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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Featured Galleries: September 4, 2007 Fire fighters cry foul on budget cuts By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland fire fighters, upset about budget cuts, will meet with city officials after their union went public — with an advertisement in the Daily Tidings — detailing their dissatisfaction. Ashland Fire and Rescue's budget was cut by $300,000, a 5 percent decrease from the previous year, said David Shepherd, an engineer/paramedic with the fire department, who is also the president of the union chapter, 1269 of the International Fire Fighters Association. "We feel the current system of how the Fire Department is funded is not working," the ad in Tuesday's Tidings read. "Unfortunately this year's cuts follow several years of relatively flat budgets for the Fire Department and have now placed a significant strain on the readiness, capability, safety and morale of Ashland Fire and Rescue firefighters." Shepherd said the budget cuts are causing fire fighters to do without certain training programs, as well as preventing them from hiring additional employees. "The guys were obviously disappointed with the cuts that were made," Shepherd said. Although the advertisement states that the union would like to be funded through property taxes, rather than utility bill user fees, Shepherd said the real issue is prioritizing emergency services. "If we expect to remain a viable fire department we need some type of financial stability," he said. The union represents all 28 of the non-management fire fighters with AFR. Diverging from his employees' point of view, Fire Chief Keith Woodley said he is satisfied AFR made out as well as it did in the budget process. "I think this is something we can weather," he said, about the budget cut. "If you look at the history you'll see this community has supported and funded us over the year. But we're not the only priority they have. This is a test budget year for everyone. There were cuts in almost all city departments, some even lost staff." City Administrator Martha Bennett said budget cuts happened across the board and the fire department was not the hardest hit city department. "I don't think anyone is particularly happy that we had flat revenues and increasing costs," she said, noting the Community Development Department lost staff hours in this year's budget. "Planning and building took much bigger cuts than either police or fire. This is a bigger problem than just the fire department." She said cost increases — coupled with a downturn in revenue, mostly from lower than expected building fees — put the city in a position where it had to tighten its financial belt. "The direction from (city) council going into the budget process was to hold revenue flat and not to increase the tax rate or other rates," Bennett said. "What we're seeing here is the fire union reacting to that." She added that, while there is little the city can do for the union at this point, she and Woodley will meet with the Shepherd to discuss the union's concerns. The specifics of their budget will be a "policy question" for the city council and budget committee next summer. "The ad has provoked a meeting," she said. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 226 or [email protected] . To post a comment on this story, go to www.dailytidings.com . Current Comments: How much does training cost? How much is in the budget for training? Could someone who has been trained in the department teach someone who has not been trained? How much would that cost? Do they need more hoses, etc? How much is in the budget for that? Even with the cuts, can't some of the needs be met? Or, as I suspect, do the union people just get giddy by always getting more, more and more? Donna - Ashland OR - September 4th, 4:58 PM Sounds like the fire union is just being little cry babies. If I remember right, the FD got extra staff last year when other departments did not. Also, sounds like other departments took a harder hit this year. Carol - Ashland - September 4th, 9:44 PM Interesting how when firefighters die as in 9/11, people all say how much they appreciate what they do, calling them heroes; but when they want to discuss the cutting of $300,000.in training and personel from their budget, people like Donna pipe up and insinuate that they are just greedy union people,thinking only of themselves. Perhaps, instead,we really should be looking at why the budgets of our public safety employees are being cut.It's worth discussing with an open and non-predjudiced mind. Dman - Ashland - September 4th, 10:35 PM How can anyone insinuate that firefighters are greedy? That might sound cute until your home is on fire, or you are in an accident. The Ashland Fire Department saved one of my family members lives. I really doubt that they are coating their boots in gold. Wow Donna, ever hear of Kaharma? Sounds like you are really rolling the dice with that comment. Good luck. Friendly - Ashland - September 5th, 12:05 AM firefighters, policemen/military, librarians, and water and sewage workers are the most important jobs for a functioning communnity, second only to farmers, for without food we all die. Why does Ashland money interests seem to be only concerned with making this another tourist mecca for Virulent Consumptive America in the midst of seriously sacrificing two of those