Happy Holidays from the Feds - 150 Firefighters

[401don]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

[Aerojoe]

Now they just have to figure out how to pay for those 150 Firefighters for the next 30 years.

[Al Publican]

I'm thinking a county-wide fire department should be the way to go with many urban areas in order to save on duplication of bureaucracy and economize on equipment. LA County is an example fire department that covers much of a county. But I doubt if most cities in Wayne County would go for it.

[Aerojoe]

I'm thinking a county-wide fire department should be the way to go with many urban areas in order to save on duplication of bureaucracy and economize on equipment. LA County is an example fire department that covers much of a county. But I doubt if most cities in Wayne County would go for it.

The problem is all the resources would be needed in Detroit for people calling 911 because they ate to many Christmas cookies

[DetroitPlanner]

I'm thinking a county-wide fire department should be the way to go with many urban areas in order to save on duplication of bureaucracy and economize on equipment. LA County is an example fire department that covers much of a county. But I doubt if most cities in Wayne County would go for it.

Wayne/Westland have a combined department. Plymouth and Plymouth Twp did too until recently when the City pulled out and contracted with the City of Northville in order to save $$. [[A mistake in my opinion, too many barriers between the two).

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Aerojoe, I agree completely about thinking beyond the immediate future. The problem with taking federal gifts is that they are largely for a set period of time. In a few years will we suddenly want 150 fewer firefighters? Just like the controversial Medicaid expansion that Snyder approved. There is, I think, only 3 years of federal money. Then Michigan has a very, very large budgetary hole to fill.

Anyway, back to firefighters. In many ways a countywide department makes much sense, except for one. Wayne County has 1.8M residents. Detroit makes up 700,000 of those. The vast majority of fire calls in Wayne County are in Detroit. Why would the suburbanites want to subsidize the city's fire services? If 2 neighboring locales have proportionately similar needs and resources, the potential savings merit a look at pooling the resources. Having a countywide fire system just seems like a straight out subsidy of Detroit's fire department. I am not against it. I just question the logic of a suburb wanting to join. The downside, too, for Detroit, would be loss of control. A countywide fire department would not have Detroit-centric leadership. I would think things like health and building departments would be easier and more equitably administered countywide than fire or other emergency services.

[401don]

I'm surprised at the negative reaction to this. The one thing the city needs right now is money for public safety. This keeps the public safer for the next 3 years and is a good thing even if they are laid off at that time. Meanwhile, you have to be optimistic that the city will have its finances in a better position to maintain more firefighters or there is really no point to this whole bankruptcy process.

[MotorCityTrikes]

Same to all of you!!!!!

[That Great Guy]

I'm surprised at the negative reaction to this. The one thing the city needs right now is money for public safety. This keeps the public safer for the next 3 years and is a good thing even if they are laid off at that time. Meanwhile, you have to be optimistic that the city will have its finances in a better position to maintain more firefighters or there is really no point to this whole bankruptcy process.

Maybe Detroit can get another Federal grant in 3 years?

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Maybe Detroit can get another Federal grant in 3 years?

Wishful thinking over careful planning results in next Tuesday's events at bankruptcy court.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

The ACA provides 100% of the Medicaid expansion for three years. It drops to 90% by 2020, so there is no massive whole for the state to fill. Probably savings, from not having uninsured using emergency rooms.

As for the firefighters, if the bankruptcy doesn't provide the ability to fund these better services in a few years then what's the point of it?

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

DOTWC, please research projected costs for Medicaid when first enacted into law. No relationship whatsoever to what the states ended up actually paying. ACA, as you might know, is already over budget.

The point of bankruptcy is to protect the city's remaining assets from being seized by creditors that can't be paid. That predicament was built on commitments to spending money that did not in fact exist when said commitments were made. It's like someone making the first year of payments for you on a mortgage you can't afford. Once that year's up, you'll be foreclosed on. I hope you are right about having more revenue in 3 years. Let's spend it as we ourselves can raise it.

[aj3647]

The downside, too, for Detroit, would be loss of control.

If the recent history of Detroit's myopic leadership on pretty much all issues regarding city control over services/assets is any indication, this would be a deal-breaker.

[birwood]

It's already in the works, It's know here as "Regionalization". It starts off as what we call "Auto-aid". Some Communities [[Dearborn Hgts, Garden City,& Inkster), [[Harper Woods & the Grosse Pointes), have signed specific agreements to back-up each other on certain calls…i:e Reported Structure Fires, High Rise Alarms, Large Casualty EMS Incidents…the only trouble is, is that, in the past, many of the City Managers/Mayors/Finance Directors, eventually feel that with the "Auto-aid, they no longer have the need to hire needed people, maintain stations, replace wornout equipment, up grade training and adjust their budgets to reflect that those needs no longer need to be funded, they can now use that budgeted public safety money for other "Feel Good" projects around town and they'll just call on the neighboring community assistance, if needed. That then becomes a drain on the neighboring communities resources, because the neighbors mindset is to do the samething, then politics become involved and the Auto-aid agreements dissolve….i:e Melvindale & Allen Park, Plymouth & Plymouth Twp.
Then the alternative is to seriously look at complete mergers of fire departments..Dearborn/Melvindale, Pontiac/Waterford, Wayne/Westland, but each community still has to contribute payment for services and have to adjust their tax bases accordingly. Eventually, we will see a county wide Fire Department, as in California, Maryland, Virginia, with the City of Detroit as the hub…its already being discussed. Don't forget also, that when the grant moneys runs out, that community has 2 choices; absorb the new hires into it regular budget or issue lay off notices.

[WaCoTS]

Now they just have to figure out how to pay for those 150 Firefighters for the next 30 years.

simple:
let go of 150 old-timers who make top pay and are incurring legacy costs, then continue handing out the low pay to the 150 new-hires who are just anxious for work.

it's the "in" thing to do now.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

simple:
let go of 150 old-timers who make top pay and are incurring legacy costs, then continue handing out the low pay to the 150 new-hires who are just anxious for work.

it's the "in" thing to do now.

Now I'm on board!

[Cliffy]

simple:
let go of 150 old-timers who make top pay and are incurring legacy costs, then continue handing out the low pay to the 150 new-hires who are just anxious for work.

it's the "in" thing to do now.

The elites tell us now 70 is the new 50. The future is slavery because you can't afford to retire.