I originally had this comment towards the end of this writing, but I suppose I'll put it up front, in the hopes of tempering any anger my opinion might produce.
With my comments, I am in no way saying that volunteer firefighting isn't a good thing. It's a noble cause and should be genuinely recognized as such. Given the limited information I've garnered, a service award isn't the right way to do it. Not for this Town and not in this Time.
From the minutes: "to do away with the program, once it is approved by the voters, it would take another voter referendum, and any changes to the program must also go to a referendum, except for increases or decreases in membership, which is just funded by the annual Town
Budget with either an tax increase or a budget surplus."
Ok - so once it's in place, it'll be in place forever. If the membership rolls rocket up and nearly double from 44 members to 75 (the maximum), the Town - YOU - will pay for it.
Will this program be a carrot with which to attract and retain fire company members? Let's step back a bit and ask the question, does the town have a problem attracting and retaining members? If that's the case, could the Fire Company take some intermediate steps to recruit members?
I'm not great with numbers, so I won't even try to put in numerical terms how many hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Town dollars this program will cost you, your children and your grandchildren. What I will say is that the United States is facing the worst economic downturn in the history of history, and 2009 will not be a good year, financially, for most people. Layoffs and furloughs are already happening. There are entire industries that will not around at the end of 2009. There are people who have jobs today who will not have jobs in a month. I hope I'm wrong, but there are economic indicators that are saying I'm being too optimistic.
The Town of Sardinia is sitting on a literal gold mine with its reserve capital, and to expend those funds into something that will have next-to-zero economic benefit for the town and its people is reckless and wrong. It's wrong. We should be taking some of those ideas from the community meeting in November to figure out how to support local business, energize individual people to invest in the Town, and to muddle through what promises to be a wild economic ride in the near-future. How can we make those dollars work so that a one-dollar expenditure from the reserves produces a three-fold or ten-fold economic benefit? I honestly don't care that this program has been researched for a year or ten years. An ill-conceived notion is still ill-conceived.
I will continue.
The previous public "hearing" on the Award Program consisted of a Fourth-of-July-weekend meeting where, according to the minutes, the only people in attendance were:
Present:
Councilman Ann M. Bean
Councilman Heather M. Phelps
Councilman Norman J. Uhteg
Supervisor Kathleen M. Balus
Absent:
Councilman Ronald L. Kenyon
Also Present:
Damien Ulatowski of Firefighters Benefit & Insurance Services
Donald Brooks of Tomkins Insurance Agencies
Town Clerk Betsy A. Marsh
9 Fire Company Members
An informational meeting consisting of elected officials (including 2 who will directly benefit from this program) + insurance agents (who will directly benefit from this program) + fire company members (who will directly benefit from this program) might equal a fair and open hearing in some alternative universe, or maybe in Stalinist Russia, but not in Sardinia in 2008. Setting aside, for a moment, the General Municipal Law that says it's ok for board members with a financial stake in an Award Program to vote on it, does anyone else see something wrong with this? Just because something is legal doesn't make it right.
A special election for this referendum will cost the Town money. That on its own is not a reason to not have a referendum, but it should make us sit back and consider holding it until the regular November election.
To conclude, questions that should be considered and answered.
- Is the Fire Company willing to have a portion of their financial reserves applied to this program?
- Where is a public record of the Fire Company's finances? Has one been done?
- Does the Town or the Fire Company have projections for membership over the next 10-20 years?
- Has the Town set an "entitlement age" (between 55 and 65 years)? How will this affect membership and payment projections?
- Are service award payments considered taxable income?
- Will the "point system" be audited by any external source? Will that be paid for by the Town? Or will fire fighters self-report their "points"?
- What payments can sitting board members (or their families) expect to receive?
I concede that there are other questions that should be asked. I expect none of these questions to be answered tonight. I expect all of them to be answered by the time a referendum is held.
I agree with your position on the issue that further information is needed to make the decision of whether the town will pay for the pension. I also feel that the pension is needed to keep current members and recruite new fireman.
