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What is Your Agency Doing to Survive in Today's Political Climate? The First in a Series of Discussions
Today the fire and emergency services in this nation are facing the most serious funding and operational issues of several generations because we are Public Servants in Public Service agencies funded by tax payers who have become more and more upset by the lack of efficiency and effectiveness in their governments.
Our emergency services are facing loss of revenue, loss of staffing and rapidly facing the inability to deliver the services that are required by our communities in a way that provides safety in operations for the public and those who serve.
To survive:
We must remove ourselves from Partisan Politics and get deeply involved in grass roots politics.
We must remember that all politics are LOCAL no matter what level of office we are voting for.
Emergency services must work together, Labor and Management, to assure that every person elected to represent us understands what we do and what we need them as OUR elected representatives to do to assure our ability to serve the people that put them in office.
We must remember that the public generally distrusts anything connected to government until they need help in an emergency. Therefore each person in public safety and emergency services must work to assure that we provide efficient and cost effective service to the public and that we strive to assure safety for the public and for our forces.
This post is the first of what I hope will be a series of sharing discussions on how we can survive in today’s political world so all agencies can share what they have done to survive. I hope you will each participate.
Ron
Today’s question:
What steps has your department taken this year to demonstrate to the public you serve that your agency is operating effectively, and cost efficiently?
Our emergency services are facing loss of revenue, loss of staffing and rapidly facing the inability to deliver the services that are required by our communities in a way that provides safety in operations for the public and those who serve.
To survive:
We must remove ourselves from Partisan Politics and get deeply involved in grass roots politics.
We must remember that all politics are LOCAL no matter what level of office we are voting for.
Emergency services must work together, Labor and Management, to assure that every person elected to represent us understands what we do and what we need them as OUR elected representatives to do to assure our ability to serve the people that put them in office.
We must remember that the public generally distrusts anything connected to government until they need help in an emergency. Therefore each person in public safety and emergency services must work to assure that we provide efficient and cost effective service to the public and that we strive to assure safety for the public and for our forces.
This post is the first of what I hope will be a series of sharing discussions on how we can survive in today’s political world so all agencies can share what they have done to survive. I hope you will each participate.
Ron
Today’s question:
What steps has your department taken this year to demonstrate to the public you serve that your agency is operating effectively, and cost efficiently?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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We face much of the same politics everyone else faces, we have endured cuts and have seen staffing shortened and we see the managers asking for more and more. In the past such services were not thought about being touched, but in the finger pointing society of today, people see us and say things can be more efficient and cost effective. They don't realize what those effects would be, especially when it is them asking for help. Problem is that in this service people typically don't think about fire and EMS until THEY need them. An analogy I use is when a neighbor's house burns, neighbors feel bad, but typically think nothing of their own homes....it can't happen to them. However, if the neighbor's house is broken into and robbed, now neighbors will be requesting more police patrols, organize watches, place security systems in their own homes etc.
Our union still plays the political game, questioning candidates and endorsing those who we feel will best represent us. OK fine, problem is we are not the ONLY voters. Another issue is we can't really play the "cuts affect YOUR safety" card too much anymore either. Again the avg taxpayer and voter has no need for our services and can live without X number of FF's, until THEY have a need. Yet, the avg taxpayer and voter has seen their own paychecks go down, jobs close and so on and want the same from us overpaid, underworked tax soaking slabs. So what do you do?
One thing we have started was a presentation to neighborhood groups, clubs, organizations and so forth. Basically a powerpoint presentation showing the taxpayer and voter what the FD offers as far as services. We show WHY it takes so many FF's on scene to mitigate an emergency, WHY a fire truck is sent on EMS calls, the difference of offensive and defensive, WHY we cut holes in roofs and so on. We show all the services provided, what a typical day consists of, what we do when not on calls from training, inspections etc....and then put a dollar value to those services.
