Well Ashkicker

Are you telling me that from 2000 to 2014, the police budget has increased $2.6 million or 28 percent, while the fire budget has gone from $7 million to $9 million, or 30 percent is not a true statement?

Hmmm...at the last council meeting you requested $60,000 for a truck.

However you never said a word on this blog as City Hall gave away $50,000 of upgrades on the Bank One deal...

Ashkicker
I have not researched the yearly salary records of City Hall, Police or the Fire Department. Records show that the Fire and Police Budgets continue to increase while the revenues and population of Middletown continue to decline.

 From 2000 to 2014, the police budget has increased $2.6 million or 28 percent, while the fire budget has gone from $7 million to $9 million, or 30 percent.

Vivian,

Still waiting for your info on the increased salaries and benefits that fire fighters have gotten lately. I don't mind your posting about fire fighters, good or bad, as long as it's accurate.

Ashkicker

Ok ashkicker.....

First Platoon:

6 management positions (Deputy Chief-Captain-Lieutenants) to 18 firefighters- Ratio of worker to management- 3:1- doable

Second Platoon:

5 Managers to 18 workers-Similar to First Platoon

Third Platoon:

5 Bosses and 19 workers. Very doable from a management standpoint I would imagine.

Overall, it looks like you have a 3:1/4:1 ratio. Surely we can look at a minimum of 5:1 on manpower, can't we?

"Captain and Lieutenants are responsible for the daily activities at the station, managing personnel and paperwork"

Again something like a 3:1/ 4:1 count. Should be very doable for a manager to oversee the activities of 3 or 4 people. By your numbers, I still say the department is top heavy.

"Officers are a promoted position that lead the company on a daily basis"

Speaking of promotions.....awfully hard to justify promotions at this time, I would imagine, when the department isn't given enough money to retain the lower echelon. Would send a bad message to retain that practice until the department gets a tad bit more healthy financially, right?

"Officers are a promoted position that lead the company on a daily basis. Could we remove Lieutenants and still function? Yes. Can you drive your car with three good tires and one flat tire? Yes, but it wouldn't drive as well. Same principle."

Oh, I think some give management way too much importance to the overall operation. Could probably lose some manager positions, spread out the duties of the management positions eliminated and still not overload the remaining people. Even if they are overloaded, they can join the rest of us in a daily dose of too much to handle. Many do it everyday.

Working shorthanded and, at the same time, given more to do is a very common practice in the private industry sector nowadays. It is happening right now in my work group. We lost a position due to the death of a technician, but that position was not replaced......but the work has increased since a new boss has taken over. Didn't use to be so but since companies have found that overloading the few rather than hiring the correct number of workers to accomodate the workload is beneficial to them financially. Most don't care if it burns out the worker bees in quick fashion. Never did. The new working environment (since the 80's) doesn't consider the stress level of the average Joe worker. If ya can't hack it, get out and we'll find another mule to carry the load mentality by most company's upper echelon. Just glad I have 4 more years and not starting out like the young people are now. I feel sorry for them. They will never know what it felt like, long ago, to be appreciated once in a while....or even acknowledged on the job. Enough rambling.

"Any more questions?" Nope. Thank you for your time.

Okay VV, here we go ---

I believe current numbers are as follows -

First platoon has 24 personnel
   1 Deputy Chief
   1 Captain
   4 Lieutenants
   18 Fire Fighters

Second Platoon has 23 personnel
   1 Deputy Chief
   1 Captain
   3 Lieutenants
   18 Fire Fighters

Third Platoon has 24 personnel
   1 Deputy Chief
   1 Captain
   3 Lieutenants
   19 Fire Fighters

An engine company consists of three personnel, a Captain or Lieutenant, a driver and a fire fighter. A medic consists of two fire fighters.

Captain and Lieutenants are responsible for the daily activities at the station, managing personnel and paperwork. One Captain is responsible for the Haz-mat program, one is in charge of safety equipment, one does all the reporting to the state and the fourth is a 40 hour employee in charge of EMS and training.

Officers never go out and "drive around". Leaving an engine company with two personnel puts that company out of service. The officer's job on an engine company is to go in the structure and extinguish the fire.

Officers are a promoted position that lead the company on a daily basis. Could we remove Lieutenants and still function? Yes. Can you drive your car with three good tires and one flat tire? Yes, but it wouldn't drive as well. Same principle.

