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Posted: 6:38 p.m. Friday, July 25, 2014
MIDDLETOWN

Eleven Middletown firefighters given layoff notices

By Staff Report

MIDDLETOWN —

A deadline is approaching for the city and firefighters union to reach a deal to prevent job losses and cut costs. On Friday, 11 Middletown firefighters received layoff notices in anticipation that no solution will be found in time.

They will be laid off at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 if nothing changes between now and then.

“Middletown Firefighters Union tries to remain hopeful that the city and they will be able to keep from laying off,” reads a statement provided by the union. “However, those given layoff notices are already out applying for other jobs to make sure they can support their families at the end of the day.”

Public safety cuts are being made to help reduce the city’s general fund expenditures by $2.25 million over the next two to three years, officials previously said.

A total of 15 positions are being eliminated from the Middletown Division of Fire’s budget. Four positions will be reduced through retirements, said Chris Klug, president of the firefighters union.

Middletown last laid off six firefighters in 2012 but were able to bring back those firefighters when they were awarded a federal grant. That grant runs out on Aug. 6, Klug said.

“We looked at concessions, doing a grant extension, any possible variety of ways to keep this from happening,” Klug said.

Assuming layoffs occur, Station 84 on Tytus Avenue will be closed and all other stations will be staffed with three personnel that will cross-staff a fire engine and medic unit, according to the union. When responding to an emergency, crews will take the most appropriate vehicle and leave the other.

The Journal-News was unable reach city officials before deadline late Friday.

 

Would a wage freeze of ALL city employees be a viable answer for saving jobs? If they can operate at current levels then you may be able to at least save some from being laid off. They should be happy to save their jobs and forgo wage increases for now. Freezes should go all the way to the top including our new city manager. Just wondering.

Nope. Not acceptable city leaders. Safety of the people is a number one priority and the safety levy approved a few years back was to MAINTAIN the safety force. Ya can't do without fire and police, especially since you invited more crime to town with your ghetto theme. We also need to have people who can deal with the saturation of drug infestation going on in town.

Layoff some of the 5 and 6 figure paper shufflers in the city building and streamline your operation. Keep the people who actually make a difference for the people and eliminate repetitive "pass the paper up the ladder/pass the paper down the ladder" nonsense. Ya don't need assistant directors, managers or multiple layers of management in a small operation like the city building. Let that crap exist in Corporate America where they have money to throw away. You don't have that luxury.

I'm not a fan of any union but we do need these services staffed adequately based on the need.

Still maintain the suggestion that cutting management paper shufflers in any organization is the prudent thing to do. Eliminates the cost of high salaries/benefits packages and paying people big bucks to attend meetings on an endless basis. It eliminates unnecessary layers of duplicate functions and prevents the always present competition among middle management to outdo one another for the sole purpose of gaining the favor of the CEO. (Acclaro, you and I know this as we both worked for P&G at GO or one of the tech centers, and saw, first hand, the endless layers of middle management).I believe you mentioned you were a brand manager at one time.

Example, using P&G's management positions at the tech center locations from lowest to highest:

Staff Engineer-Group Leader-Section Head-Assoc. Director-Director-VP, all at tech center level-Group VP at GO level-Executive VP at GO level-Senior VP at GO level-President at GO level-CEO. Why?

Most important benefit of cutting management is keeping boots on the ground on the front line who are the first responders to serve the people. We don't need more back line administration huddled in city building offices, we need people in the field who actually do the work.

This is the problem with any organization including the city building hierarchy.....too top heavy with Senior/Middle Managers and Directors who have multiple assistants to the assistants who drink coffee, suck on donuts, make a few phone calls, have a meeting or two deciding to decide later, and call it a day to the tune of a six figure salary. In typical fashion, they want to cut where the need is the greatest....ie, providing support for the people. This is what happens in a typical downsizing too. The little guy who does the work always get shown the door while they keep the overpriced multi-layer managers who are professional meeting attenders. Why? You can save 3 workers by laying off 1 middle manager. Would that manager be missed? I doubt it. Would you lose any performance in your organization? Probably not as those managers who remain can pick up the slack. Might earn their pay for a change.

Ok, keep the cops for crime and downsize the fire department, minimizing the optimal response time. Either way, I still prefer the downsizing of the city building management to keep fire/police on the streets. Workers over bureaucrats any day.

All I know is if I call 911 and need a medic or ambulance run, which I have needed many times in the last 5 years, and they don't show in a reasonable response time, and the wife dies, the city is guaranteed a law suit.

To date, the response time has been within 5-8 minutes from the call. If it goes 12-15 minutes, there may be an operational issue and if she doesn't make it one time, there will definitely be an issue.

