Change in Priorities Coming?

[SageVigiles 1,194]

My Fire Administration professor brought this up a few weeks ago in class. Its something I would never have even thought of, and I found it very interesting. Below the article is the area of this that we discussed.

Social Security Hits First Wave of Boomers

October 9, 2007

USA Today

Richard Wolf

EARLEVILLE, Md. — When Kathleen Casey-Kirschling signs up for Social Security benefits Monday, it will represent one small step for her, one giant leap for her baby boom generation — and a symbolic jump toward the retirement system's looming bankruptcy.

Casey-Kirschling — generally recognized as the nation's first boomer (born in Philadelphia on Jan. 1, 1946, at 12:00:01 a.m.) — won't bankrupt the Social Security system by taking early retirement at 62. But after her, the deluge: 80 million Americans born from 1946 to 1964 who could qualify for Social Security and Medicare during the next 22 years.

The first wave of 3.2 million baby boomers turns 62 next year — 365 an hour. About 49% of the men and 53% of the women are projected to choose early retirement and begin drawing monthly Social Security checks representing 75% of the benefit they'd be entitled to receive if they waited four more years to retire.

In 2011, they'll turn 65 and be eligible for Medicare. In 2012, those who didn't take early retirement benefits will turn 66 and qualify for their full share.

So here's the relevance to fire/emergency services:

Traditionally, the governmental organization that gets "carte blanche" for budgets is the Board of Education. If ever cuts need to be made, the BoE says they are going to cut afterschool programs, band, sports, etc. Then parents come out in DROVES to fight against the cuts and support their school district.

This happened mostly during the period when the "Baby Boomers" had children in school. Now that the Boomers are getting older, and the majority of their children will have graduated public school. Good luck trying to get those people to come out and vote for higher school budgets (and thus, higher taxes) when they will see none of the benefit.

My professor posited the idea that schools will no longer be the service that the Baby Boomers are concerned with. As they are getting older, their medical care and safety will become their key concern. (No, I'm not calling anyone here old, just bringing up a point)

So the question is, do you think this will create a shift in public policy shifting less demand for educational programs and a larger concern for fire, police and EMS services? Those of us in this business know we've been dealing with an aging society for years, but as the large "bubble" approaches, we're going to need more rigs and personnel on the road. Do you think, for lack of a better term, Carte Blanche will be granted to our organizations?

Food for thought. Discuss.

[helicopper 1,050]

I think it is already here. Police and Fire budgets are already under scrutiny, vacancies aren't being filled, positions are being eliminated through attrition and outright layoffs of personnel and the closure of fire stations/companies.

[FFPCogs 863]

My Fire Administration professor brought this up a few weeks ago in class. Its something I would never have even thought of, and I found it very interesting. Below the article is the area of this that we discussed.

So here's the relevance to fire/emergency services:

Traditionally, the governmental organization that gets "carte blanche" for budgets is the Board of Education. If ever cuts need to be made, the BoE says they are going to cut afterschool programs, band, sports, etc. Then parents come out in DROVES to fight against the cuts and support their school district.

This happened mostly during the period when the "Baby Boomers" had children in school. Now that the Boomers are getting older, and the majority of their children will have graduated public school. Good luck trying to get those people to come out and vote for higher school budgets (and thus, higher taxes) when they will see none of the benefit.

My professor posited the idea that schools will no longer be the service that the Baby Boomers are concerned with. As they are getting older, their medical care and safety will become their key concern. (No, I'm not calling anyone here old, just bringing up a point)

So the question is, do you think this will create a shift in public policy shifting less demand for educational programs and a larger concern for fire, police and EMS services? Those of us in this business know we've been dealing with an aging society for years, but as the large "bubble" approaches, we're going to need more rigs and personnel on the road.

Excellent post and a good perspective in terms of where we stand today.

Do you think, for lack of a better term, Carte Blanche will be granted to our organizations?

Food for thought. Discuss.

Carte blance? Unfortunately I highly doubt it, at least for the FD side. The emergency services and especially the fire service rank far below education and as a parent I can say in part I agree with that..after all the education of my kids is of prime importance to me, for that is their future. We generally fall far short of the Police as well maybe in part because the PD is usually a far more visible presence in the community and crime is viewed as a larger "threat" than fire to the average person. That being said we in the fire service face another hurdle and one that I don't, I can't advocate going around...that being the fact that we always do as much as we can with as little as we can. We are here to save lives and property and if we are hamstrung financially in doing so we still do it to the best of our ability (in general) because that is why we are here...and truth be told I hold firm to the conviction that this is our duty, as do most FFs I think. This is our Achilles heel in a sense though because the public and the bean counters know this as well...they call = we come and do the job regardless, so there is little "pressure" to give us carte blance or even at times it seems, simply enough. I can't and won't condone providing less than the utmost service to our communities under whatever financial strains we may face, because to do so would be the antithesis of what it means to be a firefighter, at least to me.

Maybe the answer lies in better PR and public education since most people suffer from the "it can never happen to me" syndrome and therefore don't think they need to make the investment in us.

Just a thought

Cogs

____________

Peter Cogliano

FF

Dyncorp/LOGCAP IV

Kandahar, Afghanistan

Edited April 13, 2010 by FFPCogs

[SageVigiles 1,194]

Cogs, thanks for biting. The idea is that the people will be less inclined to care about the educational system since it will be a "my kids don't go to school, so I why should I pay for it" mentality, similar to the "my house doesn't catch fire, why should I pay for the fire department" mentality we see now. I'm wondering whether we will see the former become more prevalent as opposed to the latter.