Gary, Indiana Fire/EMS/PD cuts

[grumpyff 1,159]

Found out about the Gary, Indiana cuts to emergency services on another board. It is disgusting to think of this happening anywhere in this country. Cuts involving almost half of the city's fire apparatus, and reductions in manpower to dangerous levels. Here are links to a few articles:

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/200...4aa000afcab.txt

on EMS cuts: http://www.fdnntv.com/news.asp_Q_articleID...oposed_Job_Cuts

an editorial supporting the cuts: http://nwi.com/articles/2008/10/06/opinion...4d7007bf0ae.txt Read this editorial, it is scary, especially the cuts already made, 15 apparatus to 6 or 7.

Edited December 25, 2008 by grumpyff

[FFPCogs 863]

It is always horrible when people get laid off, or worse lose their jobs permanantly. The cuts there are drastic and the safety of those firefighters is put way to far on the line. Notice too that this will have an effect on other departments in the area as well due to an increase in mutual aid requests. Unfortunately there seems to be no other solution. If the City doesn't have the money to pay it's firefighters what are they supposed to do?..it appears the firefighters have already taken a severe pay cut. ..so what's left other than cuts?. To the taxpayers and Mayor, the fire dept. is but one of many departments and services people pay taxes for. There is only so much money, and it has to be divided to cover all City services. As much as we may understand that a fire dept requires a certain level of staffing or operating budget, most citizens and politician don't. They want all the services they are "entitled" to for their tax dollar. Do you cut education to keep FFs, or garbage collection or any number of other services? It is a balancing act and there will always be losers...the fire dept is not alone in having to do more with less. And since Gary is not the most prosperous of communities, raising taxes to keep jobs most likely is not an option either.

The current "recession" is causing widespread suffering, and Gary is not alone in facing severe budget woes. I am not condoning the City's choice, but as a realist I can fully appreciate that there are times when there is no other choice. As horrendous as the situation is there, and as much as I feel for those FFs affected by the cuts, I look at this as a sign of things to come for many. NO ONE is safe, the wells of many cities are running dry and the prospect of lay offs, wage reductions and staffing shortfalls is one many here may well face in the not too distant future. I hope and pray for a quick recovery of our economy. I truly hope no more firefighters have to face this type of situation, but the reality is that many of us may. My advise is to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Remember it took 3 years before the full effects of the Wall Street crash of 1929 were felt resulting in the Great Depression. Unfortunately I fear that is the road we are on now...BTW so do many high profile and well respected economists. If, God forbid that is the case I think there will be many more firefighters, cops and EMS personnel feeling the pinch like the brothers in Gary.

Stay Safe

Cogs

[Goose 188]

You know what ticks me off the most about all of this? We bust our humps in the field and in the classroom keeping on top of our skills and knowledge and get scratch for it. Meanwhile the auto industry is getting billions upon billions and the UAW is still bitching. I hate to sound virulent on christmas, but those guys have a pretty sweet deal for doing unskilled assembly line labor. Maybe it's me but this Country has to get it's priorities straight.

[jayhalsey 6]

This is very scary, especially considering my sister and two nephews live in Gary.

Edited January 5, 2009 by jayhalsey