vital services, libraries et now firefighters!!! are u kidding? something is wrong here people. and we are still bickering!!?! Kai ( [email protected] ) - Ashland, Jefferson - September 5th, 5:56 AM According to the budget, what got cut was Capital Outlay (no new fire trucks or fire stations ). Personal Services have gone up every year: 3.15 million in 2006, 3.56 in 2007 and 3.62 for 2008. Material and Services was 1.18 million in 2006, 1.29 in 2007 and 1.37 for 2008. So, new shiny toys not withstanding, the fire department budget has increased about 15% over the past two years. Tom Bird - Ashland, Or. - September 5th, 9:52 AM I apologize to Dman and Friendly. I didn't express myself well at all. I meant to impart a thought that the union leaders (NOT THE FIREPEOPLE) are never satisfied. God bless the people who actually do the work for the benefit of us all. Donna - Ashland OR - September 5th, 10:42 AM The union leaders in Ashland still work on fire engines and respond to the citizens emergencies. They take on this difficult job to better both for the fire fighters and the citizens of Ashland. I am sure that they are concerned with the cuts because it will compromise emergency response. Kelly - Salem - September 5th, 12:20 PM How do you sleep at night people. I cant belive this CHEVMAN - Ontario, OR - September 5th, 12:28 PM I've been watching the Cities budget short comings for over a year now that my son has move to your wonderful city. Unfortunately there is a great deal of balancing to do in order to accommodate all of the accentual services the city needs. People like Donna just floor me in there thinking. Honestly Donna, who do you think the "union leaders" are? It�s YOUR firefighters! that are trying to make a decent wage for the difficult job they do. Not one of those firefighters is overpaid. B. Lee - Salem, Or - September 5th, 12:36 PM "the fire union is just being little cry babies". I bet you that every one of those city departments that are taking serious cuts in thier programs are doing a little bit of complaining right now!! The firefighters are just being bold enough to voice thier concern by letting the public, who they protect, know the facts and risks they face. Those who think that firefighters are cry babies should get a life! To the firefighters - Stand Bold, Spend Wisely, Protect & Serve! Brother ( [email protected] ) - Klamath Falls - September 5th, 1:39 PM Wow! As a long time Ashland resident that follows our government budgets and issues. I'm surprised here. Look at the amount of NEW cars at the NEW fire station. Talk about too many chiefs! The NORMAL training budget is still the same, only the above and beyond training was not approved. A lot of other department took a lot harder hits and we need them just as much. Airing your dirty laundry in the newspaper is counterproductive and disrespectful to the tax payers. Enjoy your pay raises. Madam Rainbow - Ashland - September 5th, 4:02 PM I have been reading all the comments about the letter in the paper... Ignorance is deadly. The fire training budget is vital for firefighter safety. It has been cut, it has been cut for the city's mistake (AFN) If you were wondering what budget hasn't been cut look at the parks.. are they vital for life safety. AF&R provides fire and ambulance service for a group of people that obviously takes them for granted. floored - notashlandthankgod,or - September 5th, 7:13 PM The neg. comments here are made with only partial knowledge. Greed and a desire to be safe are not the same. The training the firefighters are asking for will save their lives or someone in the valley. The burn trailer, fire safety trailer, wildland vehicle, and other equipment were paid for by grants. Then the city reduced the firefighters budgets by the amount of the grant. They only have a chief, firemarshal, and training chief, they can't afford the chief in charge of operations. Concerned-Keep the firefighters safe! - Talent - September 5th, 9:08 PM I say if you don't care about the firefighters then when your house catches on fire or your grandma has a heart attact then deal with it your self. Police and fire fighters risks their lives everyday, even in the state of Ashland. I bet Donna would love to go inside a buring building risking her live to save not just a life but some strangers property. Police and fire fighters should be paid triple what they are paid now, just because of the crap they deal with...long term injury,assaults..ect ac - A-town - September 6th, 2:44 AM It amazes me that we have kill our public safety personnel due to lack of this or lack of that in order to get funding. It's not just Ashland either but all communities with citizens with the same mindset. We're considered heroes when we're dead. I for one have saved countless lives and usher out countless lives in my "gold lined boots". Community leaders need to step up and look after their communities and the personnel that serve them before the accidents from lack of proper funding. My .02! MDOFDEATH - Wilsonville, OR - September 6th, 9:34 AM Every city dept is critical to me. When my electricity goes out in a storm I depend on the electric crew to climb up a 40 foot pole to reconnect me. When a tree root blocks my sewer line and it backs up in my house, I depend on the sewer guys to rescue me. When a tree falls in the street, the street crews clear the roads. When my internet is down, I depend on the AFN guys to reconnect