Union: Firehouse cuts dangerous

The vice president of the Omaha fire union says a business group’s recommendations for Fire Department layoffs would hurt public safety.

Frank Corcoran said Thursday that after more than a dozen retirements this spring, the department will be as many as 15 shy of its recommended 657-member strength negotiated in the current union contract.

Layoffs on top of that would hinder fire protection throughout the city, he said.
Corcoran’s response came after the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector called on the city to end “financial waste” in the Fire Department and lay off 64 firefighters.

Dave Nabity, one of the leaders of the group, said the Fire Department is overstaffed and “grossly top heavy.” He said layoffs would save the city $6 million.

“Current leaders in management have allowed the employment ranks to swell to numbers clearly not needed to maintain public safety,” Nabity said at a press conference.

Corcoran said the 2007 annexation of Elkhorn gave firefighters another 55 square miles to cover and, as a result, has stretched the department thin.

The city is building a new fire station in Elkhorn, he said, but right now “the citizens. . .are poorly protected.”

Nabity said he hopes Mayor Jim Suttle will take the group’s ideas to an independent consultant hired by the city to find ways to improve Fire Department budgeting, as well as to the State Auditor’s Office, which is reviewing the department.

In a statement released Thursday, Suttle said, firefighters could not be laid off “without serious study and negotiation, because staffing limits are established by the current labor agreement. The outcome of such negotiations is far from certain.”

Nabity said that even with the layoffs, the Fire Department would still be able to maintain four firefighters on a truck, as required under the union contract. Suttle is currently negotiating a new labor agreement with the fire union.

A spokesman for Fire Chief Mike McDonnell declined to comment, referring questions to Suttle’s office.

Fire Department finances have come under scrutiny in recent months as city officials continue to deal with a $4.7 million shortfall in the fire budget. The shortfall resulted mostly from unbudgeted payouts for comp time, sick leave and vacation time.

Last month, the City Council agreed to pay $38,703 to Weidner Consulting Inc. of Austin, Texas, to identify what fire services are currently provided and what services the public and city actually want.

Nabity said the unnecessary firefighter positions could be eliminated by:

• Removing one engine company, one hazardous materials unit and one aerial truck from service.

• Demoting some upper managers, including assistant chiefs, battalion chiefs and captains.

• Managing limits on vacation and sick days so that fewer firefighters are needed to fill any vacancies.

Former Omaha Fire Chief Don Brunken, who attended the press conference, said he supports the alliance’s ideas. Brunken was fire chief from 1990 to 1995. “I wasn’t the most well-liked guy when I left the job because I advocated these changes,” Brunken said. “It can be done, it should be done.”

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