Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Quick Article Index . . .
Refurbished fire boat unwitting foil for recent Westport Taxpayers
Association letter.
Firefighter Dan Baldwin responds
to WTA.
WTA berates Fire Chief and Finance
Committee over "lavish spending."
Al Lees speaks out on
"pink slime."
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Refurbished fire boat unwitting foil for recent
Westport Taxpayers Association letter. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
April 11, 2012 Like its bigger brothers in New York Harbor,
the Fire Department's latest acquisition of an aging, 24-foot steel-hulled
fire boat will upgrade safety services in Westport Harbor. The Irving C. Hammond, named after
Westport's first fire chief, was made seaworthy through donations, grants and
the volunteer efforts of Westport firefighters. But the Town of
Somerset-donated fire boat complete with trailer became the unmediated center
of a firestorm generated by a recent letter mailed to every household by the Westport
Taxpayers Association. "It's
outrageous," Fire Chief Brian Legendre said. "The boat and trailer
were donated by Somerset, and was refurbished and made seaworthy with grants,
donations, Haz-Mat funding and personal efforts by
our firefighters. Not one dime of taxpayer money was used." The former Navy
workboat has firefighting apparatus, offers a stable diving platform, and
with its enclosed cabin and heavier hull will serve outside the harbor in
heavy chop better that the department's smaller less powerful boats. The boat is now
in service and will be permanently kept in a donated slip at Lees Wharf,
courtesy of Al Lees, a major contributor of the restoration project, Chief Legendre
said. The Fire Chief
had called a hasty press conference last Friday outside the Town Hall to
rebut statements made in the WTA letter. At the press
conference Chief Brian Legendre showcased the boat, and along with other town
officials and school department heads challenged statements made in the WTA
mailing. "We are
looking at a new ambulance but not for $240,000 as stated in the
letter," Legendre said. "We wouldn't pay that much money for an ambulance." Recently re-elected
Selectman Craig Dutra called the letter an "erroneous and incendiary
mailing." School Committee
Chairwoman Michelle Duarte challenged the "spending spree" of a
$500,000 last fiscal year surplus in 15 minutes, saying it was spent on technology
and maintenance items. Duarte added
that this year's surplus is $288,000, not the $600,000 as reported by the
mailing, and contributed the error to an "out-of-context comment made by
Select Board Chairman Richard Spirlet.
Above: Firefighter Glenn Nunes
points to the fire boat recently christened as the "Irving C. Hammond." Firefighter
Dan Baldwin responds to WTA. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, April 11, 2012 To the editor and more importantly
the citizens of Westport: Allow me to
untwist some of the "facts" told by the Westport Taxpayers
Association. No firefighter
receives a “Bonus-Day” that is paid at time and one half, aka overtime. A
bonus day is for the employee that has perfect attendance, in other words
does not call out sick, which would cost overtime. There is no abuse of sick
leave within the Fire Department, which would result in excessive overtime
costs to the taxpayer. The trend over the last several years is that more
than 50% of the union body has not called out sick . The bonus day
must be taken at no additional cost to the town and must be submitted by
March 31 of the fiscal year so that management has the ability to account for
proper shift coverage without utilizing overtime. There is no annual sick
leave buyback program. The fire
department’s “fire boat” has been funded by grant money and gift account
money. On-duty firefighters have put their talents to work making the boat
seaworthy. I’m not sure I
would classify the rest of our “fleet” as “search and rescue boat.” We have a
rowboat with an engine, and a boat with a spongy floor that couldn’t handle a
small craft advisory if it had too, neither of which offer a protected area
in the event of high winds or rain. The “fire boat” can put out a fire, be
used as a safe launching point for divers, and aid in recovery and rescue, by
assisting the harbormaster. We do not agree
with an ambulance being unmanned at any time — period. We have seen an
increase in mutual aid responses to Fall River, demand is up, staffing is
down. To deny them mutual aid, would only come back to bite us when we need
it, and they say no. The stations are not backfilled until it is determined
to be a transport. This is a department policy that was put into place over
the last couple years as a way to deal with budget issues. A transport is
billed and generates revenue. We are not
buying a $240,000 ambulance. In fact members of the union body have been
working with local vendors to design a truck that would cost substantially
less than $240,000. We are also advocating that any trucks purchased from
this point forward last many, many years, as long as the funds exist to
properly maintain them. We are not looking to purchase low-end throw-away
trucks that need replacing every couple of years. Westport’s
ambulances are staffed by town residents, taxpayers; we are firefighter/
paramedics. When we transport a patient, like the private services, we do
generate revenue. 2011 saw one of the busiest on record, with 2,309 runs. The
department turned in $584,798 in revenue to Westport for calendar year 2011.
