By Eric Stirgus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

EAST POINT, Ga. — East Point fire Chief Rosemary Cloud is fighting the city's effort to suspend her for what it says was the chief's unwillingness to make budget cuts and for granting media interviews, according to her attorney.

The five-day suspension without pay imposed Sept. 2, is "frivolous," said the attorney, George O. Lawson.

Lawson said Cloud suggested budget cuts. He also objected to the complaint about Cloud speaking to reporters, saying he knows of no policy that prevents Cloud from talking to the media.

"She hadn't done anything to warrant being suspended," Lawson said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "In fact, she ought to be praised."

Cloud is working while she waits for an appeal hearing before city officials, Lawson said. No date is set. Mayor Joseph Macon and a city spokeswoman could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

City leaders laid off 48 firefighters and closed two of its five fire stations in June to fill a $5 million budget gap. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in August that an analysis of city records showed the Fire Department routinely failed to meet national standards for timely responses to fire and medical emergency calls. Cloud said in an interview that the layoffs were difficult but necessary. The chief said it was too early to determine how the layoffs would affect response times.

Lawson suspects city officials objected to Cloud speaking to the AJC for that article. The suspension notice does not explain what interviews city officials objected to Cloud granting, Lawson said.

The dispute comes as city leaders and state insurance officials investigate why several fire hydrants were inoperable Sunday when East Point firefighters tried to battle a fire in a vacant apartment building.

Residents say firefighters tried five hydrants before finding one that worked properly three blocks away --- more than a quarter-mile. No injuries were reported.

Macon said in a telephone interview Tuesday he thinks long-standing water pressure problems were responsible for the hydrant problems.

Like many older cities, East Point, population about 42,000, has aged infrastructure. The 121-year-old city started a $54 million campaign in 2006 to improve its water and sewer systems.

"The city of East Point has an older [water and sewer] system," the mayor said. "A lot of these lines have been in the ground 50, 60, dare I say, 100 years."

East Point is also under a consent decree with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to improve its sewer system, with a deadline of 2010 to complete most of the work.

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution