As a Monroe Township Fire District No. 1 resident with more than 26 years of law enforcement experience, as well as a former union leader of one of New York State’s largest law-enforcement departments, I am somewhat baffled and totally taken back by this township’s recent decision to eliminate the positions of our paid firefighters. With two elementary schools in this district, construction still going on and the town still growing by leaps and bounds, how can township officials even think about eliminating staff to save a little bit of money?
While the decision to eliminate the staffing of our paid career firefighters in an attempt to save money by replacing them with volunteer firefighters may sound like a good idea, it is the most unsafe thing one could do. More importantly, is it really about money? Under questioning, fire officials stated they have the money in the budget to continue coverage. They also announced that they were reducing fire taxes as well and keeping the money in reserve-funding accounts. So the whole issue doesn’t appear to be a budgetary one but rather an unknown personal agenda by a select few in power.
Don’t get me wrong. Volunteers serve a major purpose here in town and do a commendable and very professional job, although they are not readily available 24 hours a day and aren’t mandated to volunteer.
Fire officials admitted under questioning that they cannot guarantee a fire truck being able to respond to a fire during the day once these changes are made on March 5. They further admitted under questioning that response times would ultimately be slower than national fire standards mandate, while they depended more on mutual assistance from surrounding communities and other firefighters from across our town. Family commitments, work requirements and the economy in general have ultimately restricted or curtailed individuals from volunteering on a steady basis. Many volunteers aren’t even able to drive the fire truck or respond and are utilized for other purposes in the case of an emergency.
If our township’s fire officials are looking to save money, the first place to start should be with bloated middle management. In this case, eliminate the salary of our volunteer fire commissioners. If you are volunteering for the position, then great, you don’t need to volunteer and get paid. If you’re volunteering for the money, then you’re volunteering for the wrong reason. There is no reason for so many commissioners to be on the payroll or to receive benefits. The entire New York City fire department only has one commissioner, and he watches over nearly 20,000 members.
Or they could eliminate the purchase of a new brushfire truck valued at $170,000 — we already have one and could utilize the services of the other departments for this piece of equipment.
More importantly, if this issue is a legitimate one, then instead of deciding the outcome behind closed doors, why not have a public hearing or an open referendum? Let all the facts come out. Why not openly discuss this in a proper forum and not with a select few people in attendance?
I believe that by doing everything behind those closed doors, or with little or no notice of what is transpiring, officials aren’t being totally forthcoming about why they decided to do what they did.
Laying off, terminating or otherwise doing away with two of this town firefighters is a labor-management issue. But when it involves the safety of our residents, it becomes a public issue.
Residents should not sit idle while the decision to eliminate paid firefighters is being made. There is no price tag that can be applied to the public’s safety.
Playing Russian roulette with the health and safety of our township residents cannot and should not be tolerated.
Do we really need to wait for something to happen before officials realize they made the wrong decision?
John Schiavone
Monroe