Fall River Herald News Article

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Fall River councilor, mayor clash in effort to fix fire department’s fiscal 2015 crisis

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 17, 2014

FALL RIVER — City Councilor Michael Miozza rolled out a financial plan last week he believed would avert mass layoffs expected in the Fall River Fire Department in the next fiscal year.

“I think the money’s in the budget,” Miozza said.

Not so fast, Mayor Will Flanagan said on Sunday: the money Miozza suggested to return to the firefighters has already been earmarked to fund their budget in 2015.

“He gave the firefighters false hope because the money’s already allocated,” Flanagan said.

“If Miozza thinks the money’s in the budget, Flanagan said, “then show us where it is.”

Last Tuesday, Miozza told City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros and John Nunes, treasurer and director of financial services, that he wanted to give back to the fire department a portion of the $14 million SAFER grant the department received two years ago that was transferred to the stabilization account.

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Fall River Herald News Article

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City Council rejects Fall River mayor’s home-rule petition request to allow early retirement for firefighters

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 14, 2014

FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s plan for a home-rule petition that would offer senior firefighters an incentive to take early retirement as the fire department faces deep cuts failed this week after the City Council voted it down in a 4-4 split.

Voting against the home-rule petition, which would give senior firefighters five years toward their pensions, were councilors Linda Perreira, Raymond Mitchell, Michael Miozza and Daniel Rego. Voting in favor were council President Joseph Camara and councilors Pat Casey, Paul DaSilva and Jasiel Correia II.

Flanagan needed the approval of the council before sending it to the Legislature, although it appears there is little appetite at the Statehouse to pass the petition.

The mayor announced at the end of February that in fiscal 2015, he would cut 60 firefighter positions, leaving a complement of 153, as a more than $14 million SAFER grant expires in July.

Until December, firefighters said Flanagan had promised the city would fund a fire department of 200 firefighters.

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Fall River Herald News Guest Opinion

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Guest Opinion: Mayoral mismanagement created this FRFD crisis

James Mellen

Posted Mar. 12, 2014

I am a member of the Fall River Fire Department and I would like to respond to Mayor Will Flanagan’s Facebook statement regarding his plan which will decimate the FRFD. The mayor states that keeping 200 firefighters was the target of his administration, but the budget climate would not allow that.

Mayor, tell us, what suddenly changed in this climate? A landfill that has been closing for years? City employee contracts that your administration negotiated? Two years to prepare for this and at the 11th hour you propose a 34 percent cut?

The first part of your plan has already fallen through. Our federal delegation has informed you that an increase in the current SAFER application will not happen, confirming what we expressed our sources had told us. If it was “critical” to join you in this effort, we are now beyond critical. What is your new plan?

If level funded local aid was used to “calculate” the 153 number, will all increased aid be funneled directly to this problem? Will you publicly commit to that?

We have explained to you, and our local delegation has confirmed to you, that your home rule petition for early retirement will not pass the Legislature. Posting this as part of your solution after being told this merely detracts attention from serious solutions.

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Fall River Herald News Article

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City Council blasts Flanagan over plan to cut firefighters during debate on early retirement home-rule petition

From left, Firefighter Jim Cusick, firefighters union President Jay Burns and Firefighter Bill Fitzgerald address the City Council as about 100 firefighters and their families look on.

Herald News Photo | Jo C. Goode
Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 11, 2014

FALL RIVER — With about 100 grim-faced firefighters and family members looking on, the City Council blasted Mayor Will Flanagan for his plan to slash fire department personnel by 34 percent with the pending expiration of the SAFER grant and what they asserted was mismanagement of the city’s finances Monday night.

“This administration has got to get its act together,” said City Councilor Daniel Rego, “accountability needs to be held.”

Rego said it is Flanagan who should be sitting before the council with an explanation.

Flanagan took the 213-member fire department — as well as many others, including members of the council — by surprise when he announced at the end of last month in that in fiscal 2015, he would cut 60 firefighter positions, leaving a complement of 153.

Until December, firefighters said Flanagan had promised the city would fund a fire department of 200 firefighters.

Two years ago, after receiving what was at the time the largest ever SAFER award, Flanagan pledged that he would work to fund the fire department without relying on grants.

City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros, who represented the administration at the meeting, said the financial team didn’t know there was no adequate funding for the fire department until they started preparing the budget in January.

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Fall River Herald News Guest Opinion

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Guest Opinion: Fall River Fire Department cuts are not the answer to fiscal woes

Joshua Hetzler

Posted Mar. 7, 2014

Fall River once again faces damaging changes, ones that promise to greatly compromise the safety of our citizens, as well as place at risk the firefighters sworn to protect them. Cutting Fall River Fire Department staffing to 153 will absolutely hurt this city. In no way should anyone fall under the false pretense that the department will be able to do its job properly with these numbers.

National standards will not be properly met. The SAFER grant is based on bringing the Fire Department up to the standard. The fact that we qualified for the SAFER grant means that we were not meeting the standard, and the city administration signed off on that application.

