- Dec 25, 2017
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The Resignation of Tasos
A San Andreas News Op-ed
Date: 21/04/2020
Tags: Daily life, LSFMD, leadership
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of SAN News as a whole.
Preface
The ex-commissioner is now part of the Police Department.
Nevertheless, many people actually were not aware about his resignation, which happened about 10 days ago, where the place of Commissioner - the highest of the department - was taken by Sotilis Leroy.
When we at SAN News went around and collected people's opinions regarding this change, we were quite impressed. Many people stated that Mr. Greco had done an awful job leading the faction, and very few citizens were of the impression that he had done a good job leading the city's institution in charge of providing medical assistance to its citizens.
Tasos Greco (right) with his co-worker (center). Late march.
A talk with Tasos
In order to collect my information, I had a talk with the ex-commissioner, who I thank for his availability and his time.
Luke: Thank you for coming, mister Greco. You have been the leader of the Fire and Medical Department of this city for a month more or less, right?
Tasos: Indeed. I've lead the faction for one month and eight days.
Luke: That's not a long leadership, compared to the previous leaders. What has lead to your resignation?
Tasos: The reason behind my retirement is something all commissioners I believe have already faced in their career, but none of them actually where affected by it; for me that led to my resignation, after after realizing that things are not going in the right direction. The lack of supply from the government in terms of equipment and rights had pushed me into many arguments, including lawsuits.
Luke: Interesting, what do you mean by "lack of supply in terms of equipment and rights?"
Tasos: You see, when I got my hands to lead the fire-department, it was completely inactive. I remember there were no superiors and everything had to be done exclusively by me. No uniforms, no fire engines, whenever there was a fire, we had to send regular medics with their EMR uniforms to respond, something completely un-safe. You see, the lack of attention the previous leaders gave to the department led to many corrupt supervisors who where all removed after my deployment.
Luke: Wait. Did you say "corrupt supervisors"?
Tasos: Yes, exactly. Our supervisors, instead of providing safety inside our department, ended up doing the opposite: For example, they have been caught stealing equipment and selling it on the internet.
Luke: That's certainly a major problem. What action did you take towards such unprofessional -not to mention illegal- behavior?
Tasos: I've immediately terminated these supervisors's contract. The Fire Department was again revamped, with brand new equipment, uniforms, supervisors, and a new office; many fields inside the department where scrambled, so I made sure to hire ex members of the Los Santos Police Department to handle all the supervisory areas in the department. This decision led to all four divisions working perfectly.
Luke: That's a rather smart move. Nevertheless, what was the main point, again, of your retirement?
Tasos: [...] I resigned due to the under-appreciation from the reigning political party to our citizens. Everyone has seemed to have lost interest in investing in LSFMD because wages are still low and the economy is in the dumps. It should be a time to care for healthcare more than ever, but it sadly is not the case.
The considerations
An ambulance responding to an urgent call, approaching the Market shopping centre at full speed
In his 40 days more or less, where he had the most authority inside the department, he did nothing but positive actions which have contributed towards the safety of the citizens. The introduction of a CoVID-19 related division, with the expressed role of giving the city a safe place, where the citizens were certain to find a medic able to give a vaccine towards the plague affecting the town, has severely limited the spread of the virus, and most importantly, has saved dozens of lives. Nowadays this branch is no longer operative as before, as now you will struggle finding a medic near All Saints Hospital.
The statistics speak clearly: after his retirement, the virus cases did not decrease with the pace expected; instead, the curve of the currently infected citizens escalated upwards once again. Calling a medic has lately been something ineffective as the lines have been most of the times occupied. Without a clue on where to find a medic, the life of every citizen is threatened.
One final thing I've heard concerning the flaws of Mr. Greco's leadership was that he created disorder by hiring contractors to refurbish the interior of the Fire Department facility, near the convention center. Most of the people said that the new interior is not practical, there are two useless kitchens, and various other criticisms.
It's likely, however, that people doesn't know that the interior of the Marina facility was a prefabricated interior for police departments. In the late 50s, when the old building was dismantled, the Mayor decided to build a prefab police station. This means that since 1988, when the main Pershing Square station was renewed, up until a month ago, the firemen had to work inside a police facility.
Conclusion and credits
The conclusion is clear: Tasos has been disliked for doing things which are correct and useful for a faction, but inconvenient for him. Without approval, no one is able to lead a faction. Without the support of the high ranked staff, who was fired after committing illegal actions, he couldn't keep up for long. Despite the fact that he hasn't shown a good image (he was arrested by a police member during his leadership after all), his effort has certainly helped the institution. I hope that the new commissioner, following the steps of Tasos, can give the LSFMD a new, glorious life.
Luke Marcello
Special thanks go towards Tasos Greco, again, for his availability and his willingness to tell his version of the facts to me, and therefore, the viewers of this editorial. I also would like to give special thanks towards my members, for the help they provided me with the interview. All photographs taken by the San Andreas News staff.