Revenue is broken down as follows: Ambulance revenue:
$536,375.96 Fire revenue:
$33835.60 EMA revenue $
14,586.50. Westport has
responded mutual aid to Dartmouth with the ambulance 20 times in the past 15
months (and vice-versa). We are one of several communities that provide
mutual aid to Dartmouth. To say Dartmouth’s EMS service (or any other) is
"always available" is apparently not the case. (No disrespect
to the good men and women of Dartmouth EMS intended; like us they do the best
they can.) The
firefighters, have found alternative vendors for supplies, saving the town
thousands of dollars. Within the last year, our firefighters offered their
time and talents rehabbing the North End (Briggs Road) Fire Station, bringing
paint and materials from our homes in order to save the town money, and keep
the station in a respectable condition, yet I haven’t read about this in any
letters to the editor! In between calls for service, firefighters are responsible
for station maintenance. There are no janitors or groundskeepers on the
payroll within the fire department. In addition to being highly trained
medical professionals and firefighters, we are responsible for cutting grass,
raking leaves, shoveling snow, and routine building maintenance, such as
painting walls, replacing ceiling tiles, stripping and waxing floors, etc. Yet again, no
credit given and no mention of this added service on anyone’s website or
local newspaper. Firefighter, with their own money, purchased new lights for
the Briggs Road station in an effort to save energy. We were not ordered to
do so, or reimbursed; as always we did it with the town’s best interest in
mind. Maybe if the WTA
spent just 50% of their time doing something positive, instead of spewing
half truths and negativity all the time, the taxpayers, whom they claim to
represent, would be served in a better capacity. Dan Baldwin Westport
Firefighters, IAFF L-1802 WTA berates
Fire Chief and Finance Committee over "lavish spending." EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, April 11, 2012 To the editor: Westport has a
so called “strong” fire chief who seems incapable of understanding that, by
vote of Town Meeting, it is absolutely imperative that the north end have a
fully-staffed ambulance not paid for by overtime but paid for as a
straight-time shift. Perhaps if the
fire chief refrained from spending lavish sums on “building” and equipping a
fire boat, giving out a $10,000 raise to the department clerk, and providing
mutual aid ambulance service to Fall River, the residents of north Westport
could live secure in the knowledge that a Westport ambulance would be there
for them in an emergency . Contrary to fire
department propaganda, our mutual aid to Fall River does cost the taxpayers'
money; every time we send an ambulance to Fall River, we call in off-duty
personnel to man the station at overtime pay. Furthermore, if we are unable
to collect from the person who received the service or if service is refused,
the town is not reimbursed for the call. Why did
Westport’s crack negotiating team on December 8, 2011, give the firefighters
an additional paid bonus shift off retroactive to July 1, 2011? Why were the
day-shift personnel given two additional paid bonus shifts off with pay? Are
these new additional bonus shifts paid at straight time or at overtime rates?
Where did the money come from to cover this extravagance? And now there is no
money to cover the north end ambulance? We are paying the chief, the deputy
chief and the day-shift lieutenant at the top end of the pay scale because of
their EMT credentials, and now the chief has threatened to leave our northern
residents unprotected. Why can’t the chief, deputy and day-lieutenant cover
these shifts? Instead of
purchasing a new ambulance at a cost of $240,000, why not privatize the
ambulance service like Dartmouth. Stat Ambulance just added two new
ambulances to its fleet at a cost of $120,000 each to serve Dartmouth. Unlike
Westport, Stat Ambulance pays Dartmouth for the privilege of running the
ambulance service as a for-profit, tax-paying entity. Westport should not
continue to waste money on unnecessary overhead for an essential service that
can be provided by a private company at no cost to the town. Ambulance coverage
in Dartmouth is always available. A pattern has developed in Westport toward
the end of each fiscal year where the fire chief limits service in the north
end and then terrorizes the residents for more funding to cover additional
overtime. If the chief
cannot or will not demonstrate to taxpayers that he can effectively manage
the fire department budget and be a good steward of our tax dollars, it is
time for the Board of Selectmen to establish a Board of Fire Commissioners so
that our “strong” chief will have a boss. Although the
Fire Chief and Selectmen are responsible for this ambulance fiasco, the
Finance Committee is not without blame. The Fincom
must cease sitting on the sidelines with glum faces looking at the floor
(when members are not giggling about some pending town problems.) Finance
Committee members need to step up, step out and provide financial leadership
that is in the best interests of Westport’s taxpayers or they need to resign.
It is now a matter of record that Mary Beth Ferrarini,
Finance Committee representative to the Personnel Board and member of the
Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary, made the motion to enable the $10,000
raise for a Fire Department clerk while her husband is a highly compensated
member of the Fire Department. She should do the right thing now and resign
from the Finance Committee. Moreover, the
Finance Committee’s representative to the Fire Department, Warren Messier,
should also step down. Perhaps the Town’s Moderator should shoulder some
responsibility as well and ask for these and other resignations! Board of
Directors Westport
Taxpayers Association Greg Jonsson, Secretary to the Board Al Lees speaks
out on "pink slime." EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, April 11, 2012 To the editor: Another one of
the dirty little secrets that big box stores and many chain supermarkets
didn’t want you to know has been exposed. Pink slime, a
cheap additive to hamburg that consists of the most
disgusting bits of contaminated beef treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill
bacterial infestation, including E. coli has been, and continues to be, an
ingredient in every pound of hamburg sold at these
food outlets. It is also a principal ingredient in pet food, which should
give everyone pause. If tampering
with something as basic as hamburg for the sake of
increasing the bottom line profitability at the expense of customer trust is
their norm, what’s next? Apparently, this is the latest unnecessary and
revolting consequence of the disconnect between big business and those whom
they serve. For 50 years,
the professional butchers at Lees Market have made hamburg
the old fashioned way by grinding daily fresh USDA choice beef and a small
amount of pure beef fat in small batches. No fillers, no additives, and
certainly no pink slime. This is how we treat everything that we produce at
Lees Market — fresh ingredients, pure goodness, and absolute integrity. You can rest
assured that the fresh food you buy from us will be safe and of the highest
quality you will find anywhere. I will not compromise my name and reputation
nor will I compromise the reputation of the professional food specialists who
work at Lees by asking for anything less. Shopping
locally, and being served by people whom you trust is your family’s best
assurance of eating healthy and safe food each and every day. Maybe it’s time
to “Think out of the box?” Thanks for
listening ... Al Lees Westport - - - - - End - - - - - © 2012 Community Events
of Westport All rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