Most people look only at the bottom line of their tax bill and THAT is what basis their decisions. We have taken a tax bill for a modest home in the city and compared that to the cost of the services. For us if dividing the CITY taxes (taking out schools and county, for us) and dividing that by the other departments in the city, it comes down to mere dollars...basically $42 a YEAR for fire protection. Then we take that comparison and ask a rhetorical question of what they pay for stuff like cell phones, TV service, internet and so on...just to get them thinking. In the end we have found that when people can put a dollar value to their service and have a better knowledge of what they pay for, they take a greater sense of ownership and are more receptive to issues affecting THEIR service.
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Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on
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We put out a letter every so often to the taxpayers of our township that lets them know what their money goes to. We are able to show how we have cut our spending by not running the heating and A/C unless we are at the station or if it is running it is usually hotter in the summer and cooler in the winter. We have been trying to and recieving federal grants to purchase new equipment. We even held a fish fry last month to try to raise money for the dept. We have also taken steps to prevent wasting energy by fixing leaking air lines that kept the compressor running pretty much non-stop. We are trying. We had one guy come up with the idea of getting a grant to build a "green" station. Unfortunately our board shot him down.
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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Our county use to bill just for paramedic service when it was used. Now they are billing for all EMS operations even if its provided by a engine, truck, heavy squad crew. Today they just started the use of lap tops in all units for EMS calls. They want as much info the patient can provide for billing use.
Furloughs have started for the second year in a row but all the unions took the county to court over the first furloughs because they were not in the contracts. The unions won and now any money taken from pay checks are being paid back.
The county will in the next day start layoffs and have closed any positions that have been open since they were vacated.
Some building in the county have had utilities setup to save their use by timers or use of energy saving devices.
Other county services have also been cutoff to save money like leave collection through out the county.
Some fire stations have been closed or crews moved to upgrade services in other stations leaving volunteer personnel to man stations. Since the notices of career crews being moved to other stations volunteer applicants have increased by 600 and have to be checked out and trained before they can start operating.
The state has even gone to closing operations in the state police by closing and moving operations from station to another farther away from major traffic areas.
Apparatus repairs have been set back and some apparatus will be sitting for time to come. New equipment from the county maybe some years away but new fire staions that were in the works are being started or being finished and a new police station and patrol district for a area has been set back for years because of tax money. Many are waiting to see how much more will be cut.
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Next year will be elections in the state and county so thats a wait and see who will be sitting in what elected position.
County exec was a states attorney and states attorney now has his eyes on that position along with afriend of his and the county sheriff.
The county council has 8 positions up for elections and the public has been very upset with their actions for rezoning and other things.
I know of one member of the fire service planning to run for office.
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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First of all, we did not raise taxes.
We passed a budget that allows for 35% to go to debt service. It will not go above 40%...ever!
We have open houses that showcases the equipment that is purchased and training exercises are open to the public, so they can see for themselves our preparedness.
To gauge public support, we have 2 fundraisers a year. Attendance and donations are UP.
Two of the three members of the Board of Trustees were firefighters and the third one is a former school board member and Farm Bureau board member.
I receive letters and emails any time legislation, be it local, state or federal is introduced, what its status is; I know who supports/opposes it; I know who serves on the fire caucuses; and one of my dearest friends is a state representative and chairs the state fire services committee. I serve as an advisor to him.
I feel that we have all of the bases covered.
We also share our knowledge and expertise with anyone who asks for it.
TCSS.
Art
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Permalink Reply by Kendra Eastwood on
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I'm a firefighter on a small rural Town fire department. Our County and Town are like so many others trying to provide services without increasing taxes. The Town and County have done well with that. Both the County and Town leaders apply for grants for all the County Fire and Rescue Departments. The grants help a great deal with keeping costs low. My Fire Department has fund raisers plus during Fire Prevention Week we send letters to local businesses and industries for donations. We get support from our community which is wonderful! Our department is awesome when it comes to community service and community education about the fire service. During Fire Prevention week the community sees what equipment we have and we go to elementary schools to teach fire prevention. Which shows are community that we are educated and knowledgeable. It shows them that the tax dollars going for our training is not wasted. We have a great fire department here in Wytheville, Virignia!!!!!
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