Happy Holidays from the Feds - 150 Firefighters

[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.

[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.