May 22, 2013
I would also like to make it clear that I don't mean to demean or diminish the valuable service that people such as Mr. Somerhalder have provided in the service of their communities but simply that when the rubber hits the road I will side with supporting the livelihood of young men and women who have chosen the fire service as their profession. If there is money to spare then a reserve program is definitely a viable resource to fund, but in the meantime the fulltime staffing that has been made necessary by the volume calls in this area is a basic fundamental need in order to provide a viable service level to the community.
Blues, Brews & BBQs
May 22, 2013 | 171 views | 0 
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May 22, 2013
Ok I'll bite just so that some facts can be brought forward and people can take what they want from it. Yes the fire district was in dire straights and asked the community to assist with a revenue enhancement in order to maintain and improve the level of service provided. The district did not receive the requested revenue enhancement. Firefighters were laid off, stations were closed, and auxiliary programs/activities were cut. Unfortunately for Mr. Somerhalder his role in the district as a paid/volunteer fell under the umbrella of some of those auxiliary services. The district admin as well as the board chose to cut the reserve force en lieu of reducing the full time staffing any further. At the same time an effort was being made to obtain federal funding through the FEMA SAFER Grant program. Months later after the reserve funds had already been exhausted and services were cut the district was awarded the Safer Grant. The terms of the SAFER Grant were specific and in some respects inflexible. Specifically what the money could be spent on....it was for fulltime staffing. It could not be used to support a reserve force, it could not be used for equipment (PPE, apparatus, etc.), and it could not be used for hiring volunteers or training them which are all costs that the district finances still will not support. There is certainly money available but it is in short supply and the district/board made the decision to put the money into fulltime 24 hour staffing, a known resource service level. So in short the financial crisis still exists for the fire district. The SAFER Grant will eventually run out and it's likely that a revenue enhancement will still be needed. At the risk of offending some folks, what would you have them do? Spend their tax payers money on a reserve force of weekend warriors that want to come out and play firefighter that may or may not be available at the time an incident or should they spend it on a known commodity that is a constant? I'm sorry Gil, you're mixing apples and oranges and only including the facts that suit your argument. I'm a fulltime Captain with 15 years dedicated to this place and I DID NOT make 100k last year. And $15 per hour simply is not the only cost associated with your former part time employment. There's the cost of equipment(PPE), training etc. for the volunteers/POCs. The reserve program was intended to augment the district resources available and unfortunately it was cut when the "reserve" money ran out. The SAFER Grant can't go toward that, but since Dave mentioned Measure S.....that money if it was approved by the voters could have gone toward maintaining a reserve component to the operational model.