How many politicians does it take to unscrew a light bulb?
You think of this byline as a joke but the reality is there are far too many politicians who are willing to unscrew the “light bulb of public service.” Let’s look at the havoc wrought on our service by the ignorant politicians who now have the fire service, EMS and police services in their budget bulls’ eye. I’ll let my brother and sister cops speak for them selves as they have the guns and the political horsepower to minimize cuts to police services. Nuff said there.
Back in the day when I was working the streets as a firefighter, we always said that it would take the injury or demise of a politician from a cardiac arrest or a house fire for them to take seriously the value of the community fire and EMS services. That of course never happened on my watch but you would wonder about the “overwhelming” support if a “saved” politician would rally to the side of public safety.
Let’s look at the recent cuts to public safety across the country. In Alameda: an individual drowned because the City cut the water rescue budget creating an embarrassment to the firefighters standing on the shore and to the new Fire Chief. Immediately the “politicians” found new money and put back into operation the water rescue program. As expected the mother of the deceased individual is suing the City and the Department for lots more money than it would have cost if the City maintained their program.
In another recent example, the Fire Chief in Moline's (Ill) Fire Department has quit over the city's plans to make cuts to his department. Members of the Moline City Council considered options to make up for a $1.7 million deficit but ultimately decided not to raise property taxes, resulting in the loss of 12 Emergency Medical Services positions. Officials say they'll look for a private company to handle those services. OMG, now the private sector is part of that “cost savings”. What do those politicians think about the loss of 12 firefighters? Not much apparently but will soon realize that the “service standards” have been severely compromised by their short sighted actions. Time will tell on this one and other similar situations across the country.
Researching this topic to add some punch to the impact this is having on our services, even some of our Fire Chiefs and mayors are quoted as saying from - www.firefighterclosecalls.com
* "Every single community here would feel that pain some time." "Each neighborhood will get to see if they're feeling lucky on a given day. That's the way it needs to be done." What the hell, is the mayor Dirty Harry looking to “make my day” or “are you feeling lucky today, punk?”
* Fire Chief Vows That Budget Cuts Won't Deplete Services- - - - - -
* The Mayor said that he does not think the City needs X number of firehouses. “I have never seen a firehouse put out a fire,” he said. But if one of them had to be closed, The Mayor says he'd recommend shutting down a different one each week on a rotating basis -- something he calls "firehouse roulette."
* Fire Chief insists that the layoffs and aging equipment don't mean that service will be reduced. The Chief said that he has been in departments with three times the manpower as his current one, but that manpower does not in itself prevent tragedy. “People will die no matter how many firefighters you have.” I say Chief – find another line of work because this job is not for you.
All of these quotes and hundreds more, I say REALLY?? Are the Fire Chief’s holding the ladders for the politicians while they “unscrew the light bulb?
In some communities Fire Chief’s are “talking the political talk” because it saves their jobs. The reality is that with the exception of the Moline Fire Chief, most of the other Chiefs are complicit in this egregious behavior or are biding their time waiting for a change in political leadership.
I do not advocate leaving your job as it is better to work within the system to change the system
Occasionally we need to run and win those political offices to get some “firefighter brains” on the councils or commissions. In today’s political environment they really are tossing out the “baby with the bathwater” and unfortunately we are the baby in that scenario.
OK for the rest of the Joke – how many does it take? “Only one - to keep the citizens and firefighters in the dark” Pretty stupid huh?
Brothers and Sisters, lets get active at the political level to prevent that one politician from unscrewing the public safety light bulb. We deserve better and so does your community.
Back in the day when I was working the streets as a firefighter, we always said that it would take the injury or demise of a politician from a cardiac arrest or a house fire for them to take seriously the value of the community fire and EMS services. That of course never happened on my watch but you would wonder about the “overwhelming” support if a “saved” politician would rally to the side of public safety.
Let’s look at the recent cuts to public safety across the country. In Alameda: an individual drowned because the City cut the water rescue budget creating an embarrassment to the firefighters standing on the shore and to the new Fire Chief. Immediately the “politicians” found new money and put back into operation the water rescue program. As expected the mother of the deceased individual is suing the City and the Department for lots more money than it would have cost if the City maintained their program.
In another recent example, the Fire Chief in Moline's (Ill) Fire Department has quit over the city's plans to make cuts to his department. Members of the Moline City Council considered options to make up for a $1.7 million deficit but ultimately decided not to raise property taxes, resulting in the loss of 12 Emergency Medical Services positions. Officials say they'll look for a private company to handle those services. OMG, now the private sector is part of that “cost savings”. What do those politicians think about the loss of 12 firefighters? Not much apparently but will soon realize that the “service standards” have been severely compromised by their short sighted actions. Time will tell on this one and other similar situations across the country.
Researching this topic to add some punch to the impact this is having on our services, even some of our Fire Chiefs and mayors are quoted as saying from - www.firefighterclosecalls.com
* "Every single community here would feel that pain some time." "Each neighborhood will get to see if they're feeling lucky on a given day. That's the way it needs to be done." What the hell, is the mayor Dirty Harry looking to “make my day” or “are you feeling lucky today, punk?”
* Fire Chief Vows That Budget Cuts Won't Deplete Services- - - - - -
* The Mayor said that he does not think the City needs X number of firehouses. “I have never seen a firehouse put out a fire,” he said. But if one of them had to be closed, The Mayor says he'd recommend shutting down a different one each week on a rotating basis -- something he calls "firehouse roulette."
* Fire Chief insists that the layoffs and aging equipment don't mean that service will be reduced. The Chief said that he has been in departments with three times the manpower as his current one, but that manpower does not in itself prevent tragedy. “People will die no matter how many firefighters you have.” I say Chief – find another line of work because this job is not for you.
All of these quotes and hundreds more, I say REALLY?? Are the Fire Chief’s holding the ladders for the politicians while they “unscrew the light bulb?
In some communities Fire Chief’s are “talking the political talk” because it saves their jobs. The reality is that with the exception of the Moline Fire Chief, most of the other Chiefs are complicit in this egregious behavior or are biding their time waiting for a change in political leadership.
I do not advocate leaving your job as it is better to work within the system to change the system
Occasionally we need to run and win those political offices to get some “firefighter brains” on the councils or commissions. In today’s political environment they really are tossing out the “baby with the bathwater” and unfortunately we are the baby in that scenario.
OK for the rest of the Joke – how many does it take? “Only one - to keep the citizens and firefighters in the dark” Pretty stupid huh?
Brothers and Sisters, lets get active at the political level to prevent that one politician from unscrewing the public safety light bulb. We deserve better and so does your community.
