Thanks for the additional clarifications on some of the the facts out there. My post was not intended to be an attack on the career staff – but to point out a reality that is cost factor that is NOT helping the situation. The previous management and leadership of the Department should be ashamed of the sharp decline in volunteers because this decline clearly was a loss the Department could NOT afford – this doesn’t fit the PGFD Fire Chief’s job description.

To Eddie, Mike – I’m not endorsing a “PGVFD” just pointing out the taxpayer needs to fund the cost of PAST and future retiree’s. There is no retirement fund that is “fully funded”. All get annual receipts to pay for those who are collecting. Look at the PGFD budget – it is a clear line item that is big bucks and growing because more are collecting. I would expect the investment losses of the past year will spike this annual line item and the MASS exodus of those who want out and retire as fast as possible could also significantly increase this cost further eroding the PG Governments ability to pay for the people needed to run the Department today. Welcome to the world that all of us (not just you in PG) are facing – I’m in the Northeast now and we have had many layoffs up here that are horrible – and in most situations there is no volunteer to fill the vacancy created.

I have many friends and collegues career & vol in PG – from what I hear this is a mess that no one wants and the previous FC choices contributed alot to this!!! The Pro-career or Pro-volunteer folks need to stop attacking each other wake up fast and find common ground or both will CONTINUE to lose – putting your political clout together might get more clamour from citizens to help get additional $$$$ but slamming each other sure won’t. The “Me Me” applies to all in the PG system.

Chief Jones (like nearly every FC in America at the moment) is working with what he is being dealt and the last FC smashed the confidence and trust of the volunteer component of the Department. At least FC Jones still has a volunteer component in his Combination Department – and he has no other options but to make it function as one as best as possible ASAP. If any of us were in his shoes we would likely do the same or get fired or just leave out of frustration.

Thanks for posting. Keep completing those courses, a degree is in sight!

Dan:

I share your concern that PG becomes “… like a mid-atlantic suburban version of a Northeast Rust Belt City FD – lots of fire and action with limited resources which stinks for ALL.”

<<<<<>>>>

Off-line I have had a couple of conversations with folks from the volunteer side expanding on the issue that it is 1619’s fault for the budget crisis.

Also that the list of volunteers qualified for this year’s fit test, supplied by the career staff at the Academy, is grossly under-represented.

The rolling brownouts was because none of the volunteer corporations wanted a permanent reduction in the number of career staff working at their station.

The TriData report provided a 2003 snapshot of the department. Since then:

The career workforce has shrunk by 15%.

The number of operational volunteers has plummeted from 1099 to somewhere north of 320.

The emergency ambulance workload has continued to climb.

PGFD is still handling more structure fires than any other DC area fire department.

I have been with the department as both a career and volunteer for over 25 years and I see the divide between all the various factions growing at a time they should be coming together to work out a solution. I agree with the previous poster that it is a very me, me operation. I can’t see the volunteers cooperating on consolidation; one only has to look at the mess at Co. 55 when the county combined stations 2, 3, and 4. They maintained three chiefs and three presidents and it was only after the county said they would only recognize one that they picked one overall chief and there is still a very real sense of separation, especially among the older members.

Another problem that needs to be addressed is the volume of EMS calls. In 2008, the percentage of EMS calls was almost 80% of the total, yet many members, both career and volunteer see EMS as a necessary sideline for the real job of fire fighting. In fact with the current expansion of billing, EMS calls may very well pay for suppression activities. The county is continuing to pursue other avenues to increase revenue from services. However the money collected goes to the general fund and not directly to the fire department budget. The department gets no direct advantage or increase in budget from billing for services.

I wish the new Chief the best, he has his work cut out for him, but given his past performance both before and since being named chief I don’t know if he is the man for the job. The politicians, especially the county executive are running the department and the new chief seems to be their puppet. I hope I am wrong, but retirement is looking better all of the time. Now if I can just get Fossil Medic to give me my degree early, darn those pesky requirements.

-Eddie

It is amazing to me to see the statement from career personnel that do NOT acknowledge the cost of their employment contract (and previous contracts) as part of this equation. The GM Union just took the most RISK (you and I as Federal taxpayers also) it has ever had too to keep their ship from sinking or imploding by having to become a major shareholder AND making MAJOR benefit concessions. Health care & retirement liabilities where one of the BIG financial hammers pushing GM to the brink.

Of course a municipal union local cannot become an OWNER and I am not sure PG 1619 or any local would make major GM type contract concessions to help in the fiscal crisis. The Retirement Benefits for PGFD current and past retirees are very lucrative – I know several who took off early (at a fairly young age) because it was totally idiotic NOT too from a financial perspective – this also accelerated the an experience and brain drain on the career side.

If I remember a previous Statter thread late last year the annaul retirement liability costs for the Department alone nearly equal the entire annual operating expense of the volunteer component of the system (the 51 vs. 52 budget line items).

Unwinding and/or consolidating volunteer corporations that have truely become supplemental NOT primary to service delivery in several Battalions is a reasonable idea but it needs to be done with respect, motivation AND A PLAN the stakeholders all can agree TOO which has been sorely missing in in recent years in the Top FD/EMS Brass and County Government. Many career up thru the ranks spend alot of energy chewing away at the volunteers – and the volunteers attack back – and vice a versa.

There are several newer examples of Combination Departments that have the leadership and management focused to get the most out of their people and resources. PG lead as the first integrated Combination Fire Department and was the model that many “looked up to” for ideas and examples for years – the Estepp and Edwards reigns.

As I see it PG’s short term options are limited to what the current Chief is doing – trying to maximize the least expensive component of his system to get as much service as possible – and this is really pissing off the career component and money is coming out of their pocket so the reaction is understandable BUT not necessarily the BEST for the citizen/taxpayer at the moment.

All (career & volunteer) need to return to the cooperation and leadership the Department demonstrated in the 1970s and 1980s – otherwise PGFD will become much like a mid-atlantic suburban version of a Northeast Rust Belt City FD – lots of fire and action with limited resources which stinks for ALL.

Dan

Thanks for the response.

I am pretty sure that Local 1619 was not planning to have “… volunteers support their staffing requirements.”

I think it was in the last contract that the local was able to abolish the one-employee shift staffing and require a minimum of two county employees on duty.

In reviewing the 2006 staffing records, it shows that in the stations with shift staffing, county employees are on the ambulance 95% of the time.

Mike

Good post, but the other key to the analogy that I am disappointed you did not touch on was the fact that local 1619, much like the UAW, priced themselves out of a job.

They are one of the highest paid, if not the highest paid in the region. They conceded new hires for bigger raises, effectively telling the County we would rather jeopardize our safety for more money. This was done in hopes of having volunteers support their staffing requirements. This was a gamble that paid off in the short-term, but is starting to hit them hard today.