Fire Dept. Discussions

Journal story.....

MIDDLETOWN

Vice mayor: Time to end fire discussion

MIDDLETOWN —
After several months of an in-depth look of fire department operations, the city’s vice mayor said it’s time to move on.

Since August 2012, there have been three council work sessions to discuss the operations of the city’s fire department. Vice Mayor Dan Picard said despite hundreds of hours of staff time spent reviewing options, “I have not heard of any cost-saving measures and are implemented feasibly.”

“I think it’s time for this discussion to come to an end,” he said. “If we’re having this discussion because the city is short of money this year and we’re looking at cutting everybody back, then that’s fine. I’m always in favor at looking at cost-saving measures. But if that’s the motivation for what we’re doing here, then this discussion needs to take place as part of the budgetary process and not this continuing attack on the fire department.”

OK, WE HAVE A MAJOR ISSUE HERE WITH REGARD TO THE FIRE DEPT MANPOWER COSTS PLACING A STRAIN ON THE BUDGET AND, SURPRISE!!!! WE HAVE A GROUP OF CITY LEADERS WHO CAN'T MAKE A DECISION NOR FORM A CONSENSUS ON THE SUBJECT AT HAND. IF YA CAN'T MAKE DECISIONS LIKE THIS PEOPLE, WHAT GOOD ARE YOU? WHY DON'T YOU SHOW THE SAME ENERGETIC COMMITMENT TO THIS AS YOU DO YOUR LITTLE DOWNTOWN AREA? YOU DON'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY ISSUES SPENDING MONEY OR MAKING DECISIONS DOWN THERE, DO YOU.

COMMENTS FROM JOE MULLIGAN......

Councilman Joe Mulligan said the topic “is difficult,” but was “happy we put the time and effort in” with having the work sessions.

“The hard part comes in how do we pay for (the department) now and in the future,” he said.

“Now is an appropriate time to try to figure out is this the best way to do business and is there any other method out there that would help us keep a professional fire department,” Mulligan said. “I recognize the makeup of our community, and I would respectfully ask staff and council too keep an open mind about what’s possible and we’ll work through those budget solutions when we get there. But I’d rather do it now than doing in the crunch of budget time.”

DID HE SAY ANYTHING PERTINENT HERE, OTHER THAN TO REPEAT THE OBVIOUS?

After the meeting, Picard told The Journal the review of the fire department had been prompted by a couple of council members, who he would not identify, and “prodding from several prominent citizens” who believe the department is too large with too little to do

YEAH, WELL DANNY, YOU CAN TELL YOUR "PROMINENT CITIZENS" THAT UNLESS THEY HAVE CALLED THE FIRE DEPT ON OCCASION AND WATCHED THEM IN ACTION, IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION, THEY DON'T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT THEIR IMPORTANCE TO SOME OF US. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN THAT APPRECIATE THEIR RESPONSE TO A VERY SERIOUS EVENT IN THEIR LIVES.......LIKE A HEART ATTACK OR A SEIZURE. NEVER KNOW, THESE SAME "PROMINENT CITIZENS" MAY HAVE A NEED FOR THEIR SERVICE AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT. THEN WHAT WILL THEIR OPINION BE OF THE FIRE DEPT AFTER THEY HELP SAVE THEIR LIVES?

“The public has this perception of the fire department that these are guys that sit at the fire house all day, sleep all night and drive to Marsh to pick up their lunch. And that’s obviously that’s going on,” Picard said. “They’re extremely busy.”

THEN "THE PUBLIC" NEEDS TO EXPERIENCE A LIFE ALTERING EVENT AND CALL THEM FOR HELP AND THEY WILL QUICKLY CHANGE THEIR TUNE. ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE FIRE DEPT WILL BE LOOKED AT AS BEING NEEDED.....GUARANTEED.

“I’ve been on council for 3½ years now and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people criticizing our fire department, mostly from people within the city and people on this council. And it boggles my mind,” he said

YOU AIN'T GONNA HEAR IT FROM THIS HOUSEHOLD. THESE GUYS HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL AND ARE A RARE BRIGHT SPOT WITHIN CITY GOVERNMENT. THAT'S MORE THAN I CAN SAY ABOUT THE MAJORITY OF THE CITY GOV. OPERATION.

“This committee was formed to see how the fire department was doing. Chief (Steve) Botts was assigned the task to comparing us to like cities … and we came out smelling like a rose,” Nichols said. “We do it better and cheaper than anybody else.”

THEN, IF THEY DO IT CHEAPER AND BETTER, PERHAPS THE CITY NEEDS TO QUIT BEATING UP THE FIRE DEPT. AND START CUTTING SOME OF THE MIDDLE MANAGEMENT IN THE CITY BUILDING WHERE PAPER-PUSHERS ABOUND. HOW ABOUT CUTTING SOME OF THE EXHORBATANT SALARIES IN SOME OF THESE HIGH LEVEL PUBLIC POSITIONS? CITY LEADERS ARE ENAMORED WITH FED FREEBIES LIKE HUD MONEY. ANY FED FREEBIES OUT THERE TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY SERVICES LIKE THE FIRE DEPT? FIRE/POLICE/UTILITIES/INFRASTRUCTURE AND ROADS ARE THE BASICS. SHOULDN'T THEY BE THE MOST SAFE WITHIN ANY CITY BUDGET? IF YOU CAN'T SUPPLY THE BASICS TO THE PEOPLE, YOU ARE SPENDING TOO MUCH ON THE FLUFF AND EXTRA CURRICULARS.

I agree with Vet on some of the things he said, wait till the "prominent people" need the services What would they rather spend "their" money on this is also an issue for people moving in to our town to have a fire dept. second to none. They want to control council to get what they want. It's time to tell them we no longer want them controling things. You know who they are. I'm glad Judy enjoys being their puppet, the same for the rest of council. Like was said it's easy spending other people's money. I have the upmost respect for our firemen and women and our police officers

While all your points may be valid, the opinion that the public should stop "wasting" time with research and that we should leave the fire dept. alone calls your objectivity into question.  We get it -- you believe in your job, are probably well-trained, you like your job (and all the perks), etc.  But don't expect the public, in the year 2013 when we are doing more with less, to have the same faith in the arguments made by public unions that you do.