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Morning Lineup – March 28

2 comments

Lately we’ve been bringing up topics here and there that usually end with:  “Talk with your citizens and let them know what you are doing,” or something similar to that.  It seems like the list keeps getting longer.  But if you keep putting it off, the list does get longer, and you’ve lost an opportunity.

Fire and rescue is a public service that is wholly dependent on the generosity of the people who receive it.  We rely on them, one way or another, to fund it and provide the people to operate it.  If we don’t point out to them where their resources are going and what the alternatives are if they refuse to provide them, then that will slip away.

I was reminded of this when I saw the results of Duxbury’s voting last week (HERE) where they nixed the funds to start planning replacements for their police and fire stations.  On the surface it looks like the FD was aggressive in pointing out their problems and even picturing them on their website.  But somehow it still hasn’t gotten through to the taxpayers.  That was evident at this same balloting when they readily approved the funds to overhaul the community swimming pool.  Now, up in Massachusetts, just how many days during the year is the pool usable?  If the weather is perfect every day without any thunderstorms, etc., probably 90 at the most.

[photopress:pool2.jpg,full,centered]

But since those swimmers will most likely go through life without ever seeing a house fire, let along experiencing one, the FD automatically drifts back in their mental priority list.  But, dang, all summer without a pool?  Noooo way.

Many of the people who are homeowners now are born and bred in the Yuppie movement.  And the primary characteristic that distinguishes that sub-section of their generation is a certain self-absorbtion that puts their own personal instant-gratification ahead of everything else.  Sometimes even to the detriment of their own children.

When they have to choose between healthy working conditions for their firefighters or a better “pool experience” for themselves, they’ll put themselves at #1 every time.  So we have to demonstrate that our ability to perform is important to them most of all.  Tomorrow we’ll talk about how we can do this.

But now, we need to get this equipment checked out.  I will go start our coffee.

[photopress:buckle_up_leaner_1.jpg,full,alignleft]

Posted by on March 28, 2008 • Filed under: morning lineup
  • Dal90

    I don’t think it’s the “we use the pool” factor.

    This is a very inciteful document, particularly go to page 9, “The Worcester Experience”
    http://www.massteacher.org/member_services/comm/override.pdf

    It contrasts the successful efforts of the teachers for getting an override and the failed ones of the police & fire sides.

    In my observations of New England, the small towns with relatively large volunteer fire companies don’t have much of a funding problem. They may be broke if the whole town was broke, but if the town had money, they had money. Without the formal planning of the Worcester teachers they naturally had a lot of friends & family connections in town.

    You get a town with 100 or more “active” firefighters it’s pretty hard to say no to them, and I see that in Conn / RI / MA. Yes, there’s a few big volunteer departments in Massachusetts…but less common then in Connecticut or even RI. You get a town with similiar demographics in MA but only 25 or 30 Call Firefighters, they just don’t seem to pull the political clout. Many of these Mass towns get in even worse shape as the 2nd generation of full time firefighters are hired, many from outside the town and they lose their connections. Other growing towns and in particular the Cape have the problem of even if the Firefighters are locals, more and more voters are from out of town and their only connection to the old community seems to be in the voting booth.

    Tip O’Neil said all politics is local. And I suspect a lot of this is similiar — you need retail politics, the salesmen who go out and personally ask people to vote in favor of a plan. The big volunteers / small town has the advantage because there are already such a high ration of friends and family who are unlikely to vote against the FFs. When you don’t have that connection, marketing isn’t enough — you have to press flesh succesfully.

    What do you think those soccer moms who use the pool were doing on their cell phones driving around town the last few weeks?

  • Dal90

    I don’t think it’s the “we use the pool” factor.

    This is a very inciteful document, particularly go to page 9, “The Worcester Experience”
    http://www.massteacher.org/member_services/comm/override.pdf

    It contrasts the successful efforts of the teachers for getting an override and the failed ones of the police & fire sides.

    In my observations of New England, the small towns with relatively large volunteer fire companies don’t have much of a funding problem. They may be broke if the whole town was broke, but if the town had money, they had money. Without the formal planning of the Worcester teachers they naturally had a lot of friends & family connections in town.

    You get a town with 100 or more “active” firefighters it’s pretty hard to say no to them, and I see that in Conn / RI / MA. Yes, there’s a few big volunteer departments in Massachusetts…but less common then in Connecticut or even RI. You get a town with similiar demographics in MA but only 25 or 30 Call Firefighters, they just don’t seem to pull the political clout. Many of these Mass towns get in even worse shape as the 2nd generation of full time firefighters are hired, many from outside the town and they lose their connections. Other growing towns and in particular the Cape have the problem of even if the Firefighters are locals, more and more voters are from out of town and their only connection to the old community seems to be in the voting booth.

    Tip O’Neil said all politics is local. And I suspect a lot of this is similiar — you need retail politics, the salesmen who go out and personally ask people to vote in favor of a plan. The big volunteers / small town has the advantage because there are already such a high ration of friends and family who are unlikely to vote against the FFs. When you don’t have that connection, marketing isn’t enough — you have to press flesh succesfully.

    What do you think those soccer moms who use the pool were doing on their cell phones driving around town the last few weeks?