Mayor Joe Riley says that Councilman Jimmy Gallant is ‘misguided’ when he says that the mayor needs to keep them in the loop about what’s happening in the fire department.

Gallant refused to respond to those charges when I talked to him just before the noon broadcast. He did say however, that the mayor now “has to deal with disgruntled firefighters...how does he plan to do that?”

Gallant told me that several firefighters called him upset over the transfer of a few firefighters who spoke out against the chief.

CFD spokesman Mark Rupple said the transfers were necessary because of the promotions.

“It had nothing to do with retaliation” said Rupple.

Riley told me that this is about Gallant’s ego and that he and others who are using the deaths of nine firefighters as a ‘political football’ need to stop.