The engine goes with the medic whenever dispatch sends a medic unit that could encounter a patient that could require more care than what two medic can administer. Probably 85-90% of those runs turn out not to need the additional personnel and the engine company is released. Better to have the personnel on the scene and not have to wait a couple of minutes when a patient really needs the additional care. Management has been working on ways to reduce the number of times engine companies respond. If the medic on the engine company rides with the medic unit, the engine company is out of service. A medic call could last up to an hour and a half and that would but an engine company out of service way too long. No state mandate.

Any more questions?

Ashkicker

Middletown's problems are bloated overhead and incompetent city leaders, and council members that don't have a clue associated with oversight. Lethal combination which killed the city. Toxic.

This is a ridiculous discussion.

Many of the number to be laid off were hired from a federal grant. When the grant expired, they could either pay from city funds they don't have., or make cuts. The city will be in red by $ Mm has not made serious cuts or structured itself properly in decades.

If the city was growing, paving streets, and had a massive surplus, the matter will be resolved. Well, the city is failing and in decline. To appease the fire fighters, the city sold Weatherwax.

The money isn't there, volunteers would be the answer or patr-timers,but the union wants numbers to go with a natural advancement path, just like all unions. The city will work it out, even if it reduced the rainy day fund to 10%/

.

Thank you for the reply ashkicker. I have some questions/observations from your information.

11 Lieutenents are listed above. You mention shifts and platoons and that each engine company has three bosses. How many people are in a platoon? How many people constitutes an engine company? I am trying to find out if the fire department is set up like the Public Works department in the city building......IE

The last time I participated in a city/citizen type meeting was years ago. In that meeting, they passed out some information pertaining to the manning of the Public Works Department. It showed that there was a Director of Public Works and several layers of management including a "working supervisor" to oversee three equipment operators and an admin. That scenario almost allows for a 1:1 ratio of worker to manager. That is unacceptable and should never happen.....anywhere.

Could you tell us what the ratio of worker (actual firefighter/medic in truck and out in the field) to manager (IE- Deputy Chief, Captain, Lieutenant) is in the fire department. If it is close to a 1:1, 2:1, or 3:1 ratio, it is excessive and IMO, there needs to be an elimination of manager positions and a higher body count of worker in your department.

What does a captain or lieutenant do during a typical shift? Do they do paperwork all shift? Do they get in a car and drive around the city doing "administrative things"? Do they actually don a mask and help the "worker bees" man the fire? Could we eliminate some lieutenant positions and still function? Why the need for a Deputy Chief, a captain and so many lieutenants for a three shift/platoon operation? Seems a tad bit top heavy to me.

middiemom brought up a valid question and our family has had a fire truck dispatched along with the medic to take the wife to the hospital. I believe you have answered this before but I have forgotten your response. Why do they send a fire truck with the medic on a medical run? Can't the medic on the fire truck ride with the medic unit on the run and just bring one vehicle, saving money? Is this state mandated perhaps?

Thanks in advance for you response.
ashkicker:

"The question to be asked is if public safety is being cut because of a lack of money or the city's desire to put more money in the "rainy day fund"."

Reword this to say "the city's desire to put more money into their downtown dreams, support the "friends of city hall" and to cater to the S. Main St. people" Not only are you safety people being thrown under the bus, the entire city has been ignored and left to fend for themselves outside of the immediate downtown and S. Main St. area.

There are three shifts or platoons. Each works every third day. First Platoon, Second Platoon and Third Platoon. Each platoon needs a boss, or Deputy Chief. There are currently three engine companies in the city. Each engine company has a boss, Captain or Lieutenant. Every engine company has three bosses (three platoons = three bosses) plus an additional Lieutenant to fill in for vacancies. Those three bosses consist of one captain and two lieutenants. The fourth captain is in charge of training and works a 40 hour schedule. Those officers are promoted from a competitive test.

The question to be asked is if public safety is being cut because of a lack of money or the city's desire to put more money in the "rainy day fund".

Do you find it strange that residents in the north end of town (that have been in the city for YEARS) already lost their engine company and are about to lose their medic unit while the newly annexed land on the east side of town continues to enjoy an engine company?

