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| Press Release - FIREFIGHTERS PLAN TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT “DEVASTATING” SERVICE CUTS |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joel Smith
Title: Union President
Phone: 248-303-0933
ROYAL OAK FIREFIGHTERS PLAN TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT “DEVASTATING” SERVICE CUTS
The Royal Oak Professional Firefighters Association has announced that it will begin a public education program to inform the citizens of Royal Oak about the “devastating” service cuts that the City of Royal Oak has planned for fire and emergency medical services in the City of Royal Oak. Says Firefighters President Joel Smith: “Devastating—that‟s not my word. That‟s the word that our City Manager is using to describe the cuts that the Commission has planned. And this time, I can agree with him.” Smith explains that the City plans to lay off a total of 17 firefighters in June and August. The result would be a department that cannot provide services that Royal Oak citizens expect and deserve.
“The impact that will hit citizens first is the elimination of our ambulance service,” says Smith. “Today, when someone has a heart attack in Royal Oak, or has trouble breathing, or is involved in an automobile accident, we send a state-of the-art ambulance to the scene. We are highly-trained paramedics. We stabilize the patient, and take them immediately to an area hospital. Under the City‟s plans, the department would stop transporting. We would have to wait for a private ambulance company to get to the scene, and then we would hand off the patient to them for transport. How long do you want to wait for an ambulance when you are having a heart attack? How long while you‟re on a backboard in January after a car accident?” Smith continued: “The effects on firefighting will be as bad or worse. We will be putting skeleton crews on three engines and a ladder. If one of those engine crews is on an ambulance run when a fire call comes in, we will have to wait for mutual aid from another city. But just last year, the City was telling us that these budget cuts could get us kicked out of our mutual aid agreement. So who is going to put out these fires?”
Smith emphasized that he wants to remind voters most of all that the proposed cuts violate the City Charter. “In 2004, the City made threats about cutting the fire department, and the citizens said „No.‟ They voted overwhelmingly to amend the charter to guarantee a fire department of just over one firefighter per 1,000 residents. That‟s in section 27 of the City Charter. And the City is just ignoring the law. The citizens have voted for a department of about 71, and the City wants to cut it to around 40.”
“The City is saying to the citizens, basically, we‟ll take your tax money, and we‟ll spend it the way we want, and not how you ordered us to spend it. And if that affects your safety—too bad.”
Further References: 2010 Royal Oak Budget at p. 206-214, 219-221; 2010-2012 Royal Oak Recommended Budget at p. 11-18, 112-120. Available at http://www.ci.royal-oak.mi.us/portal/departments/finance/budget-documents.
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| Last Updated on Saturday, 29 May 2010 21:38 |