SDaly64

I cannot understand how the Mayor of the City of Stamford says he has a idea of how to transform the City's fire services. Why doesnt he leave that up to his Chief of the Stamford Fire Department and the new ( to be appointed) volunteer Asst. Chief? The Mayor is a business man, with absolutely no formal fire service training that I am aware of. His actions, in my opinion, would be strictly politically motivated! And look at the comment that Belltown Chief Didelot stated " I guess the public has spoken at this point in time", you GUESS?? The citizens overwhelmenly voted for a single fire department and single chief concept! Long Ridge Chief Teitelbaum is "exploring legal options at this time"...are you kidding me, legal options about a public election where the citizens of Stamford have voted for a change. Kind of like Mitt Romney suing the Federal Government because President Obama won re-election. ( by the way Mitt Romney is not suing anyone). And Springdale Chief Fahan states " he doesnt believe that Charter change automatically gives Stamford officials management control over the volunteer fire stations".......perhaps he should read the entire provisions, especially Sec. C5-40-3 (g), before making that statement..... The Chief's of the volunteer fire companies shall have primary firefighting responsibilities in their fire service districts and primary responsibilities over the personel and equipment assigned to their fire service districts, subject to the supervision and direction of the Assistant Chief of volunteer services and the Fire Chief. That is now adopted as the current Charter language for the City of Stamford.
The absolute MUST is to guarantee quick and adequate responses from all stations when called upon to act. Some stations have been doing fine and others, well, have not. We all know this to be true. What I welcome is the fact that ALL firefighters will be held to the same standards ( annual physicals, annual training, etc.) All firefighters, career or volunteer now need to work TOGETHER in making the Stamford Fire Department the best that it can be. It's time to stop all the bickering,the "he said-she said" and most importantly the lies.......lets get going!!!

All of us know the importance of bystander CPR. Do your non-emergency service family members and friends know what to do if you needed CPR? Tell them about this event!
Even if you know CPR already come out to help break the Guinness world record!
Follow the link for more info and to sign up. This Saturday, 8/25/12 Stamford, CT
http://www.handsforlife.org

Hi all. I am new to the board. I heard from someone today that there is alot of good reading going on here. I am going to jump in here with both feet and just add my point of view from where I have watched this for a long time. I have been involved with the system in Stamford for over 35 years starting as a volunteer, then became a paid driver for one of the departments, served as a chief for that department for two years and have started my 31st year with Stamford Fire Rescue. As most of you may already know, and some of you may have figured out who I am, this is not a new problem.
This problem began a long time ago and it only has become worse. I know, when I worked as a paid driver in ToR I pulled up to jobs alone waiting for my counterpart from the other station and hopefully, a volunteer would arrive soon. And back then they did. Most of those volunteers are now career personnel. The fact of the matter is that the socio-economic make up fo this city (which I was born and raised in)has been ever evolving, from a manufacturing town, then as a bedroom community for NYC to what it is now as a metropolis for world headquarters. It has grown from the 6th to 5th , and now the 4th largest city in CT. What happened to the people who started here? I know there are still a lot of you still living here but the ratio has changed drastically. 2 maybe 3 out of 10 people who reside here now are originally from here, and I dare to say for the most part do not know what there fire department really is or how it is run. You are not getting the volunteer participation that is needed anymore. that is not anyones fault. It is just the way it is. Volunteers are dedicated, but so are career members.
When I began doing this stuff there were more volunteers than there were paid in each of the Big 5 then. It grew to a point where there were more paid members than volunteers. Most of those volunteers were off duty career, more than likely violating FLSA. So at what point does a volunteer FD no longer be considered volunteer when there are more paid members than there are volunteers? Springdale Fire Company used to be one of the most advid anti paid departments in the city. Their past leadership of 20 + years ago were always angry at ToR for consistently asking for more paid personnel at yearly budget hearings. I even had a past chief from Springdale get in my face for always asking for more paid men. He told me that I was killing the volunteers. I told him my responcibility was to the personnel already working for their safety, and the people we were entrusted to protect. He stormed off. Never heard from him again. I think he died.
There is one descriptive word that I have not read in these posts as yet. PROFESSIONAL. Meaning; Of or pertaining to a profession, or calling; conforming to the rules or standards of a profession; following a profession; as, professional knowledge; A person who prosecutes anything professionally, or for a livelihood, and not in the character of an amateur; a professional worker.
You don't neccessarily need to be paid to be professional, nor do you need not to be paid to be an ameteur. It really boils down to attitudes. So I will put this question out to all of you and end this post before it becomes a novel. Which of these two descriptions do you feel you fit into, Professional, or Ameteur? I think that those of us that feel this plan is a good one are ameteurs who are looking to feather their own beds. I further feel that the volunteer chiefs that realized what was needed like Glenbrook's Chief Passero, and (ironically) Springdale's past Chief J. Hoyt (who I was not refering to earlier) are examples of non paid professionals. I can't think of any paid ametuers, Oh wait a minute I am sorry I can think of maybe 6 or 8. They had a clandestine secret meeting a week or so ago at an empty volunteer station. (WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE).
Make no mistake about it. This is a political payback or a strong attempt to begin the process of the city getting out of the fire protection business. Like some of the posts already have raised the spectre of RURAL METRO. And for those of you who think this is a good plan because you are trying to get a back door job, what are you going to do when the new tax district (if it is formed) hires chiefs or administrators from elsewhere who have some kind of credentials. Does this plan specifically state who will be hired, and what qualifications will they need to possess. What qualifications do the current so called chiefs who support the plan possess? "Yesterday I wanted to be chief, today I are one?" Good Luck.