me. I depend on every city department every day. Budget cuts hurt every department Manuel - Ashland - September 6th, 12:18 PM I moved here from a city larger then Ashland, the majority the fire dept was manned by volunteer fire fighters and volunteer paramedics. We had nice equipment and our budget was about 15% of Ashland�s and the success rate about the same. I spent 3 years as a volunteer with them. It was a community building experience and we worked for the community without the expectations of pay. In today�s day and age we don't risk lives to save a structure, we make sure everyone�s out and watch it burn. Hill Billy - Ashland - September 6th, 4:27 PM Poor P.R. move, AFR Union. Dirty laundry in public,reminds me of APD and their hobbled open letter fiasco. Sympathy is in short supply, sorry, but true. May be a little more empathy if it weren't for the 'attitude' so prevalent in the F.D. "if my house were burning"...I'd invest in fire sprinklers right now...I'd rather AFD not even step foot on my property, by right of previous encounters, which were just plain SAD.. Sorry, deal with it.. Not $urpri$ed - Ashland - September 6th, 6:28 PM AF&R is one of the most respected, committed, professional, and admired fire departments in the valley & there's one reason for that, they train like they fight fire & they fight fire like they train. Medford FD doesn't respond to medical calls that aren't code three (lights and sirens) calls they don't do public assists either but AF&R does, when the tones go out they respond. When it's your emergency I promise you'll want them to be as trained as they possibly can be. You get what you pay for Disappointed - Ashland,OR - September 6th, 8:27 PM Just a thought, the parks has a 6 million $ budget. That works out to $500,000.00 a month to mow and water the grass. Why can�t the fire dept have a chunk of that money and have the fire people take care of the grass? They would stay in shape. Also�. Why does the FD have the ambulance service? It looks like we loose over a million $�s a year due to the ambulance service. We dumped AFN for � that amount. Maybe it�s time to privatize the ambulance services. Hill Billy - Ashland - September 7th, 10:33 AM I agree that the firefighters union needs more training = more "don't air your issues in public" training! What a bush league stunt to go public with something that could have been handled with more intelligence internally. You didn't get your second new fire station. Your PR rating is low. You just lowered it a couple more points with this stupid advertisement. But you ARE valued and appreciated by the outside public. No Fire House TV remote control for the guy that made the ad! Maneul - Ashland - September 7th, 1:54 PM It is not greed to fight for training that will save your life and the lives of the people that you protect! How sad to know that the well respected and professional firefighters and medics of AF&R have to read comments like these from the people that they serve 24 hours a day! You should be ashamed of your own ignorance!!!! disgusted - Ashland,OR - September 7th, 7:52 PM Hey, these firefighters get paid BUCK$ enough. IT's not like they're volunteers and it's not like they got drafted, either. It's also not like they're the only ones who could do their job. Let's not forget: this is a JOB, not a HOLY APPOINTMENT BY GOD HIM/HERSELF. Crack-open that O2 bottle and breathe deeply guys..get a grip, take a wake-up call and get in line with the rest of "those who you protect and serve",we're making due with about HALF your wages and bennies and NONE of your retirement! Wait a minute... - Ashland - September 7th, 8:23 PM These Heroes are NOT overpaid. I would bet most of the firefighters cannot even afford to live in Ashland. I believe they deserve every penny they earn. Do you have any idea how many calls they run in a 24 hour period or how many lives they save each year? What about the toll this physically demanding job takes on their bodies or the emotional trials they go through after the really tough calls. These are YOUR firefighters - show them some support. disgusted - ashalnd - September 8th, 8:26 PM I never thought I would live in a community without a library, but sadly, now I do. I believe that there are basic services that are needed to have a safe and happy community. I am concerned that if moral and support of the fire department does not improve, the firefighters will take their skills and use them at another department. Then what will we be left with? I agree, you get what you pay for and we need to fully fund our basic services. show some support - Ashland - September 9th, 9:30 AM Please, firefighters don't make enough $ to live in Ashand. This article is not about paychecks. It is about funding for safety training, theirs and yours. I'd also be very nervous if a private ambulance was the only option. Do you know their turn over rate? Do you want green EMT's (not all are paramedics) working on your child? There are so many experienced paramedics working at AFR. They don't hire anything but paramedics now. I'd put my life in their hands. Concerned-Keep the firefighters safe! - Talent, OR - September 9th, 10:09 AM We had a recent fire in our neighborhood. The fire department arrived, did a GREAT, SUPERLATIVE job and were very professional. If they feel the budget cut will hurt the department (and therefore us citizens) we should listen to them. I like Ashland but it can be a