ELYRIA FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND
In an interview with Elyria Firefighters Local 424 Secretary Carl Mack he said that the Firefighters want to first thank the people of Elyria for their support. “The support has been overwhelming. It is clear to us that the citizens want station # 2 open and operating daily. We are getting numerous responses from citizens and business owners, especially those located nearby the recently closed 330 East Broad Street fire station, and also the Southeast portion of the city where initial emergency response times have been affected the greatest. Things we are hearing are: “how can the Mayor close a fire station”, “we need firemen”, “his precious parks are fine, we need police and fire”, along with others that we won’t repeat. The citizens are smart; they understand that fewer fire fighters, fewer fire engines, and fewer fire stations mean less fire protection. We hope the Mayor will hear their concerns and reconsider opening station # 2 very soon.”
Mack responded to the Mayor’s accusations that the Fire Department has not been able to stay within budget. “The Fire Chief submitted a realistic and honest budget of the financial requirements to operate the fire department with a minimum staffing level of 17 daily for the year. The Mayor continues to state that the Fire Chief is not staying in his budget. The Fire Chief’s budget is nearly exactly where he predicted it to be. It isn’t that the fire department can’t stay within the budget given; the reality is that the city won’t adequately fund the budget required to provide for safe and effective fire protection to the citizens of Elyria.” Mack said that the Firefighters stand behind their Fire Chief and his expertise; he said it is up to the city to find the funding and they say they can’t find it. “The Mayor makes it sound like the Fire Chief makes this stuff up. There are National standards to measure how your fire department stacks up and we fall short in nearly every area. The citizens deserve better than that and the Fire Chief is trying to make that happen.”
Many critics of the Fire Department point to the overtime issue, Mack said that the overtime is caused by the Mayor’s Office refusing to hire. “The number one need in the fire department is staffing without question, and the heart of the staffing problem is a result of not keeping pace on hiring. Since 1998 there have been 23 fire fighters that have left, and the city has only replaced 16. The Mayor has made up this shortfall by paying overtime and making Firefighters work their days off to provide fire protection instead of hiring, it seems pretty simple. We are receiving blame and undue criticism for overtime. There just aren’t enough bodies to overcome scheduling issues and the blame ultimately has to fall on the city, we do not control the hiring. The city decided years ago that 88 fire fighters are needed in the fire department. It is unrealistic to assume that 70 fire fighters can do the job of 88 day in and day out. The city has stated many times in the past that it is cheaper to pay the overtime than it is to hire, we believe that they are beyond that benefit and they need to begin the hiring process immediately."
Mack said that the Mayor’s Office should take a closer look within their own office when it comes to trimming the budget. “We didn’t see the 3 safety directors work overtime so they didn’t need to hire the 4th. It is frustrating for us to see the city investing in other areas when our need seems so obvious. Spending $100,000 to rehabilitate a house and not investing proper funding to safety seems to indicate to us that there are some priority issues. They can make all the excuses they want, but they have not provided adequate staffing and fire protection to the citizens and have paid overtime to make up staffing shortfalls for years.”
Mack said that the Mayor has claimed no cuts have been made within the Fire Department during his time as Mayor, Mack disagrees; “The fire department has suffered cuts, but the Mayor and the fire fighters disagree on what a cut is. How can you say that when you take fire apparatus out of service and reduce manpower that you aren’t making cuts? When you take away an employee’s days off and make them come to work so the citizens receive fire protection that the fire fighters aren’t taking cuts. Don’t tell us that we haven’t done our share when the Mayor has added a Safety Director position and replaced that position the last 3 times it was vacated.”
Who is closing Station #2? This question has gone back and forth with the Mayor saying that he did not close the station and the Firefighters saying that it was the Mayor who caused the closing. “The Mayor is telling the public that the Fire Chief closed the fire station not him. The administration gave the Fire Chief a directive to reduce daily staffing from 17 down to 14. The number 17 is supposed to be the minimum to be on duty occasionally due to uncontrolled circumstances. 17 people were never meant to be normal operating strength, and certainly not 14 for a city the size of Elyria. We operate 4 stations with 3 people on each fire engine and a ladder truck; it is not too hard to figure our how it closed or who closed it. Any reduction affects all the citizens. This is really much larger than a fire station closing. This is about fire service reduction to the entire city. How can you cover over 20 square miles of city the same when given less people, less fire trucks, and less stations and believe that the services won’t be hurt.”