Neil Barille wrote: Vet, you've been singing this tune for years.  While I can't say I know the exact # of city employees in the city building, I'm going to guess there's isn't a whole lot of fat in the budget.  Hypothetically, even if you could cut 2-3 manager level types, that money won't come anywhere near the amount needed to keep all the public safety staff.   I'm with acclaro, we need cops more than fire.

That's fine Neil. Still believe that the city building is no different than any other organization, be it private or public. From the eight companies I have worked for in the last 44 years, from small (300 or less employees) to large (100,000 worldwide), I have seen it loaded in the middle and at the top with multiple layers of management that often pass paperwork and conduct "deciding not to decide" meetings up and down the ladder. Worthless, expensive and inefficient. I think we can find some areas where this is so in the city building. Would surprise me if we couldn't double up on some of these Director/Manager position duties and let some go.

Your choice also to agree with acclaro on keeping the cops and eliminating the fire people......UNTIL, you have an unforeseen emergency with a close family member that requires the medic/ambulance service as fast as they can get there-----IE- heart attack/stroke, etc. Then let's see if your opinion may differ on the need for the fire folks and a quick response caused by a sufficient number of people manning the equipment. Our family is grateful for the many 911 responses we have called for over the last 4-5 years. I pray you or anyone else here never has to use this service but we all never know do we?

well heck yeah I would rather have more cops than firemen! Have you been out in Middletown lately? You cant park a car for five minutes without it getting broken into or just go into a local fast food restaurant or Walmart and there is either a fight or something happening. I don't even like taking my kids out in town anymore. But I don't want to see firemen cut either. EMS is badly needed and saves lives, but make no mistake we need al the cops we can get

Has anyone considered volunteer fire to fill the gap?

It seems like 90% of Fire/EMS calls are non emergency transport to the hospital or false alarms at the Projects anyway.

Dean,
I don't know where you get your information regarding AK but the Dearborn facility is union...UAW. Why would AK shift production when their objective is to increase their sales. Production cost wise AK and Dearborn have got to be very close. AK serves many Michigan customers and Dearborn serves Ohio and south customers. My guess is that they will shift which plant serves which customer to minimize freight cost. Unless AK goes bankrupt there is no concern that the Middletown plant will shut down.

Updated: 4:51 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, 2014 | Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014

Will a last-minute deal save firefighting jobs?

Middletown, union continue to talk in order to save jobs with little impact to the city’s budget.

By Michael D. Pitman

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN —

City and fire union leaders hope an 11th hour deal can be hammered out to avoid laying off 11 firefighters less than two weeks from now.

A potential deal between the parties could involve incorporating part-time firefighters into the Middletown Division of Fire, which at present is totally full-time, union officials said. Meanwhile, city officials have refused to talk publicly about specific details of any potential compromise or agreement.

City Manager Doug Adkins made only a brief mention of the negotiations at City Council’s retreat last week at Atrium Medical Center.

“We have moved some brand new concepts on the floor and everybody, so far, has embraced them,” Adkins said.

Both sides have until 7 p.m. Aug. 16 to work out a deal that avoids layoffs.

City and union officials met Thursday morning to continue talk of a compromise. Adkins characterized the meeting as “productive” and stated another meeting is scheduled for Monday. He said he could “bring something to the executive session for (council) to discuss” as early as Tuesday’s council meeting.

“Both sides are working very hard to reach an acceptable agreement to avoid layoffs,” the city manager said. “There is a strong potential that we can avoid layoffs without adding to our budget, which I think is good if we can work things out.”

City officials are looking at fire department reductions to help fill gaps in the 2014 budget. Laying off 11 firefighters would save the city $920,514, according to Michelle Greis, city finance director. City officials could not make reductions to the fire department at the beginning of 2014 due to restrictions on grants the city received to pay for some fire staff positions.

The city is also weighing whether to close Station 84 on Tytus Avenue as another cost-cutting measure.

City officials had previously maintained that the fire union was unwilling to talk about concessions, which led to layoff notices being sent to 11 firefighters. Adkins said the fire union is “being incredibly reasonable” in this latest round of discussions.

“They have brought cuts in places we didn’t think they’d ever go,” he said.

But Greg Justice, a fire captain and president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 336, said it shouldn’t have taken this long or layoff notices for progress on negotiations to improve.

“For the citizens of this community that depend on our services, and for the firefighters that provide those services to them, it’s just unfortunate that it’s come to the 11th hour, and the firefighters, quite frankly, have been surprised by it,” Justice said. “It’s hard to pick up your firefighting gear and go somewhere else and start over.”

Middletown officials said last week the potential cuts do not make the city “unsafe,” but residents and Justice believe otherwise.