petty little town sometimes. Kathleen - Ashland, OR - September 9th, 1:22 PM God Bless America where even the uneducated and ignorant can voice there opinions are very ridicules there are. Hill Billy, are you for real? Do you know anything about how to run a company? Have firefighters out cutting lawns, right! When I have a medical emergency I don�t want the firefighter coming for me out in some park cutting a lawn that may be miles from my house. That�s way they study the demographics of your community and build fire stations that are strategically place to get to you in the least amount of time possible. Rainbow, your name says it all. And to the guy who wants to privatize the ambulance, what company would come into a money losing situation? You need to l Bryan L - Ashland - September 9th, 4:59 PM I wonder how many of the letters in support of FD were sent from one of our fire station personnel while on duty. Question1; "fire fighters risks their lives everyday, even in the state of Ashland" HOW, HOW OFFTEN and WHY? Question2; why do we have a Fire Marshal? Don�t we have one available through the state and county already? Bryan L, I'm for real and yes I think I know how to run a business and know how to use my people. I started, ran and sold a business and now I'm retired at 39 Hill Billy - Ashland - September 9th, 11:30 PM Sure you did Hill Billy, sure your did. Bryan L - Ashland - September 10th, 2:03 PM Sorry to point out the obveous! What your community gets in a Firefighter at AFR; Public worker, paramedic/emt, utility worker, rescue tech, confine space rescue, heavy equipment rescue, search and rescue, a social worker, medical transporter, o yes a firefighter too. Its been years since I have worked for AFR and now work up in the valley, but its still the same issue, you get a heck of a lot for your buck in Ashland and you don't compensate them enough. Good luck brothers and sisters. Mark - Albany - September 11th, 12:14 PM Sorry I have to bring up the obvious. Why are there FIVE management level SUV's always parked at the firehouse palace? 5 managers in a rinky dink town? This is bad PR. Good PR is the bit of heros fighting fires. BTW: You spray water on the majority of fires to put them out. Much like the Parks people water plants. Maybe they're heros too as they work in traffic areas and could get run over. Let's just call everyone a hero, the word has no meaning anymore. Manuel - Ashland - September 11th, 12:44 PM I am a firefighter for the City of Ashland and I would like to encourage those citizens who have expressed their concerns herein to re-read the advertisement. We are not asking for more money for wages, nor are we asking for an increase in your property taxes. We are encouraging you to contact your city council members and let them know if you feel that a safe, well-trained, adequately staffed, and stable-funded Fire Department is important to you. And yes, Mr. Billy, I am off-duty. Richard - Medford, OR - September 12th, 12:29 PM Firefighter Richard clarification is well said. Advertising is not simple. It matters little what you thought you conveyed. What matters is what is actually intrepreted. Apparently your ad missed the mark. No one will reread an advertisement until they get it. No bad on the AFD part as you're not advertising experts. You did create your own backdraft with the unintended consequences and now you have to address those issues your ad created. I.e.Before I saw the ad things were ok. Manuel - Ashland - September 12th, 1:47 PM I agree, your ad was way off the mark then. I feel that if you are that unhappy with the budget then leave the dept and don't sour the rest of the force. Remember 10 qualified people are standing in line to have your job. What happened to days when all the depts in the area got together and trained together? Why do we need our own training staff? a safety person should be enough. Correct me if I'm wrong but the county has a training facility in White City for our rescuers to attend. Hill Billy - Ashland - September 12th, 5:32 PM If Bird's budget #s are correct, is 7.5%/year enough? AFN. Too many chiefs, not enough indians? AFN. We've all seen the Taj Mahal across the street from the closed library. AFN. Who recalls OPERS retirement scandals just a few years ago? [remember too, our state legislators put themselves on OPERS and gave themselves the same bonus status as police and firefighters; GREED does make people STUPID] AFN. Lots of opinion and emotion, and too few facts. AFN. But DT needs the ad revenues. Tom Besich - Ashland, Oregon - September 12th, 7:30 PM Mr. Billy, there is not nearly enough space in these comment sections to adequately address all of your questions or to educate you as to how the fire department operates in Ashland. If you have not done so already, I encourage you to contact us via email at [email protected] and we will be happy to discuss yours and everyone's concerns at length. I love my job Mr. Billy, and I do not wish to see any MORE of my brothers or sisters leave the FD because of training/safety issues. Richard - Medford, OR - September 13th, 3:07 PM Parks is it's own CITY-STATE. They don't answer to nobody. They don't HAVE to shed tax bucks, cuzz they tax separate from City. Not FAIR, but that's the way it is. Goliath? In disguise? YUP. Prime grounds for squeezing if you ask me. Sheesh - Grassland - September 13th, 6:35 PM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us