NEWPORT BEACH : Firefighters Disavow Fund Solicitation

Firefighters in Newport Beach are distancing themselves from a Fullerton-based group that has been soliciting residents by phone to buy tickets for a variety show billed as a benefit for disabled firefighters.

The Newport Beach firefighters’ union joined fire departments in Fullerton and Orange in raising questions about the group, which is identifying itself in calls as the Foundation for Disabled Firefighters Inc.

Capt. Ray Pendleton, a spokesman for the Newport Beach Firefighters Assn., said his members have never heard of the foundation and are not involved with the group’s planned fall show.

“We’re not involved in any way,” Pendleton said. “We have no idea who they are.”

Repeated calls to the foundation this week were not returned. However, the group is registered with the state as a nonprofit organization and has applied to Newport Beach and the county for necessary permits to solicit funds for charity.

Nevertheless, firefighters’ groups throughout Orange County have an informal agreement not to solicit charity funds in each other’s cities to avoid bombarding potential donors with requests. The foundation’s tactics violate this policy, said Richard Alarcon, president of the Orange City Firefighters Assn.

Despite the foundation’s ignoring this informal policy, the Newport Beach Revenue Department plans to approve and issue the group’s solicitation permit this month.

County officials, however, have asked the group to give a more detailed financial profile of its activities. Its permit application, which was filed in December, has “been held up,” said Roni Patterson, a clerk with county personnel. “We’re waiting for some additional financial information.”

A telemarketing firm working for the foundation is planning to call residents in Newport Beach and throughout Orange County, asking them to buy tickets for the foundation’s fund-raising variety show in October. A spokesman for the telemarketing firm, United Liberty Productions Inc., was unavailable for comment.

The foundation notified the Newport Beach Fire Department last Friday by facsimile that it would be conducting phone solicitations in the city.

The foundation is said to have been founded by a retired Fullerton battalion chief, Bob Greenwell, who set up the group Disabled Firefighters of California in the 1980s. Greenwell died a few years ago, and the current Foundation for Disabled Firefighters is said to be a spin-off of his group, according to Fullerton Fire Chief Ron Coleman.

“He was a very well-intentioned man,” Coleman said of Greenwell, adding, however, that he believed the former firefighter’s intent was no longer represented by the group.

“I have no idea what they do. We have tried to distance ourselves from them as much as possible,” he said.

The Newport Beach firefighters’ group said it does not hold variety shows for fund raising and rarely solicits over the telephone. Typically, its members conduct door-to-door campaigns or ask for donations in busy community centers such as shopping malls, Pendleton said.