Selectmen Feel the Heat at Fire Station

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Selectmen Feel the Heat at Fire Station

by Bobby Blair 10/15/12

Selectmen as part of their roving meetings around town got an earful Monday night from unhappy firemen ...

The smoldering issue of firemen's stipends has been on and off the back burner since 2007 when local jakes on the call fire department were promised a raise. While some of the funds were secured, hard times due to the recession and budget constraints left firemen's paychecks lagging.

Firemen several years ago turned down an offer to tie their request for more funding to an override. Fire Chief Michael Cassidy requested Selectmen in their two most previous meetings for a request in this budget, the most recent plea was in the amount of $214,000. Fireman Mark Heavner said you need to understand the comittment everyone in this room is making on empty promises. "The schools get what they want. We deserve a raise. Fall Town Meeting will come and go and nothing will happen."

Selectman Jay Leary said there are other challenges in town. Leary told the firemen that the town was confronted with unfunded benefits for retirees known as OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits). In a recent presentation by Rachel Brown C.C.P. of the Classification & Compensation Study by Stone Consulting, Holliston Firemen were not compared to area towns because of their unique "call status". Sean Irr told both selectmen (Chairman Jay Marsden was unable to attend) that "we attend the academy on our own time. The town has no clue what we do." John Gagnon said , "We are dedicated and love it, but we do go into fires risking our lives." Referring to an increase in stipends Shawn Connors noted "It"s time. You've had a bargain for so long". Selectman Leary was not easily swayed and wished to compare Holliston's costs against other call fire departments.

Mark Dellicker made an impassioned plea for selectmen to study the issue saying, "We've created something that other towns don't have." Leary told Dellicker "I don't know if that number ($214,000) you presented to me is sustainable." Selectman Kevin Conley promised that the board would get together with Chief Cassidy soon.

Posted in Politics, Police/Fire, News.

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Comments (20)

Let's hope the town remembers how hard the men and women worked last during the duration of Tropical Storm Irene, when they were outside in 70 mph winds with trees and live wires coming down all around them. And again they were out all night during the snow storm in October. They brave fires and many other dangerous conditions that the average person would run away from.

- Fireman's wife | 10/26/12 9:33 AM

Holliston, you get what you pay for. The glue that keeps a community together are Police, Firemen, Health Workers and Educators (in no particular order). Lets work out how to help our Fire and EMT's afford to stay committed to the great jobs they do.

- Tom McCann | 10/18/12 8:00 PM

I am in agreement with many of the commments below. Mr. Winters, LT and Jeanne. My hope is that the Chief and selectmen will consider what a town like Medway is paying for the overall department that is split full time and Call department. We have a bargain here in town and do not seem to respect that. Also I would like to see what the other towns response times are compared to ours as it relates to fires. We are blessed to have these men and women here to protect us. What message to we show our children when we are not supporting them. Again I plead with the present Fire Chief and Selectmen to agree to this request. Then to ask for the support of the finance committee and if need be bring to a town meeting vote. To me this is common sense decision. Again just one mans view.

- Ed M | 10/18/12 5:13 PM

Just so you know Mr. Wellington, your greedy call firemen just made it to the scene of a call before your paid, fully staffed Police department who were already in there cars on the road.

- Resident with a scanner | 10/17/12 4:24 PM

I am just so stunned that Mr. Wellington feels the way he does abour our fire department. Once again, let's hope he doesn't require the services of our men and women of the HFD. I am sickened to think this man is so selfish.

- Sarah | 10/17/12 2:17 PM

These are sad times when we have to argue over funding our community's first responders. These people train and support the fire department on their own time, pulling duty in order to provide this town with outstanding response 24/7/365. Greedy they most definitely are not. Schools, police, fire are all essential services of any community. The schools get their budget agreed upon, the police got their station. They are not asking for a new fire station here. Maybe it's time some other funding was delayed to accommodate this well-deserved raise. Don't put the needs of our dedicated firefighters off anymore!

- Kriss Westland | 10/17/12 7:31 AM

Let's hope there is a little "extra" money somewhere . . .my guess is that the firefighters will end up paying back whatever raises they get in higher taxes.