Mutual aid cannot make up for the valuable minutes needed to save the property and lives of our citizens. It is completely selfish to rely on these nearby towns to save our city at the potential risk of their own. Engines and stations will likely be shut down because of these cuts. Most citizens can only hope that their neighborhoods and families will not be victims as a result of this decision. An impact not considered by the administration is the huge cost of an injured firefighter.

This reality has been documented nationally as a consequence of the reduction of personnel. If a firefighter is injured, will we have to then lay off more personnel to cover the costs? I love my family, but as a Fall River firefighter, I now have to tell them that my life would be in more danger than ever when I go to work. It is mind-blowing that this is seen as an acceptable reality for my firefighter brothers and myself.

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Fall River Herald News Article

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Flanagan’s bid for more SAFER firefighting funds looks bleak

Engine 12 is shown parked at the Fall River biopark.

Herald News Photo | Dave Souza
Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 7, 2014

FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s social media campaign to lobby the city’s congressional delegation in an attempt to increase the city’s SAFER grant funding for firefighting jobs appears to be futile.

Flanagan, however, said he doesn’t see it that way and that this must be a communitywide effort, including the federal delegation, whom he said supports him in gaining more funding.

“Make no mistake, this is an uphill battle,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan is seeking to amend a SAFER grant application to request money for 50 additional firefighters, up from the original request of 16 additional firefighters.

Last week, Flanagan announced plans to cut the fire department by 60 firefighters, reducing staff size from 213 to 153, after promising the firefighters union he would fund a complement of 200 in the fiscal 2015 budget.

There may be a problem, according to members of the federal delegation.

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Fall River Herald News Letter

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Letter: Don’t underestimate FRFD’s value

Msgr. Thomas Harrington

Posted Mar. 4, 2014

Residents of Fall River should have great respect for, and pride in, the officers and members of Fire Department. On countless occasions, their skill and dedication results in one-after-another “good stop” quickly controlling potentially devastating blazes.

Firefighting is a science blending experience with what are very labor-intensive bursts of exertion. Our department depends upon the experience of veteran firefighters and the athleticism and agility of our younger men.

The sudden announcements of draconian cuts in staffing stagger the imagination of anyone contemplating the mills, occupied and vacant, closely-packed three-deckers and so many other potential threats. I am wondering what will be the effect in insurance premiums when the underwriters consider the proposed situation.

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Fall River Herald News Article

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Fall River Fire Department staff cuts could give city region’s worst ratio of firefighters to residents

Fall River firefighters are shown at the scene of a blaze on 18th Street in Fall River on Jan. 8. The fire department is facing substantial staff cuts unless the city can again secure a federal SAFER grant. Fire officials say the cuts could affect response times to fires.

Herald News Photo | Dave Souza
Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 4, 2014

FALL RIVER — If Mayor Will Flanagan moves to slash the Fall River Fire Department’s staffing by one-third, the city could have the worst firefighter-to-population ratio in the region.

The Herald News used data from 2012 census estimates and newspaper reports to compare the city’s fire department with the communities of New Bedford, Brockton and Taunton.

With a current staffing level of 213, the Fall River Fire Department covers the city’s 40 square miles with its 750 streets and 255 miles of roadway.

The fire department has currently one firefighter to every 418 people.

With Flanagan’s proposal to cut 60 firefighters — leaving a complement of 153 — that ratio rises to one firefighter for every 581 people.

Compare that to New Bedford, which has a higher population of 94,929 but which covers 24 square miles, a little more than half the coverage area of Fall River.

With the New Bedford Fire Department having 235 firefighters, the city has the lowest ratio, one firefighter to every 404 people, of the cities examined.

The Brockton Fire Department, with a staff of 184, has a ratio of one to 511; and the Taunton Fire Department’s 120 firefighters give the city a one-to-467 ratio.

 

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Fall River Herald News Article

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Flanagan warns Fall River firefighters of potential layoffs amid budget crunch

Firefighters at the Central Fire Station, shown here, said that, by 2:30 p.m., they hadn't heard directly from officials about the potential cuts.

Herald News Photo | Dave Souza
Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Feb. 28, 2014

FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan delivered tough news to city firefighters Friday, warning that staffing must be reduced by nearly 30 percent as result of the expiration of the SAFER grant and an uncertain fiscal climate in fiscal 2015.

“This is the most difficult discussion I’ve had in my tenure as mayor,” Flanagan said.

To Jason Burns, president of the firefighters Local 1314, Flanagan’s move to drastically downsize the fire department is not only a shock but “catastrophic,” and he said the fiscal issues are not something that crept up on the city.

“The problems of the city are being solved at the expense of the fire department,” Burns said. “Where is the shared responsibility?”

The SAFER grant expires the second week in July.

Flanagan met with union representatives at 9:30 a.m.

The administration’s original plan going into fiscal 2015 was to have staffing at the fire department at 200 from its present number of 213. In reality, Flanagan said, if the firefighters don’t accept a list of concessions, that number will drop to 153 — a loss of 60 firefighters.

“The budget will not allow for 200 firefighters,” Flanagan said.

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