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According to Lisa Thomas, the North Olmsted Fire Department has a very good response <br />rate and fire suppression is great in terms of dollars lost. The problem is overtime, <br />sabotage of equipment and future thinking. There is a fire fighter who drove a new truck <br />through a new door and was not even reprimanded. There was another fire fighter who <br />failed to send in his recertification and $25. check and was on the job practicing and the <br />Chief knew it and did nothing. That was a huge liability to the City if anything happened. <br />We could have been sued. <br />Mike Gareau Jr. made the point that there are no Captains or Lieutenants at this meeting <br />to. state they have an issue with this. None of the 5 members of Council present have <br />been contacted by any fire fighters. <br />Tim Roshetko asked if it logically makes sense to include the Assistant Fire Chief in this <br />ordinance. <br />Mn Dubelko did not-thinkit was as -,important, which,is...why he did not.include <br />Lisa believes that over the next 5-6 years they will be able to craft a new command staff. <br />Bill Hohmann asks if the Chief is restricted by union contracts. He does not understand <br />why the Chief would not reprimand his employees. <br />Mr. Dubelko says there are some limits with conditions of employment, but the Chief <br />does .not exercise his management rights or authority. The Chief entered into a side deal <br />with the union. <br />Mr. Gareau stated that City Council. and the Union need to both vote on union contract to <br />say they both agree on the contract. In one instance, the Chief entered into a <br />memorandum on staffing with the union by adopting a policy that City Council did not <br />even get to vote on. <br />The_:Chief.needs -to,be:a leadenand be_strong and say. "no", but -it's.hard..to do when fire <br />fighters.are in close quarters so often. <br />Lisa states that this is not about the current Fire Chief, it is about the future. There will <br />be a new fire delivery system in the next 20 years with the decline of fires. We need <br />someone who can lead into the future. <br />Marls Mahoney states that this is a proactive measure and looking toward the future. <br />Now is the time to take a bold step and recommends that this pass. Fiscally, it is <br />important because of the overtime costs. We should do this for cost and equipment: <br />Discussion of the current Fire Department budget. <br />Mike Gareau Jr. states that this is more than just the budget, it is about management and <br />leadership. The best way to succeed is to bring in someone from the outside rather than <br />bring up a person that was a brother one day and is the leader the next. <br />