The layoffs were announced by the IAFF Local 336 on July 25. The notice stated that 15 firefighter positions will be eliminated — as well as the closure of Station 84 that services the northern neighborhoods of Middletown — by Aug. 16. Closing the station, laying off 11 firefighters and eliminating four other firefighter positions through attrition, could save about $1 million in the city’s budget.

It costs roughly $100,000 to employ and equip a firefighter, which four of those positions are funded via a federal staffing grant, and seven are funded by the general fund, according to fire Chief Steve Botts. Closing station 84, but keeping the utilities on while it’s unmanned, will save the city around $20,000, he said, and the savings is likely to double if the city mothballs the 1954-built station that is in need of significant repairs, such as its roof.

The union presented a plan that would call for no new costs and avoid layoffs, but the city didn’t accept that deal, Justice said. He said “there is a glimmer of hope” that if the union accepts a city proposal incorporating part-time firefighters through attrition that the 11 firefighters set to be laid off won’t be given pink slips in order to make room in the city budget.

The city of Middletown has cut, added and cut again from the front-line firefighting force over the past several years.

In 2010, there were 80 full-time staff in the Middletown Division of Fire, including 60 firefighters, according to the department’s budget. Two years later, the department, due to City Council budget cuts, staffed 51 firefighters while the officer-level staffing remained steady at 20. Six firefighters were added in 2013 thanks to a federal staffing grant, but that grant expires on Aug. 6.

The potential of firefighter cuts and the loss of a fire station has many residents in the city’s northern neighborhoods worried. Fire Station 84 is at the corner of Tytus Avenue and Jackson Street. It houses a fire truck and a reserve medic unit and is staffed by three personnel. There is also a three-story training facility in the back of the station.

“It is a concern because I live right around the corner (from the station),” said Heather Huf, who lives on Manchester Road near Maple Park. “It’s very scary if there were to be a fire or any kind of an emergency. It’s a big concern for the city.”

Brittnanny Fultz has lived on Webber Avenue since 2006 and is equally worried.

“My mom recently passed and there were a lot of times that if there hadn’t been a firehouse close, that the medics wouldn’t have gotten here as fast as they did,” she said. “It’s just going to put more pressure on them to get to who’s hurt the worst. It’s a matter of life and death.”

But Fultz has “faith that the economy will pick back up.”

Ben Highley, who lives a couple houses down from Fultz, said there’s seemingly “a broad lack of support” for the fire and police service.

“The lack of social services like this always serve to make us less safe,” he said. “I’m not happy about it. Those are the guys we’re telling our kids, ‘You want to grow up to be a hero, be a fireman, be a police officer so you an get laid off after 10 or 20 years on the force.’”

Riverview resident Jeffery Chandler called the cuts “a shame.”

“It concerns me a great deal,” he said. “At the council meetings, they have talked about it over and over and over, but there’s not been a way to get around the budget crisis of not having enough money to keep them all open.”

But loosing the neighborhood firehouse shouldn’t happen.

“This covers a great deal of area in this part of town. I just can’t see closing it … I just can’t agree with that,” Chandler said.

DEPARTMENT RUNS

2010

• 4 minutes, 56 seconds per call
• 8,158 emergency medical calls
• 992 fire calls
• 524 investigation/assistance calls

2011

• 4 minutes, 57 seconds per call
• 8,513 emergency medical calls
• 859 fire calls
• 1,137 investigation/assistance calls

2012

• 5 minutes, 15 seconds per call
• 8,400 emergency medical calls
• 969 fire calls
• 1,104 investigation/assistance calls

2013

• 5 minutes, 12 seconds per call
• 8,185 emergency medical calls
• 4,679* fire calls
• 1,369 investigation/assistance calls

2014**

• 5 minutes, 23 seconds per call
• 4,093 emergency medical calls
• 2,651* fire calls
• 499 investigation/assistance calls

*EMS crews began tracking engine company medical assists since Feb. 1, 2013. An engine responded to 3,884 calls in 2013 and 2,205 calls through June 30, 2014

**As of June 30, 2014

Source: city of Middletown

STAFFING

2010

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 5 captains
• 10 lieutenants
• 60 firefighters

2011

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 4 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 60 firefighters

2012

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 51 firefighters

2013

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 57 firefighters

2014

• 1 fire chief
• 1 administrative assistant
• 3 deputy chiefs
• 4 captains
• 11 lieutenants
• 57* firefighters

*City documents show 15 fire personnel will be laid off in the fourth quarter. The Journal-News discovered that 11 firefighters received notices in late July they will be laid off as of Aug. 16 and the remaining four positions are currently unfilled.

