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Laid-Off Gary Indiana Firefighter Panhandles Near City Hall
LAURI HARVEY KEAGLE
The Times of Northwest Indiana
Reprinted with Permission
GARY - For the past 10 years, Jason Pickering made a living helping others. Now, he says he's the one relying on the kindness of strangers.
Laid-off Gary firefighter Jason Pickering, of Valparaiso, stands Monday near Gary City Hall with a sign seeking donations. One of 34 firefighters laid off last month, the father of four said he can't get by on unemployment alone. He said he took in $400 in charity in four hours Sunday.(Kyle telechan/The Times)
Jason Pickering, 34, holds a sign Monday in downtown Gary that reads "Laid off Gary firefighter. Family of six. Thank you and God bless." The Valparaiso father of four was one of 34 Gary firefighters laid off last month.(Kyle telechan/The Times)
Related
Laid-Off Gary Firefighter Takes To The Streets
Pickering, 34, of Valparaiso, is one of 34 Gary firefighters who were laid off last week.
The Times of Northwest Indiana
Reprinted with Permission
GARY - For the past 10 years, Jason Pickering made a living helping others. Now, he says he's the one relying on the kindness of strangers.
Laid-off Gary firefighter Jason Pickering, of Valparaiso, stands Monday near Gary City Hall with a sign seeking donations. One of 34 firefighters laid off last month, the father of four said he can't get by on unemployment alone. He said he took in $400 in charity in four hours Sunday.(Kyle telechan/The Times)
Jason Pickering, 34, holds a sign Monday in downtown Gary that reads "Laid off Gary firefighter. Family of six. Thank you and God bless." The Valparaiso father of four was one of 34 Gary firefighters laid off last month.(Kyle telechan/The Times)
Related
Laid-Off Gary Firefighter Takes To The Streets
Pickering, 34, of Valparaiso, is one of 34 Gary firefighters who were laid off last week.
The married father of four now has taken to begging for money on the streets of the city he served. Dressed in his turnout gear, Pickering holds a sign hand drawn on a square of cardboard that reads:
"Laid off Gary firefighter. Family of six. Thank you and God bless."
In his other hand is the boot he is using to collect donations.
"Yesterday, I was at 31st and Grant and got $400 in four hours," he said. "People were really generous, giving 20s and stuff."
Standing under the sign for the Genesis Convention Center at Broadway and Fifth Avenue, collecting donations Monday morning, Pickering said all he ever wanted to do was be a firefighter.
The South Haven native joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from Portage High School and trained as a firefighter while in the military. When he got out of the Navy, he trained locally and was hired by the Gary Fire Department.
Pickering said he was one of only two in the department trained to serve as a firefighter and paramedic. He served at Station No. 3 at 12th Avenue and Roosevelt Street.
He admits part of his goal while standing on the street collecting donations is to protest the layoffs and raise awareness of them in the city.
But Pickering insists the financial need is real. His wife does not work, staying home with their four daughters ranging in age from 2 to 10.
"Unemployment only pays $350 a week," he said. "I've got a house, car payment, mortgage payment, just like everyone else."
The layoff notices were delivered Dec. 27. City officials blamed the move on 2011 salary budget cuts they expect will be required by the Distressed Unit Appeals Board.
"Laid off Gary firefighter. Family of six. Thank you and God bless."
In his other hand is the boot he is using to collect donations.
"Yesterday, I was at 31st and Grant and got $400 in four hours," he said. "People were really generous, giving 20s and stuff."
Standing under the sign for the Genesis Convention Center at Broadway and Fifth Avenue, collecting donations Monday morning, Pickering said all he ever wanted to do was be a firefighter.
The South Haven native joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from Portage High School and trained as a firefighter while in the military. When he got out of the Navy, he trained locally and was hired by the Gary Fire Department.
Pickering said he was one of only two in the department trained to serve as a firefighter and paramedic. He served at Station No. 3 at 12th Avenue and Roosevelt Street.