- MK | 10/17/12 7:03 AM

Holliston's firefighters love what they do!! It's as though selectman know they'll continue to do the job no matter what, and as a result, dismiss them. Find the damn money!! If we can come up with millions for a police station(which we'll be paying for forever), we can come up with enough to cover this modest request!!

- art winters | 10/17/12 6:35 AM

Mr. Wellington.... greedy, huh. Do you realize these guys make a modest few thousand dollars a year for what they do 24/7/365. Their "stipends" don't even come close to paying their share of Health Insurance and the Town provides a whopping $5000.00 Insurance policy to their families if God forbid something was to happen to one of them. Wouldn't pay the funeral costs! The cost to run our Fire Dept. to the tax payer is 1/3 or less than surrounding full-time departments (equal to size and population) and our staffing and response times are equal or far superior to those Towns. Keep the call department... even with the increase it is the best deal this Town has! We have a dedicated staff of volunteer/call members and you should be ashamed of your statement.

- NT | 10/16/12 11:06 PM

They are already paid a fair wage. Any increase right now would be fiscally irresponsible.

- Mortimor Wellington | 10/16/12 10:27 PM

I invite the selectman to research the costs Holliston pays vs. fire services for other towns in Massachusetts. Then they would see what a bargain they have.

- Jeanne | 10/16/12 5:56 PM

Let's find the money. Selectmen, Fin Com and town meeting voters always find money for the schools. It shouldn't be that hard to cover this relatively small amount.

- LT | 10/16/12 4:50 PM

Greedy? Are you kidding? These guys are ANYTHING BUT. You want a top notch fire dept (and they are) but then again you (selectmen)are calling giving them a raise not sustainable. What is? These guys are part of our community and do their jobs well. Let's at least give them something decent for it. Didn't I read that these guys if they get health insurance through the town actually end up PAYING the town money? That's insane.

- ALM | 10/16/12 4:42 PM

In the interests of transparency, my son Alan is a Lt. on the fire dept. I think his love of the department grew from my support of it as he was growing up. The firefighters get this stipend to be on call 24/7/365. They don't get paid for meetings or training or cleaning the trucks. They get paid over and above the stipend when they show up at a fire event - and at a very modest rate. Full- time departments pay staff to sit in an empty station all day and night - like our neighboring towns. We always get a good turnout - our response rates are great - and our insurance rates are low as a result. I fear that the underlying issue here is more about hard feelings that arose during/after the override question a couple of years ago. A few fire fighters were outspoken about feeling they were being used to attract support for the override by attaching their stipend request to the override question. The Selectmen and Finance Committee were upset feeling that they were being open and honest that without the override, the stipend was financially impossible. A commitment was made several years ago to fund the stipend. The fire fighters have lived up to their side of the bargain and continue to respond to our needs. I understand that the town may even have ended up with a little "extra" money after the dust of FY 12 ended. I think that both sides must try to get past old issues and address this issue fair and square.I suggest getting a mediator from the Mass Office of Public Collaboration and resolve this thing.

- Mary Greendale | 10/16/12 3:42 PM

Mr. Wellington, Let's hope you don't require the assistance of the Holliston Fire Department or Ambulance services. Seems you're the greedy one. These men have families you know. What an arrogant statement to even consider these men as "greedy." Shame on you.

- Sarah | 10/16/12 2:54 PM

Out of the multimillion dollar budget in this town, we must always make it a priority to stand up FOR our first responders like they make it a priority to stand up for US. They've played the waiting game far too long - this is hardly the time, or appropriate, to point fingers and call any one of these men and woman "greedy".

- Ted Dooley | 10/16/12 2:49 PM

And someone called them greedy? Nice! Way to stand behind your neighbor, your local firefighter. Greedy.... wow.

- james | 10/16/12 1:08 PM

Actually, the department was promised a fairer slice in 2007, as the article points out. Exactly who are the truly greedy parties here? Print out your pie chart and take a look at it.

- Clarence Bradford | 10/16/12 12:32 PM

Seems to be a poor time for these greedy fellows to ask for a bigger slice of the pie..

- Mortimor Wellington | 10/16/12 10:11 AM

Holliston townspeople: stand behind your first responders. Make your support known.

- Susan | 10/16/12 7:59 AM