues.
She has already addressed the high cancer rates among firefighters, educating people that these rates are higher than the rest of the population, and Nicholson is a cancer survivor herself. She wants to address the high cost of living in San Francisco which does cause many fire fighters and public servants to leave the city.
For more on this promising appointment, here is coverage from abc7news.com
Congrats Chief Nicholson. It looks like you will represent us and your city very well.
Source: abc7news.com