Committee sending repeal of fire department minimum staffing to council for review

The Bucyrus Health and Safety Committee repealed an ordinance on the minimum staffing level at the city Fire Department that mandated no fewer than six people on a shift.

The issue is expected to go before City Council at it's next meeting.

Jeremy Gilliam, president of the Bucyrus International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 1120, said Bucyrus firefighters were not aware a repeal of the ordinance, which was signed in February 2023, was on the agenda of the Health and Safety Committee. The new ordinance suggests there can be fewer that six people on duty per shift.

“The union was under assumption that the repeal has been tabled since the last committee meeting,” Gillam said.

Gillam said the union and Bucyrus administration had an executive session labor management meeting Feb. 14. and came up with a tentative plan that was signed by firefighters union officials, while the city took time to run the plan by its law director.

Law Director Brian Gernert who confirmed the meeting between the city and the firefighters took place.

The plan proposed by the union asks for a minimum staffing level of six people on duty at all times except when and if Bucyrus is declared to be in a fiscal emergency.

Gernert noted the language left the city without the ability to manage staffing level at the Fire Department except in cases of fiscal emergency. The city currently is exploring options to improve its fiscal standing.

"Adding contractual language further binding the city to continue spending in a manner that is unsustainable was determined to be implausible," Gernert said.

Ordinance repeal resurfaced

Gernert said repealing the ordinance on minimum staffing level has remained in the committee since its initial referral.

The conversation on it at the last committee meeting was initiated by the president of the Crawford County West Joint Ambulance District and Dallas Township Trustee Milton Underwood, who said the current arrangement with the Bucyrus Fire Department works fine.

“If it’s cut to less than that, then it’s going to greatly affect, possibly affect the response time in the coverage area for the West Side Ambulance District,” Underwood said.

Underwood asked committee members to take into consideration the financial profit from repealing the ordinance would be around $243,000 a year and just above $700,000 in three years.

Bucyrus Service Safety Director Tommy Starner said the Fire Department was doing a great job, but he expressed willingness to talk about the “overtime that they have going on right now,” but not under current circumstances.

“Right now our hands are tied, they are pretty much running the show,” Starner said.

Why repeal the ordinance

Gernert said until the current staffing level is in the ordinance, the Fire Department is not necessarily in a position where it is eager to negotiate “because it’s difficult to negotiate against yourself.”

While the ordinance provisioning for the minimum staffing level is in place, said Gernert, the city lacks the leverages in negotiating with the Fire Department.

Greg White, a resident who attended the meeting, suggested waiting to repeal the ordinance until the negotiations between the firefighters union and the administration would generate concrete figures.

Gernert said to his knowledge the negotiations already had taken place, and the Fire Department said it does not agree to reduce the minimum staffing level except in fiscal emergency.

“Our hands are cuffed, we have to make a difficult decision,” Gernert said.

Committee chair Vicki Dishon said she talked to Bucyrus Fire Chief Chad Schwemley on two occasions and she asked if the union would consider coming back to the table to look at the financial situation, and on both occasions the answer was negative.

How fewer people can do more work; short-term fixes

The idea behind repealing the staffing ordinance in not meant to be long-term, it's about working creatively to find short-term fixes, Gernert said, noting it would reduce overtime while the city is “trying to get that budget under control in other ways.”

One of the short-term solutions identified by Gernert included counting the fire chief toward the minimum staffing personnel on some occasions, which would save around $90,000, according to the Fire Department union.

Another possible solution, said Gernert, could be reducing the staffing level during non-peak periods, such as 11 p.m.-5 a.m. when the department gets fewer calls.

“Maybe we go down to four people when we are typically getting one call every five hours,” said Gernert.

Gillam said it does not make sense to cut night shifts because the population of Bucyrus doubles compared to daytime when many residents are out of town.

“We can’t schedule emergencies, we don’t know when emergencies are coming in, and to say that these times are more important than these times, why is it more important that people get coverage during the day and not at night when they are sleeping and are most vulnerable,” Gillam said.

Fire Department position

At a previous meeting Gillam said a fire department shift consists of 24 hours on duty followed by 48 hours off duty.

Later Gillam noted 24 hours are the hours when the firefighters are required to be physically present in the department and not the on-call hours.

That means a firefighter in Bucyrus works 676 hours more a year than a person working a regular 40-hour work week. After that, a firefighter has to work and additional 13 hours before becoming eligible to collect overtime because the work week officially is a 53 hours.

“The guys working overtime are not threatening to quit, to leave or to find other employment because of working overtime,” Gillam said.

He said some of the firefighters put in 1,400 hours of overtime, which taking into consideration firefighters already work 2,756 hours a year equals two full time 40-hour work weeks. That means the minimum staffing level can not be reduced, he said.

In addition, Gillam said, police officers are paid more an hour than the firefighters. According to the firefighters' contract, cited by Gillam, an hourly rate for a firefighter with two years of experience is $22.10. A police officer with more than three years of experience is making $31.50, according to the police contract.

More: Bucyrus Police officers, dispatchers under new three-year contract; raises noted

Gillam also pointed out the Bucyrus Fire Department is self-sufficient due to the safety forces levy and townships fees for the EMS coverage.

“These potential cuts are going to put additional strain on the members of the Fire Department, and then we are going to see members seeking other employment,” Gillam said.

A difficult decision

White said in his opinion reducing the staffing level would create overtime, as people might be required to come to work during off hours. What is worse, said White, it can cost people’s lives as a four-people shift would not be able to answer calls as rapidly as medical emergencies sometimes require.

“You are playing with people’s lives,” White said. “If someone has a heart attack in the morning, it’s not planned.”

Committee member C. Aaron Sharrock said the minimum staffing level was what was promised to county residents by the previous administration.

Committee member James Mee moved to prepare the legislation repealing the ordinance. Sharrock voted against that. In the absence of Kevin Myers, who also is on the Health and Safety Committee, Dishon broke the tie, moving that revocation of ordinance be decided by the full City Council at its next meeting.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Minimum fire department staff level being reviewed in Bucyrus