Volunteers? Right. Towns and villages with volunteer departments are having a hard time filling their needs. How many people are willing to risk their lives to help others? Not many. Lets see a show of hands of posters on this board who are going to run to the city building for their volunteer application. I would advise everybody to stand back because acclaro will be busting down the doors to be first in line. After all, if Uncle Dave could do it, it must not be THAT hard!

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

Updated: 4:51 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, 2014 | Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014

Will a last-minute deal save firefighting jobs?

Middletown, union continue to talk in order to save jobs with little impact to the city’s budget.

By Michael D. Pitman

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN —

City and fire union leaders hope an 11th hour deal can be hammered out to avoid laying off 11 firefighters less than two weeks from now.

A potential deal between the parties could involve incorporating part-time firefighters into the Middletown Division of Fire, which at present is totally full-time, union officials said. Meanwhile, city officials have refused to talk publicly about specific details of any potential compromise or agreement.

City Manager Doug Adkins made only a brief mention of the negotiations at City Council’s retreat last week at Atrium Medical Center.

“We have moved some brand new concepts on the floor and everybody, so far, has embraced them,” Adkins said.

Both sides have until 7 p.m. Aug. 16 to work out a deal that avoids layoffs.

City and union officials met Thursday morning to continue talk of a compromise. Adkins characterized the meeting as “productive” and stated another meeting is scheduled for Monday. He said he could “bring something to the executive session for (council) to discuss” as early as Tuesday’s council meeting.

“Both sides are working very hard to reach an acceptable agreement to avoid layoffs,” the city manager said. “There is a strong potential that we can avoid layoffs without adding to our budget, which I think is good if we can work things out.”

City officials are looking at fire department reductions to help fill gaps in the 2014 budget. Laying off 11 firefighters would save the city $920,514, according to Michelle Greis, city finance director. City officials could not make reductions to the fire department at the beginning of 2014 due to restrictions on grants the city received to pay for some fire staff positions.

The city is also weighing whether to close Station 84 on Tytus Avenue as another cost-cutting measure.

City officials had previously maintained that the fire union was unwilling to talk about concessions, which led to layoff notices being sent to 11 firefighters. Adkins said the fire union is “being incredibly reasonable” in this latest round of discussions.

“They have brought cuts in places we didn’t think they’d ever go,” he said.

But Greg Justice, a fire captain and president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 336, said it shouldn’t have taken this long or layoff notices for progress on negotiations to improve.

“For the citizens of this community that depend on our services, and for the firefighters that provide those services to them, it’s just unfortunate that it’s come to the 11th hour, and the firefighters, quite frankly, have been surprised by it,” Justice said. “It’s hard to pick up your firefighting gear and go somewhere else and start over.”

Middletown officials said last week the potential cuts do not make the city “unsafe,” but residents and Justice believe otherwise.

The layoffs were announced by the IAFF Local 336 on July 25. The notice stated that 15 firefighter positions will be eliminated — as well as the closure of Station 84 that services the northern neighborhoods of Middletown — by Aug. 16. Closing the station, laying off 11 firefighters and eliminating four other firefighter positions through attrition, could save about $1 million in the city’s budget.

It costs roughly $100,000 to employ and equip a firefighter, which four of those positions are funded via a federal staffing grant, and seven are funded by the general fund, according to fire Chief Steve Botts. Closing station 84, but keeping the utilities on while it’s unmanned, will save the city around $20,000, he said, and the savings is likely to double if the city mothballs the 1954-built station that is in need of significant repairs, such as its roof.

The union presented a plan that would call for no new costs and avoid layoffs, but the city didn’t accept that deal, Justice said. He said “there is a glimmer of hope” that if the union accepts a city proposal incorporating part-time firefighters through attrition that the 11 firefighters set to be laid off won’t be given pink slips in order to make room in the city budget.

The city of Middletown has cut, added and cut again from the front-line firefighting force over the past several years.

In 2010, there were 80 full-time staff in the Middletown Division of Fire, including 60 firefighters, according to the department’s budget. Two years later, the department, due to City Council budget cuts, staffed 51 firefighters while the officer-level staffing remained steady at 20. Six firefighters were added in 2013 thanks to a federal staffing grant, but that grant expires on Aug. 6.

The potential of firefighter cuts and the loss of a fire station has many residents in the city’s northern neighborhoods worried. Fire Station 84 is at the corner of Tytus Avenue and Jackson Street. It houses a fire truck and a reserve medic unit and is staffed by three personnel. There is also a three-story training facility in the back of the station.

