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.

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

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.

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

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.

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...

Vivian,

Let me reread my posts.......................

Yep, just as I thought, I never once mentioned an increase in the fire departments budget. That was your information. Did it increase? If you say so I'll believe you.

On the other hand, YOU mentioned increased salaries and benefits. Once more I'll ask you a direct question. What increased salary and benefit did Middletown fire fighters receive?

"Hmmm...at the last council meeting you requested $60,000 for a truck." You must think I'm Chief Botts. I can guarantee you that I am not Chief Botts. With that being said, I didn't request $60,000. The department did. Please explain how the department's request for money for a vehicle translates into increased salaries and benefits.

Have fire fighters received a pay raise in those 14 years? Yes we did. However, fire fighters haven't had a raise in approximately 6 years and may not get one in the next couple of years. Of course our insurance premiums HAVE increased and fire fighters agreed to remove it from our contract and give the city more control over the cost.

Step increases? Yes, less senior fire fighters have received step increases once they meet city mandated standards. Most members of the department are at the top step of our pay range and did not get any step increase.

Because a budget increases doesn't mean fire fighters are reaping the benefits. It could have been due to medical supplies, fuel supplies, safety gear, uniforms, etc. going up in price.

Ashkicker

Vivian,

How does the amount of fire fighters employed have anything to do with individual salaries and benefits?

One more time I'll give this a try.

What increased salaries and benefits were you referring to in your original post? Don't cloud the issue with requests for new (used) vehicles, amount of fire fighters employed or overall budgets.

You know, something like more vacation days (didn't happen), 2% raise (didn't happen) or bonuses for saving lives (again, didn't happen).

One of the things that did happen was the Chief limited when personnel could use their compensatory time off. That will save the city money. Too be perfectly honest, the Union opposes the Chief's plan and have fought it. It is a change in department policy that is decades old.

Bottom line, I would like specific monetary values and benefits we have received.

Ashkicker

Viv baby..........................still waiting.

Ashkicker

It seems that Vivian's question is a simple one.

In the year 2000 how many people were employed?
In the year 2014 how many people are employed?
Between 2000 and 2014 how many people received step increases?
Between 2000 and 2014 what was the dollar amount annually of step increases that people received?

It also seems that modest cost of living increases and fringe benefits are really not the issue. An examination of the cost of step increases is needed.

Vivian,

Disrespectful?????

A term of endearment vs. posting misinformation about a group of individuals? I’ll take the term of endearment.

Happy? Absolutely! All I was looking for was truthful information.

Perplexed,

I don’t know the exact number of employees but I will research that and the number of employees getting step increases. I will post that information here.

In the meantime, here is the breakdown for step increases for the last six years:

Step A - $45,071.56      (Entry level salary)
Step B - $47,194.12      $2122.56 or a 4.7% increase
Step C - $49,409.43      $2215.31 or a 4.7% increase
Step D - $52,999.37      $3589.94 or a 7.3% increase
Step E - $57,453.75      $4454.38 or a 8.4% increase
Step F – $60,152.60      $2698.85 or a 4.7% increase

To advance to Step B the employee must have “passed a written test, to be prepared by the Chief of the Division of Fire, regarding familiarity with the City of Middletown, specifically streets and landmarks.”

To advance to Step C the employee must have “received state certification as a paramedic.” (This is a moot requirement because ALL employees must be state certified paramedics before their first day on the job.)

There is no performance requirement to advance to Step D.

To advance to Step E the employee must have “completed training and received Division of Fire certification for operation of pumper trucks.”

To advance to Step F the employee must have “completed training and received Division of Fire certification for operation of an aerial apparatus.”

From the Collective Bargaining Agreement:

"SALARY ADJUSTMENT The salary of each employee shall be reviewed annually or otherwise as herein provided by the Fire Chief for the purpose of determining which employee shall be entitled to a step increase. All of his personnel records, performance and length of service shall be considered in making recommendations with major emphasis placed on the evaluation of services rendered. On the recommendation of the Fire Chief, the City Manager may advance an employee at the time of such review until the maximum step has been reached."

I have known at least one employee that never advanced past Step D and at least one employee that had their step increase delayed until they passed the required performance level.

Before you ask, I have no idea why the disparity in percentages through the step program.

The city has not increased the ranks of fire fighters in several years. (The anomaly in 2012 was due to fire fighters being laid off and then rehired at a later date.) Fire fighters have been hired to replace retiring fire fighters. With that being said, the city saves money with the step program.

Here’s how the city saves money:

In a new hire’s first year, the city saves $15,081.04, the difference between Step A (entry level) and Step F (top paid retiree). In the second year, the city saves $12,958.48, the difference between Step B and Step F. In the third year, the city saves $10,743.17, the difference between Step C and Step F. In the fourth year, the city saves $7153.23, the difference between Step D and Step F. In the fifth and final year of savings, the city saves $2698.85, the difference between Step E and Step F.

Whenever an employee is getting a step increase, it is because they replaced a top paid fire fighter. That translates to a direct savings of $48,634.77 over five years. You have to include benefit costs also, i.e. – pension contribution, workers comp, etc. which pushes the total savings over $60,000. I have worked in other industry (non-union) where everybody gets paid the same to do the same job. If that practice where used in the fire fighting profession, the city would never see that $60k+ savings.

Any other questions?

Ashkicker

Step A - $45,071.56      (Entry level salary)
Step B - $47,194.12      $2122.56 or a 4.7% increase
Step C - $49,409.43      $2215.31 or a 4.7% increase
Step D - $52,999.37      $3589.94 or a 7.3% increase
Step E - $57,453.75      $4454.38 or a 8.4% increase
Step F – $60,152.60      $2698.85 or a 4.7% increase

These percentages are decent. Starting at 45 thou ain't too shabby either. Higher than most workers in private industry start out. 60 grand for a topped out salary? Not bad either. Might achieve that as a technician in R&D, in a large corporation like P&G or International Paper after 25 years if you attained the top raise percentage each year. As mentioned earlier, normally looking at .5 to 2-3% each year on raises now when, in earlier times, one could see 3% as a minimum raise. Never heard of a 7.3% or an 8.4% increase for worker bees in any company. This percentage level is withheld for manager levels.

Question:

Do fire department people pay into their retirements, similar to employee contributions into their IRA in private industry, while working? Do they have payroll deductions for dental and medical premiums each pay period, again, like private industry? IE, do they share the cost with the city for benefit premiums like most companies require nowadays?

Thanks in advance for your response.