A recent staff presentation on tasks related to the Town Council created Vision 2020 stated a goal to "assess the need and develop an appropriate plan for transitioning from volunteer to partial paid emergency services."
This may be justified given the growth Christiansburg has experienced, but to date no preliminary cost/benefit report has been made public. Such an analysis should provide an overview of current staffing and volunteer hours, response times, call volumes, training and certification resources, use of funds (including fund raising efforts) and equipment inventory and condition.
That would require aligning this goal with another one: Work to ensure a balanced budget while increasing "reserve" funding.
The preliminary 2010-2011 fiscal budget proposes capital expenses of $158,000 for the Fire Department (turnout gear drier, SCBA breathing apparatus, radio equipment and license upgrade) and $150,000 for the Rescue Squad (a new ambulance, not indicating if adding to service vehicles or a replacement). An additional $275,000 is suggested for reserves, to pay for a second Emergency Services Building (on land the town already owns), with another $25,000 each for a future fire truck, rescue truck and software.
It was recently confirmed the Fire Department's only paid employee is the Fire Chief/Fire Marshall. By June 30th, the preliminary budget shows $147,500 in this fiscal year for the single paid position. This may be due to the 24/7 aspects of the job, the retiring person's length of tenure or overlap with the retiree remaining active for some period of time. But this year's expenses also includes $43,000 in general wages and $113,600 for dispatchers and $3,600 in overtime. All this for just one paid position? How many dispatchers total does the town employ, and will any savings be realized if the regional E911 call center moves forward?
Another oddity is that this position is a town job. It was recently reported that the volunteers "voted" for the new chief when the former one retired. Voted to fill a job? What about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission laws, which would suggest this position should have been advertised and applications accepted? A citizens group -- with heavy emphasis on including volunteers -- is logical (a process used to select the present Chief of Police), but not following the law is not. If there was some fine print that indicated this position was exempt from such a process, why wasn't that communicated publicly? Some fire department volunteers have expressed dissatisfaction with the process.
Some people will tell you the town's Rescue Squad is entirely volunteer. Others know the Squad Captain is another paid position, or town job. By June 30th, the preliminary budget reports that $92,000 will have been paid to this employee. Again, there is another $5,000 budgeted for wages and $114,000 in salaries (RL Dispatch) plus $3,500 for overtime.
And once again the longtime leader is retiring, with an expected final day on July 1. These volunteers -- also highly trained with generous employers for their regular paying jobs who allow them to leave in order to respond to calls -- are concerned that a different process is being used to determine the Squad Captain's successor. No member input has been sought and many believe this is something that will be determined solely by the Town Manager.
A contingency of these volunteers asserts squad members interact with the public far more frequently than Fire Department volunteers and should be able to have the same choices -- the same voice -- whether this means active or associate members, and the student or life members who actively participate in operations.
So a Vision 2020 goal, and the current budget development process for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, and this latest transition in one of the three town safety departments will be on Monday's Town Council agenda (the meeting was shifted one day early due to Tuesday being Election Day).
Citizens who want to understand the town's hiring processes for these key positions -- how it ties in with Council's vision, meets the needs relative to the town's rapid growth, and how expenses are detailed in the budget -- should make a point to be present at the municipal building on Monday at 7:30 pm.