YOUNGSTOWN — Law Director Jeff Limbian said a no-confidence vote by the firefighters union against fire Chief Barry Finley was done without members having all of the facts.

In a six-page letter issued late Friday, Limbian wrote: “The information offered to the members of the union was grossly inaccurate. Prior to being asked to be a part of such a vote, the union members were not given the opportunity to have a full airing of the issues highlighted in this response. The administration maintains complete confidence in Chief Barry Finley.”

In the letter, Limbian is critical of Charlie Smith, the union’s president, contending the no-confidence vote “was not the fire union speaking, but that Charlie Smith was venting personal animus against Chief Finley.”

Limbian also wrote that Smith “has worked to denigrate and devalue the qualifications of fire Chief Barry Finley.”

Smith has repeatedly said he has no personal animosity toward Finley or is bothered — as Limbian contends in his letter — that Brown chose Finley over him to be fire chief.

Smith said he wants what’s best for the department and Finley has failed to deliver.

In a 35-page report on Dec. 4, the union gave a no-confidence vote to Finley. The vote was 90-17 against the chief.

The report states the union has “lost all confidence in fire Chief Barry Finley.”

The document states: “Poor communication, absent plans, indecisiveness and even a threatening work environment have left Youngstown Professional Fire Fighters (the union) in doubt of Finley’s competency as fire chief. Throughout his term, we have contended with budget mismanagement, a reduction in firefighters and fire trucks, training issues and a failure to adequately address safety concerns. Public safety and firefighter safety have been threatened in addition to overall mismanagement and lack of leadership.”

Limbian wrote that the no-confidence language is “hauntingly similar to the reasoning of” other no-confidence petitions from different unions throughout the country.

“Unions are routinely utilizing the tool of a ‘no-confidence’ vote to attempt to gain a tactical advantage in the neverending push and pull between unions and administrations,” he wrote.

Finley and the firefighters union have had several contentious issues for more than a year that have escalated in recent months.

In addition to the no-confidence vote, the two have clashed over the closing of the North Side station, and the union and the city are in mediation over the plan to reduce the number of battalion chiefs from six to three through attrition. One battalion chief retired earlier this month.

The city agreed to upgrade the department’s radio equipment last week at an estimated cost of $285,000 as the two sides were heading to binding arbitration on the issue. The system is expected to be in place late next year. The union has been concerned about the equipment for more than two years.