Mack said that the Federal Grant that the City is applying for is a great step in the right direction. “This is a great first step in providing the fire department with much needed staffing and give the citizens improved service. We know there are concerns of overtime and increased staffing to meet the grant requirements. The federal government developed the grant to help departments like Elyria reach a level that the citizens need and deserve and meet the national standards and be safe. We know the problem is staffing and we’ve offered them a solution. The ball is in their court if we receive the grant.”
Mack responded to the Mayor’s accusations that the Fire Department has not been able to stay within budget. “The Fire Chief submitted a realistic and honest budget of the financial requirements to operate the fire department with a minimum staffing level of 17 daily for the year. The Mayor continues to state that the Fire Chief is not staying in his budget. The Fire Chief’s budget is nearly exactly where he predicted it to be. It isn’t that the fire department can’t stay within the budget given; the reality is that the city won’t adequately fund the budget required to provide for safe and effective fire protection to the citizens of Elyria.” Mack said that the Firefighters stand behind their Fire Chief and his expertise; he said it is up to the city to find the funding and they say they can’t find it. “The Mayor makes it sound like the Fire Chief makes this stuff up. There are National standards to measure how your fire department stacks up and we fall short in nearly every area. The citizens deserve better than that and the Fire Chief is trying to make that happen.”
Many critics of the Fire Department point to the overtime issue, Mack said that the overtime is caused by the Mayor’s Office refusing to hire. “The number one need in the fire department is staffing without question, and the heart of the staffing problem is a result of not keeping pace on hiring. Since 1998 there have been 23 fire fighters that have left, and the city has only replaced 16. The Mayor has made up this shortfall by paying overtime and making Firefighters work their days off to provide fire protection instead of hiring, it seems pretty simple. We are receiving blame and undue criticism for overtime. There just aren’t enough bodies to overcome scheduling issues and the blame ultimately has to fall on the city, we do not control the hiring. The city decided years ago that 88 fire fighters are needed in the fire department. It is unrealistic to assume that 70 fire fighters can do the job of 88 day in and day out. The city has stated many times in the past that it is cheaper to pay the overtime than it is to hire, we believe that they are beyond that benefit and they need to begin the hiring process immediately."
Mack said that the Mayor’s Office should take a closer look within their own office when it comes to trimming the budget. “We didn’t see the 3 safety directors work overtime so they didn’t need to hire the 4th. It is frustrating for us to see the city investing in other areas when our need seems so obvious. Spending $100,000 to rehabilitate a house and not investing proper funding to safety seems to indicate to us that there are some priority issues. They can make all the excuses they want, but they have not provided adequate staffing and fire protection to the citizens and have paid overtime to make up staffing shortfalls for years.”
Mack said that the Mayor has claimed no cuts have been made within the Fire Department during his time as Mayor, Mack disagrees; “The fire department has suffered cuts, but the Mayor and the fire fighters disagree on what a cut is. How can you say that when you take fire apparatus out of service and reduce manpower that you aren’t making cuts? When you take away an employee’s days off and make them come to work so the citizens receive fire protection that the fire fighters aren’t taking cuts. Don’t tell us that we haven’t done our share when the Mayor has added a Safety Director position and replaced that position the last 3 times it was vacated.”
Who is closing Station #2? This question has gone back and forth with the Mayor saying that he did not close the station and the Firefighters saying that it was the Mayor who caused the closing. “The Mayor is telling the public that the Fire Chief closed the fire station not him. The administration gave the Fire Chief a directive to reduce daily staffing from 17 down to 14. The number 17 is supposed to be the minimum to be on duty occasionally due to uncontrolled circumstances. 17 people were never meant to be normal operating strength, and certainly not 14 for a city the size of Elyria. We operate 4 stations with 3 people on each fire engine and a ladder truck; it is not too hard to figure our how it closed or who closed it. Any reduction affects all the citizens. This is really much larger than a fire station closing. This is about fire service reduction to the entire city. How can you cover over 20 square miles of city the same when given less people, less fire trucks, and less stations and believe that the services won’t be hurt.”