Source: city of Middletown

BUDGET

Here is the city of Middletown Division of Fire’s budgets since 2010. The budget amounts from 2010 to 2013 represent money actually spent while the amounts for 2014 represent money that is budgeted:

2010

• Fire Administration: $225,996
• Fire Operations: $8,509,141
• Fire Prevention: $388,722
• Total: $9,123,859

2011

• Fire Administration: $225,319
• Fire Operations: $9,078,705
• Fire Prevention: $247,626
• Total: $9,551,650

2012

• Fire Administration: $225,249
• Fire Operations: $8,288,555
• Fire Prevention: $241,382
• Total: $8,755,186

2013

• Fire Administration: $228,261
• Fire Operations: $8,322,977
• Fire Prevention: $237,400
• Total: $8,788,638

2014

• Fire Administration: $236,793
• Fire Operations: $8,569,119
• Fire Prevention: $274,141
• Total: $9,080,053

Source: city of Middletown Finance Department

 

There are three shifts or platoons. Each works every third day. First Platoon, Second Platoon and Third Platoon. Each platoon needs a boss, or Deputy Chief. There are currently three engine companies in the city. Each engine company has a boss, Captain or Lieutenant. Every engine company has three bosses (three platoons = three bosses) plus an additional Lieutenant to fill in for vacancies. Those three bosses consist of one captain and two lieutenants. The fourth captain is in charge of training and works a 40 hour schedule. Those officers are promoted from a competitive test.

The question to be asked is if public safety is being cut because of a lack of money or the city's desire to put more money in the "rainy day fund".

Do you find it strange that residents in the north end of town (that have been in the city for YEARS) already lost their engine company and are about to lose their medic unit while the newly annexed land on the east side of town continues to enjoy an engine company?

Volunteers? Right. Towns and villages with volunteer departments are having a hard time filling their needs. How many people are willing to risk their lives to help others? Not many. Lets see a show of hands of posters on this board who are going to run to the city building for their volunteer application. I would advise everybody to stand back because acclaro will be busting down the doors to be first in line. After all, if Uncle Dave could do it, it must not be THAT hard!

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

Thank you for the reply ashkicker. I have some questions/observations from your information.

11 Lieutenents are listed above. You mention shifts and platoons and that each engine company has three bosses. How many people are in a platoon? How many people constitutes an engine company? I am trying to find out if the fire department is set up like the Public Works department in the city building......IE

The last time I participated in a city/citizen type meeting was years ago. In that meeting, they passed out some information pertaining to the manning of the Public Works Department. It showed that there was a Director of Public Works and several layers of management including a "working supervisor" to oversee three equipment operators and an admin. That scenario almost allows for a 1:1 ratio of worker to manager. That is unacceptable and should never happen.....anywhere.

Could you tell us what the ratio of worker (actual firefighter/medic in truck and out in the field) to manager (IE- Deputy Chief, Captain, Lieutenant) is in the fire department. If it is close to a 1:1, 2:1, or 3:1 ratio, it is excessive and IMO, there needs to be an elimination of manager positions and a higher body count of worker in your department.

What does a captain or lieutenant do during a typical shift? Do they do paperwork all shift? Do they get in a car and drive around the city doing "administrative things"? Do they actually don a mask and help the "worker bees" man the fire? Could we eliminate some lieutenant positions and still function? Why the need for a Deputy Chief, a captain and so many lieutenants for a three shift/platoon operation? Seems a tad bit top heavy to me.

middiemom brought up a valid question and our family has had a fire truck dispatched along with the medic to take the wife to the hospital. I believe you have answered this before but I have forgotten your response. Why do they send a fire truck with the medic on a medical run? Can't the medic on the fire truck ride with the medic unit on the run and just bring one vehicle, saving money? Is this state mandated perhaps?

Thanks in advance for you response.
ashkicker:

"The question to be asked is if public safety is being cut because of a lack of money or the city's desire to put more money in the "rainy day fund"."

Reword this to say "the city's desire to put more money into their downtown dreams, support the "friends of city hall" and to cater to the S. Main St. people" Not only are you safety people being thrown under the bus, the entire city has been ignored and left to fend for themselves outside of the immediate downtown and S. Main St. area.

This is a ridiculous discussion.

Many of the number to be laid off were hired from a federal grant. When the grant expired, they could either pay from city funds they don't have., or make cuts. The city will be in red by $ Mm has not made serious cuts or structured itself properly in decades.

If the city was growing, paving streets, and had a massive surplus, the matter will be resolved. Well, the city is failing and in decline. To appease the fire fighters, the city sold Weatherwax.

The money isn't there, volunteers would be the answer or patr-timers,but the union wants numbers to go with a natural advancement path, just like all unions. The city will work it out, even if it reduced the rainy day fund to 10%/

.