I hope
everyone
is
having a
good
week and
today
has been
a long
one so
let’s
get
started
with the
Finance
Committee
meeting
today.
- Budget—by ordinance, the Mayor must submit a balanced budget with the certified revenues given. Unfortunately, like the last couple of years, there has been a deficit between revenues and expenditures….this is where the Council’s responsibility comes in. Council looks at the budget and decide what should be funded each year and at what level. Today, after understanding the gravity of the situation (station closures) the Finance Committee recommended restoring roughly 12.6 million dollars to our budget, which included hiring ½ of our current vacancies or 67 firefighters. Chief Senterfitt’s 2 ½ hour presentation, culminated months of hard work and preparation by a lot of folks at HQ. Unfortunately, no additional rescue units were included nor was the restoring of staffing on HM21, Air-5, etc... The purchasing of capital items such as Fleet replacement will take place at another meeting in the next few weeks. Nothing is final until a full Council vote sometime next month and the details of the proposed budget are not fully clear yet (we have to wait on info from the Budget Office) As always, as new information comes in, I will keep you informed as to what the changes are.
- RMS sign up for OT goes live on August 17th (Saturday)—you will sign off that you are available or unavailable for OT each day when you put in your PIN. RMS will generate three lists for the Chiefs to utilize when hiring for OT. I expect issues or concerns will arise and we will address as necessary.
- Cancer in the Fire Service—I hope everyone took the time to watch he videos on the email I sent out. Cancer rates in the Fire Service are approaching 1 in 3 nationally. We just recently lost one of our own (Andre Hills E24) to cancer in June. Remember how to protect yourself during overhaul and documenting through Rehab.
- Dual Response Fire Stations—per the memorandum from Chief Senterfitt, staffing has been restored to six Dual Response stations! (33, 43, 45, 46, 49, and 53). We are in the process of assigning the firefighters back to those spots.
Time to
give
some
praise---
- First and foremost, to the firefighters in Key Largo who saved the individuals from a sinking boat in rough weather. If were not for the quick actions of Matt McCormick, David Squires, Scott Holecheck, Harry Strayer, and Marc Grabbert, the outcome of that day could have been much worse for the six boaters they saved. Once again, JFRD and SJCFD were there when people needed us most.
- To the A shift crew of Ladder 10, led by Capt. Keene, F-5 (Chief Dempsey), and Buddy Harris (btw was off duty) who in sweltering heat on Monday, restored the paint on old Ladder 10 at the Museum. If you don’t remember the ‘pink’ looking tiller ladder sitting in the corner at Commonwealth, you should go by and see it now; unbelievable. The dedication to the Men of Ten is forthcoming.
- To all of you, who each day, come into work and make a difference for the community we serve. We know many of you have life issues of your own and the sacrifice you make does not go unnoticed by the Administration.
As
always,
we thank
you for
what you
do, why
you do
it, and
for
constantly
proving
why you
are the
best
Fire
Department
in the
country!
Very
respectfully,
Kurtis
R.
Wilson