He admits part of his goal while standing on the street collecting donations is to protest the layoffs and raise awareness of them in the city.
But Pickering insists the financial need is real. His wife does not work, staying home with their four daughters ranging in age from 2 to 10.
"Unemployment only pays $350 a week," he said. "I've got a house, car payment, mortgage payment, just like everyone else."
The layoff notices were delivered Dec. 27. City officials blamed the move on 2011 salary budget cuts they expect will be required by the Distressed Unit Appeals Board.
The state board granted the city $21 million in relief from tax caps in each of the past two years. Still, the city's property tax revenue has been cut in half since the tax caps were instituted.
The city also has lost revenue because of the bankruptcy of the Majestic Star Casino. Officials said the firefighter layoffs will save the city about $1.2 million.
The city also has lost revenue because of the bankruptcy of the Majestic Star Casino. Officials said the firefighter layoffs will save the city about $1.2 million.
The explanations are little relief to Pickering, who doesn't know where to turn for the work he was trained to do. The only department hiring anywhere in the state, he said, is in Fort Wayne.
Relocating isn't an option.
"We just want to come back to work," Pickering said of the firefighters who lost their jobs. "We took an oath to help people."
Copyright 2011 nwi.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Relocating isn't an option.
"We just want to come back to work," Pickering said of the firefighters who lost their jobs. "We took an oath to help people."
Copyright 2011 nwi.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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$100 an hour? I don't know but, the pay sounds better than what I'm sure he made with the city. He definitely thinks outside the box.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Lang on
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Sad state of affairs when cities lay off first responders (HEROS) and to survive they resort to panhandling to feed their families and pay their bills when unemployment can't cover expenses. The fire service should start a nation wide coalition to help our Brothers in these hard economic times when cities don't realize the harm they are doing by laying off firefighters.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Schewene on
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There's a lot of people out there right now who want jobs that pay a living wage, who, every single day, go to jobs that wouldn't keep a bird alive, because that's all that's really out there.
For a lot of years, paid professional firefighters and cops, have been living off the tax dollars taken from these people's paychecks, while doing a job, where there's truly no way in hell you can pay the person what they're worth.
(Yes... I said it... you can't pay firefighters and cops what they're worth... because you can't possibly come up with enough gold and money to pay even ONE what they're worth.)
Here's a fact... there's only so much money to go around...
And in my mind, there's no way that someone who spends a lot of their time, sitting in a firehouse (doing basically busy work and minor maintenance work and training), should rate $50,000 a year... when someone else is out there, busting their butt, 40, 50, 60, 70 hours a week, and barely scraping up $20 to $30,000 a year, IF THAT...
Because as long as that continues to happen... cities are going to run out of money from trying to pay these big salaries so many firefighters and cops make. It's simply unsustainable.
You've got to bring in more money, than you pay out... or you GO BROKE. That's a lesson our society has unfortunately, FORGOTTEN.
That's the reality. It SUCKS! But it is what it is, whether any of us like it or not.
The days of having a public service job, being an automatic means to being 'set for life', are OVER.
The sooner we, as a society, realize this... the sooner we can get salaries back down to something that's at LEAST sustainable and fair.
Why should THIS guy, be on the streets... just because a few firefighters got there before him and sucked up the pool of money that could've been used to pay ALL of them, consistently?
When a firefighter or cop gets laid off for reasons they have no control over... it's a sign to me, that the ones who remain, are being paid MORE than cities, counties and states can truly afford, per public servant.
The worst case scenario of haves and have nots.
You get the same thing if you throw out one can of cat food, to a veritable herd of hungry cats. One or two get fed and the rest starve.
$20,000 to $30,000 is a pretty fair yearly wage for anyone who knows how to live within their means, and not get too damn greedy.
I've been living on MUCH less, for a very long time. (Granted, just scraping by, with NO help from social services or the government... but the point is, I'm still here and still able to contribute to society.)