ReplyDeleteEvery time a fireman responds to a call they are putting their lives and their future in peril. If a fireman is hurt in the line of duty they can collect Workers Compensation Benefits but any lost time paid is limited by NYS Compensation Law. Many fireman have not returned to work after an injury which also stops all of their benefits at their regular job including pension, 401K's and health insurance.
To me, a Voluntary Fireman is worth the cost of the pension plan. (I am not nor have I ever been a VF, nor has my spouce been a VF.)
I also agree that those who give of their time should receive some type of stipend/payment but do NOT agree with the proposed award system. I am very disappointed that it will be shot through tonight(my prediction) without looking at other options. I am very concerned that this dollar amount is being spent on this small number of residents. I do not think that any type of payment will raise membership or keep those presently in the company there. I am livid that this is being shoved down throats when so many in town struggle to keep afloat-and more will continue to do so if the current employment/unemployment trend stays. How can this be called "open government" when residents can't ask questions, raise concerns, or offer ideas? I thought Balus' main goal was to give the people in town a chance to be heard. What a crock!
ReplyDeleteBring ALL your questions, suggestions, etc. to the public hearing that will be held at some point. The Town Board may recommend the program - but this is WHY THE PUBLIC HAS THE FINAL SAY - A VOTE!!!!!!! Something we NEVER had a chance to do the with the Waste Management toxic dump expansion or the ZBA (3 votes) gravel mining of 400+ acres - consider yourself lucky on this issue. Many of your concerns are well taken - just have to wait for the referendum meeting.
ReplyDeleteI have a question about this service award public hearing that you speak of. If the town wants to change the plan or modify it at this point, can it be done or is what the board voted on what we, as a town, will be voting on. I don't see it as a public input of any type if we only have the one option to vote on. And can anyone tell me why we are holding this vote at a different time other than at a normal election Novemeber vote time? Why the urgency? Won't we get the most voters to turn out in Novemeber? It seems like the whole thing is being shot through, for what reason?
ReplyDeleteIt was my understanding that many people quit or won’t join the fire company because of all the “politics” that are involved. Maybe they should look at how they treat people and ask others why they have left the fire company. I keep reading that many other towns have this type of program, but none are named. This was basically flown under the radar until it was to late; this seems to be quite a habit of this Supervisor. Also if you have an opinion different than that of the fire company, you are “against” them. Can you see the irony in the fact that when a person has questions regarding this program they are basically attacked – that really is an encouragement to join this type of organization? I agree that it is a large amount to give to such a small number of people. Especially when you have our Supervisor stating that town money has to be divided equally or it can’t be spent – I guess that statement only applies to the projects that she feels deserves the money. At the last town meeting when the new board member asked a few questions, others that were going to benefit from this pension plan slammed him. By the way, is the fire company part of the town – do they have to abide by town and state rules and regulations – or do they run themselves?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a volunteer fireman (not in Sardinia), the pension plan isn't the best way to recruit new members. People don't join for a pension, they join to do something good for their community. Other towns and villages have had good luck with the Junior and Explorer programs, recruiting young members that will be part of the company for most of their lives. Does Sardinia have a program like that? And if not, why not? Another thing: if the community dialog wasn't insults or petty arguments and instead focused on inclusion, then there would never be a problem attracting volunteers.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of time fire and EMS volunteers give to their community is staggering when added up. I'm disappointed with the "Zero-economic benefit" comment, in fact, a little insulted. I'm happy to pay for emergency services and I'd even be happy to pay for more. That's because I know what these volunteers (that are bleeding the town coffers as we speak) do on a daily basis, keeping you and your loved ones safe. I'm concerned with the economy like anyone else, but I'd still like the assurance that no matter if I lose my job or pension, I'll still have my house and my life.
It seems that there has been plenty of info at prior monthly meetings which I have not gone too. Maybe the town can release more information on what the actual cost and benefits would be so everyone can be informed. So far I have heard every VF will receive from $60K to $100K per year, who would actually believe those lies?
ReplyDelete