Mack said that the Federal Grant that the City is applying for is a great step in the right direction. “This is a great first step in providing the fire department with much needed staffing and give the citizens improved service. We know there are concerns of overtime and increased staffing to meet the grant requirements. The federal government developed the grant to help departments like Elyria reach a level that the citizens need and deserve and meet the national standards and be safe. We know the problem is staffing and we’ve offered them a solution. The ball is in their court if we receive the grant.”
posted by TMC NEWS at 4:16 PM
9 Comments:
I am not sure how they figure a budget for the year but how can one know how many fires or responses the fd is going to go to in year. Not to mention big fires that would need extra men and overtime. How can you really pinpoint an acurate budget when noone knows how the year is going to go. To say the fd is living beyond its means is crazy. They can not control the number of calls they need to respond to or have to call in extra men for in a year. How can you put a budget on someone's saftey???? DTedrow
Amazing tale of political BS. EFD needs a wakeup call. Stop using your current overtime system. Adopt one that works and SAVES THE CITY MONEY!!! You can do it! Stop being selfish and greedy. Do it for the love of the job, or get out. When you run fire calls for the money, you are putting more than your life at risk. You have your wallet in mind instead of public safety. You should be able to look at yourself every day in your uniform and say "I love this job. I would do it for free if I had too." THAT is true public service.
As far as city protection goes, better get used to using your resources. Other departments have already gotten used to realistic mutual aid. Quit whining that a call won't get answered. It will if you suck it up and ask your neighbors for mutual aid. EFD is too good to use mutual aid 99% of the time because nobody else does it "their" way. Nice way to help bolster support guys.
People of Elyria: Listen to your firefighters... They are the ones that will be there at 3 a.m. risking like and limb to save your house,possessions and loved ones or perhaps rescue you from a ugly situation. They speak from their hearts and are willing to risk it all to do there job. They only ask for one thing and one thing only: to be given the tools to do the job ie. manpower, trucks and equipment. The mayor and his people will not and they won't be the ones looking into your eyes or holding your loved ones. They are sincere in there ways. Stand behind them and push out the evil man in his plush office.
If they did it for free, it wouldnt be a job, but a hobby. A fire department, no matter where, should have to rely on mutual aid for day to day routine calls. Elyria does use mutual aid on fires. Are you mad because they dont call your department to come help or something?
Anybody investigate if any of the FFs called off "sick" intentionally this week to force station 2 to close? I've heard rumors of guys calling off then helping in the picket activities. I'd be nice to compare photos to any call of records which would be available through the Sunshine Law.
Tom--They arent stupid. If your sick, your sick, you stay home and rest. Those that had the day off that showed up were on approved comp. time.
Dave, you have no idea about what you're talking about. EFD calls Lorain regularly when they have a large incident and visa-versa. The problem with your thinking is, if Grace thinks that EFD can use Lorain or Avon any time they want then he is mistaken. They aren't there to cover his ass.
Pete, Avon
Pete from Avon.... Thanks again for your comments.
Ummmmm........ how many departments utilize automatic mutual aid. Even the professional fire journals advocate this practice.
Oops... did I just indicate that maybe there are other reasons. Hmmmmmmm.................
Pete,
Lorain FD has been hurting for a while too, but they don't carry the high-and-mighty-cry-when-I-don't-get-what-I-want attitude. On top of that, Lorain does use mutual aid. Lot's of it. They use it when they need to. They don't abuse it. Most fire departments use mutual aid on working structure fire calls. Gotta love the mentality. Grace should feel like other departments will back the city up. Because THEY WILL. Funny how the EFD was one of the LAST Lorain County Departments to sign the county MABAS agreement.
Let's get back to the issue. EFD overtime system is corrupt and broken. Fix it. Stop wasting taxpayer money!
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