Maybe it's time for public servants and their union representatives to decide if they'd rather have 100 people making awesome bucks.. or a 1000 people making great bucks, or 1,000,000 making decent bucks.
There's only so much to go around...
Much as I'd hate to be the guy, looking across the table at one of our beloved firefighters or cops, and telling them...
"You must take a pay cut, not because you're failing us in any way... but simply because the taxpayers cannot afford to pay you what we'd like to."
SOMEONE sure as hell better do exactly that... or this crunch, is going to turn into a HUGE crisis that hurts public servants and citizens in the worst possible way.
That man there in that picture is not doing the public or the fire service any damn good, standing there. Look at all that training... and a couple of thousand dollars of good fire equipment... that is NOT able to do the public any good.
Sure... he could self activate in time of dire need... and I'm sure he would if it HAD to be done... but that still doesn't feed himself, let alone his family. And by himself, what he could do to help is so limited, that he can't really apply the balance of his training, because firefighting is truly a team sport.
Something's got to give... and it's about time we, as a society, got our act together here... because what you see there in that picture, is just a symptom of a very dangerous crisis that's developing, that could ultimately become the cause of a lot of loss of life and property we could do without.
And that'd be just as true, if there were a cop in that picture, standing there, unemployed.
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Permalink Reply by JD on
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Paul,
According to the info below it does not look like they spend their time sitting around the station in Gary FD.
"The Gary Fire Department is divided up into three main divisions. The division of Fire Suppression & Rescue is the largest division in the department. It is the division that routinely interacts with the public. This division is divided into three turns (shifts) which staff 12 engines, 4 trucks, 1 squad and 1 tanker 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. The Division of Emergency Medical Services is the busiest division of the department responding to over 26,000 emergency calls per year. The supportive services divisions, as its name implies, supports daily operations in both the Fire Suppression and EMS divisions. "
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Permalink Reply by Austin Skelton on
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can someone get me a way to get in touch with some of the laid off Gary Firefighters, i may only be an explorer but this hurts me to see and our brothers deserve better. either message me on here or emailing me would be faster at skelton912@gmail.com thanks guys
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Permalink Reply by Richard Armstrong on
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paul I agree to a certain extent but the pay is what it is and they deserve it.They get paid that because they put their life at risk everyday where the guy working the 30 k job isn't.He still has risks of getting hurt or killed but far less a percentage.The sad part of the whole scenario is that there is dead wood all through city positions that are not loosing their jobs and essential services gets hit because it is a quick money saver.As for saving 1.2 million for 35 people the number seems exagerated a bit to me but it doesn't say how many years that spans.But when people start dying because manpower that is left is over-worked and start getting hurt or not responding 100% then they will be back.
The story should raise public awareness and if they find it an issue they can protest the 6 secretaries that sit at a desk and surf thhe web except when they have to go get their boss a coffee or reschedule a meeting for him cause him and his buddies want to knock off early and play a round of golf.These are the ones that need to go Paul because they aren't busting their ass for no 70 hrs a week and I'll bet they make as much as that FF begging.
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Permalink Reply by John L. VanAuken on
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This is really bugging me like a danged mosquito. I just seen the vid of the closeing of the Knight Town Ship Vol Dept. Now this. What is happening to our country and way of thinking? When are City and State Officials going to wake up? If I was a Fulltimer wich Im not but am trying so hard to be. Would gladdly take a paycut over loosing my job, do to the city not haven enough to pay. We canot loose anyone may it be cops, fire, or ems, for things will only get worse. We have enough crime and over populated cities now that cant keep up with problems they have, let alone with less people to do the jobs. Also what about the communities who now have to have their emergancy crews cover a wider area due to the cut backs, that dosent help anyone. Heck what ever happend to the 2 in 2 out rule and we have citys cutten engine crews too 3 when they should have 5 if poss, engineer, and 4 crew. I know that times are tough but come on cutten safety, hate to say it but I feel and God help us that the LODD # are gona rise, and to me that aint right.