“It is a concern because I live right around the corner (from the station),” said Heather Huf, who lives on Manchester Road near Maple Park. “It’s very scary if there were to be a fire or any kind of an emergency. It’s a big concern for the city.”

Brittnanny Fultz has lived on Webber Avenue since 2006 and is equally worried.

“My mom recently passed and there were a lot of times that if there hadn’t been a firehouse close, that the medics wouldn’t have gotten here as fast as they did,” she said. “It’s just going to put more pressure on them to get to who’s hurt the worst. It’s a matter of life and death.”

But Fultz has “faith that the economy will pick back up.”

Ben Highley, who lives a couple houses down from Fultz, said there’s seemingly “a broad lack of support” for the fire and police service.

“The lack of social services like this always serve to make us less safe,” he said. “I’m not happy about it. Those are the guys we’re telling our kids, ‘You want to grow up to be a hero, be a fireman, be a police officer so you an get laid off after 10 or 20 years on the force.’”

Riverview resident Jeffery Chandler called the cuts “a shame.”

“It concerns me a great deal,” he said. “At the council meetings, they have talked about it over and over and over, but there’s not been a way to get around the budget crisis of not having enough money to keep them all open.”

But loosing the neighborhood firehouse shouldn’t happen.

“This covers a great deal of area in this part of town. I just can’t see closing it … I just can’t agree with that,” Chandler said.

DEPARTMENT RUNS

2010

• 4 minutes, 56 seconds per call
• 8,158 emergency medical calls
• 992 fire calls
• 524 investigation/assistance calls

2011

• 4 minutes, 57 seconds per call
• 8,513 emergency medical calls
• 859 fire calls
• 1,137 investigation/assistance calls

2012

• 5 minutes, 15 seconds per call
• 8,400 emergency medical calls
• 969 fire calls
• 1,104 investigation/assistance calls

2013

• 5 minutes, 12 seconds per call
• 8,185 emergency medical calls
• 4,679* fire calls
• 1,369 investigation/assistance calls

2014**

• 5 minutes, 23 seconds per call
• 4,093 emergency medical calls
• 2,651* fire calls
• 499 investigation/assistance calls

*EMS crews began tracking engine company medical assists since Feb. 1, 2013. An engine responded to 3,884 calls in 2013 and 2,205 calls through June 30, 2014

**As of June 30, 2014

Source: city of Middletown

STAFFING

2010

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 5 captains
• 10 lieutenants
• 60 firefighters

2011

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 4 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 60 firefighters

2012

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 51 firefighters

2013

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 57 firefighters

2014

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 57* firefighters

*City documents show 15 fire personnel will be laid off in the fourth quarter. The Journal-News discovered that 11 firefighters received notices in late July they will be laid off as of Aug. 16 and the remaining four positions are currently unfilled.

Source: city of Middletown

BUDGET

Here is the city of Middletown Division of Fire’s budgets since 2010. The budget amounts from 2010 to 2013 represent money actually spent while the amounts for 2014 represent money that is budgeted:

2010

• Fire Administration: $225,996
• Fire Operations: $8,509,141
• Fire Prevention: $388,722
• Total: $9,123,859

2011

• Fire Administration: $225,319
• Fire Operations: $9,078,705
• Fire Prevention: $247,626
• Total: $9,551,650

2012

• Fire Administration: $225,249
• Fire Operations: $8,288,555
• Fire Prevention: $241,382
• Total: $8,755,186

2013

• Fire Administration: $228,261
• Fire Operations: $8,322,977
• Fire Prevention: $237,400
• Total: $8,788,638

2014

• Fire Administration: $236,793
• Fire Operations: $8,569,119
• Fire Prevention: $274,141
• Total: $9,080,053

Source: city of Middletown Finance Department

 

Dean,
I don't know where you get your information regarding AK but the Dearborn facility is union...UAW. Why would AK shift production when their objective is to increase their sales. Production cost wise AK and Dearborn have got to be very close. AK serves many Michigan customers and Dearborn serves Ohio and south customers. My guess is that they will shift which plant serves which customer to minimize freight cost. Unless AK goes bankrupt there is no concern that the Middletown plant will shut down.

Has anyone considered volunteer fire to fill the gap?

It seems like 90% of Fire/EMS calls are non emergency transport to the hospital or false alarms at the Projects anyway.