Minneapolis Likely to Oust Lesbian Fire Chief

"Both of those women had a lot to lose by suing the city and would only have done it if it was absolutely necessary," said John A. Klassen, the attorney for Cornell, Mullen and Elondo Wright, 39, a black male firefighter who recently filed a civil rights lawsuit against Bleskachek, Maresca and the city.

Wright's lawsuit alleges that he was harassed after he was transferred to an all-female fire company overseen by Maresca in 2002. He says Maresca forced him to train long hours late into the night while other firefighters were relaxing, and he alleges that from 1999 to 2005, women supervisors gave him 86 informal disciplinary write-ups, while four male supervisors gave him a total of four. Bleskachek was Maresca's supervisor at the time.

"We're battling the public perception that where there's smoke there's fire," said Bleskachek's attorney, Jerry Burg. "But Bonnie was really a small player in the story of Elondo Wright."

The Minneapolis Fire Department had no women firefighters until 1986, though it was under a federal consent decree to increase diversity. When Bleskachek joined in 1989, she said women faced constant harassment by men.

She is credited with aggressively recruiting women and co-founding the Minnesota Women Fire Fighters Association, which helps women prepare for the entrance test. The national group Women in the Fire Service says 70 of the 447 Minneapolis firefighters are female, the highest percentage of any major department in the country.

Even Bleskachek's critics admire her firefighting and management skills.

"She's a very bright, competent individual who train-wrecked her career by letting personal relationships and abuse of her office cloud what could have been an enormously promising career," Klassen said.

Tom Thornberg, president of Minneapolis Fire Fighters Local 82, said union members are grateful to Bleskachek for convincing the city to establish minimum staffing levels, which it had never had.

National and local gay rights groups declined to comment on the situation but said Minneapolis is considered a leader in gay rights. Klassen says pride in this reputation backfired.

"The city's desire to hold itself out as a diverse, accepting community plays a role in this whole tragedy," he said. "The mayor didn't really look at his candidate well enough to see if she could handle it."