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Permalink Reply by Volunteer04 on
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I'm pretty sure this guy wasn't offered a pay cut; or he'd still have his job. You are right, he is a victim of the political process.
A professional firefighter, police officer, etc... should be paid more than 20-30k per year Paul. Granted, 20-30k may be a good starting salary, but given time in service and educational level, most professionals should make much more than what you are quoting as and "acceptable" wage. There are other ways to cut a budget without putting essential services at risk of being undermanned.
The ongoing training, education, physical fitness, etc, that these men and women need to adhere to is worth the cost. In today's dollars, a 50k dollar salary for a seasoned vet. is more than fair, and certainly not enough to risk your life.
I recommend that you spend a week, or even a tour, with a fire department before you make comment about "just sitting around the fire house"....
Thanks to all the true heroes out there!
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Permalink Reply by tharte on
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thats great, paul, that you look at it that way. our president continues to pull money out of his a** and give to companies that take it and give bonuses with it?? there is money out there. it's just not being allocated properly.
i would hate to find out that your hometown would lay off firefighters, which in turn could close fire stations. and then, God forbid, you lose your house in a fire because the fire dept couldn't get there quick enough or something happens to you, your parent, your spouse or child and they were not saved in time just because the public service you deserve was no longer in service because the town "could not afford" to pay them and laid them off. the fire service has the obvious responsibility of putting out fires, but they also have EMS responsibilities. as a matter of fact, that is the majority portion of our job! you should take a week and go on a ride along with your local dept. it would be an eye opener for you. think about it....
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Permalink Reply by Mike Ward on
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Wow Paul,
Interesting point told in a way that will probably anger many who chose to make firefighting a career.
Just a couple of counter-points:
Most city fire departments have a heavier workload than those on the outside think they do.
Especially within declining cities. There is a direct relationship to emergency service workload (fires and ems runs) and poverty.
Pay and benefit packages are the result of hard-fought negotiation with city leaders and local politicians. Just like your mortgage, many are legally binding contracts.
Municipal firefighters are chronically exposed to hazardous environments. Then they get on the rig and respond to an incident.
Even some healthy non-smokers with the best protective clothing will contract work-related cancer, suffer with lifetime orthopaedic conditions or chronic stress disability.
I agree that there is a major and lasting change in municipal financing.
I am glad that you can live on 20K - 30K in Kentucky, I am pretty sure that will not go very far in Gary. I know it would not work for me in Washington DC.
We will need to disagree on what is a "fair and sustainable" salary for municipal firefighters.
Do you know Constantine “Connie” Xino in suburban Chicago? A wealthy and successful lawyer and homeowner association president in a community that pays no property taxes.
He calls firefighters "Street People" and shares your flair to belittle and demean career firefighters.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Good for him. I hope he can keep it up until he finds another job he likes. Very sad.
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Permalink Reply by glenn serrano on
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How much is it worth to you, John Q public for us to us to Race to your house when your loved one is sick, how much are you willing to pay for us to bust our ass to save your loved one when they have stopped breathing or be compassionate when we have to tell you they have passed on. To hold your hand when your child is laying on our stretcher. for us to tell you everything is going to be alright, To Run into a burning house even though everyone is out to save your DOG. to be exposed to every known and unknown bug and virus out there.
How much is it worth for us to be there when you have nowhere else to turn to, WE have to be part Electrician, part plumber, part psychiatrist, we are the "when all else fails call the firemen" and show up with a smile. in my 25 yrs i have seen more heartache and sorrow then most people will see in 10 life times, so do i earn my pay ? I don't know, ask the 4 Babies I've delivered. Ask me how many times i had to tell my daughter; sorry i can't be there because i have to work. We spend 1/3 of our life there regardless of what’s happening out in the world. We all sacrifice, and we all know it's part of the job, but don't tell me we don't deserve the pay and benefits we get.
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