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Potsdam fills paid fire driver position after retirement

Posted 8/21/18

Page updated at 12:40 p.m. Aug. 21, 2018 to clarify that position was open due to an unfilled retirement, not a layoff. By CRAIG FREILICH POTSDAM – The village Board of Trustees has voted to fill a …

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Potsdam fills paid fire driver position after retirement

Posted

Page updated at 12:40 p.m. Aug. 21, 2018 to clarify that position was open due to an unfilled retirement, not a layoff.

By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – The village Board of Trustees has voted to fill a paid fire department driver position after one diver retired and the job wasn't filled in an attempt to save money.

“I’m thankful the village board voted four to one in favor of fire safety,” said Potsdam Fire Chief Danielle Rose. She said the vote restored “full staffing for our career fire drivers.”

The matter was discussed in executive session as an employee and contractual matter after the regular trustees’ meeting Monday night. After coming back into regular session, the board approved the reinstatement.

Mayor Ron Tischler and trustees Abby Lee, Maggie McKenna and Cindy Goliber voted in favor, and Trustee Steve Warr voted against.

“There had been a public outcry in support of keeping the fire driver. The public made its opinion known to the board,” said Village Administrator Greg Thompson.

The village wanted to at least temporarily cut the number of paid fire drivers from four to three to try to find a way to save taxpayer money and keep the village solvent in response to a recommendation in a New York State Financial Restructuring Board (FRB) report to the village to reduce payroll to give the village a stronger financial position. In fact the FRB had recommended cutting all four drivers, in addition to several other measures to cut expenses.

Thompson said he was concerned that opponents to the reduction in paid drivers presented the issue as “an all-or-nothing” issue.

But Chief Rose said she believed the administrator “would work hard” with the 45 members of the volunteer department “to provide top-notch fire protection” to the village and town.

“We’ll continue to work hard with the administrator and trustees to make sure this won’t happen again,” said Rose. She said she hoped grants or some other means could be found to cover the expense of the paid drivers.

“They’re not just drivers,” Rose said. “There are 100 other things they do. People have a misconception about that. They help maintain the equipment, give tours of the fire house...I could go on and on.”

Thompson said he had wanted to eliminate the paid drivers, represented by the Civil Service Employees Union (CSEA), over time while finding other ways to maintain fire protection.

“It’s not just about finance,” he said, acknowledging the fire safety issue. But one consideration in restoring the one driver was that it was costing the village more in overtime with the remaining drivers than they were saving, Thompson said.

The administrator also said that the FRB’s report was based on outdated information, and that village was in much better financial shape than it was when the comptroller’s “stress” finding was made.

“That’s not to say we’re not going to revisit the Financial Restructuring Board’s recommendations,” he said.

An examination and report by the Financial Restructuring Board was recommended by the state comptroller’s office in 2016 after a finding that Potsdam was the most fiscally stressed village in the state. The village agreed and the board’s report was received this past spring.

Among the FRB’s other recommendations was that the village pursue dissolving village government, effectively cutting payroll throughout the village government system.