Dearborn Staffing Rules as Seen by a Firefighter
The thorny issue of police and fire staffing levels in Dearborn is the subject of a column today in the Sunday edition of the Dearborn Press & Guide by Joey Thorington, president of the Dearborn Firefighters, IAFF Local 412.
In his column, Mr. Thorington reminds us that every member of council (including Mayor O’Reilly who was then council president) and the late Mayor Michael Guido signed an endorsement for the staffing level proposal.
The language of the staffing requirement stayed the same even after the City Charter was reviewed by a board of elected officials in 2007, Thorington writes. “They recognized the importance of the staffing language and chose to leave the police and fire staffing levels as originally stated in the charter . . .”
“Do not forget; public safety workers are not the ones who broke the financial system,” Thorington writes. “It was big banks and the housing market crash that made things fall apart. We are here, like the rest of you, trying to put the pieces back together and make it work. We are working with the city to make ends meet. It is in the best interest for all of us involved to have Dearborn remain a strong, vibrant city.
“We have been adjusting how we do business and how we operate for many years.
• In 1980, we ran 5,908 calls. We were a Basic Life Supporting agency, staffed with 125 firefighters.
• In 1990, we ran 6,882 calls. We were a Basic Life Supporting agency, staffed with 117 firefighters.
• In 2000, we ran 9,111 calls. We became a transporting, Advanced Life Supporting agency, staffed with 120 firefighters.
• In 2010, we ran 10,029 calls. We are a transporting, Advanced Life Supporting agency, staffed with 120 firefighters.
“The Dearborn Fire Department has evolved into a “we fix it” department for the public. As long as it is not a burglar, when the public calls for an emergency, we show up and “fix” the situation, no matter the reason (many times in conjunction with the police performing their duties).
“Sometimes it appears that the firefighters are solely fighting for our own jobs. You need to look deeper into the arguments. We are fighting to adequately and safely perform our jobs, which is protecting and assisting residents in their greatest time of need.”
To read Mr. Thorington’s full column, click HERE.
April 10th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
10,000 calls divided by 365 equals 27 calls per day. 27 calls per day averages 6.8 calls per day per fire house. 6.8 calls divided by 3, 8-hour hour shifts (I know firemen work 24 hours per “shift”, but just to put it in perspective..) equals 2 calls per 8 hours.
I don’t know…is that a lot? I hope the cops are doing more “fixing” than that! Is my math wrong? If any of the current firehouses are getting significantly more than their average then someone is getting even FEWER than 2 calls per 8 hours.
April 10th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Firefighters and policemen are an invaluable part of the City of Dearborn. But, after 9-11 the public voted, somewhat in panic, to establish minimum staffing for both fire and police. I remember when the police union rep went before council. They asked him where he lived-Livonia. And did they have such a law-no. We are in a time, like other communites, where EVERYONE must sacrifice. Increasing fire and police based on population only increases the debt. Things have to be rethought. i.e Homecoming, Camp Dearborn, Public Services, Pools-without making this an unpleasant place to live. The Mayor and Council are responsible for budget and getting us out of debt, but the minimum staffing law must be overturned.
April 10th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Dearborn has already become Redford and will soon be Detroit by next winter. In large part the fast decline will be due to the over staffed Police and Fire Departments thanks to the charter mandates that the residence voted for. Despite how these news papers try to spin it,the Guido administration and Oreilly who was the council president at the time were all proponents of the minimum staffing. Now that EVERYONE knows the ship is sinking they are all trying to run away from the minimum staffing debacle. The “money well” is now dry and the Mayor cant cut police and fire and refuses to even address it on an emergency basis,so now the pools will close,most of the libraries will close,most of the city services such as grass cutting and street sweeping and more will be all contracted out this summer. But hey,most of the city administrators and many police officers and chief don’t even live in dearborn so i guess it makes sense to have a company from Romulus cut our parks and a company from Lincoln park sweep are streets. I think it would be fitting now to have a contractor from Detroit plow our streets in the winter.
What these news papers seem to fail to ever mention is that the Police received a raise every year over the next 3 years dating back a year. The Mayor could have taken the contract dispute to an arbitrator but chose not to go that route and willingly gave them the raise,this was when the Mayor already knew that 2011 was going to be the worst budget year for the city. Now the police have 2 more years left on their contract and do not have to make one single concession while the city collapses around them. No matter how the press and the mayors assassins try to spin it,we are going to have city buildings close and city services cut and contracted out as a direct result of the Police and Fire department contracts and minimum staffing policy.
It will be Detroit by next winter.
April 11th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
I find it interesting that the firemen can retire after twenty years, collect their retirement, and then stack another munciple retirement on top of that. In addition most of them have a side source of income when they are not at the firehouse.
I do agree that it was nuts for the council to support a mandatory staffing requirement. It just show they never think past the next election.
April 11th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
@Huh?: Your math sounds right to me.
April 11th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
BacktotheFuture says that out-of-town companies will be contracted to supply our city services. Can there be a Dearborn company providing these services when our city has always performed them? There was no call until now for a private firm. Our garbage has been picked up for decades now by private contractors. There were complaints at the time about privatization, but we seemed to have survived. The refuse companies that service our city are very large companies…we are just one of the cities that use any particular company. It will probably work out the same way with cutting the grass and sweeping the streets. I would prefer to have citizens doing this work, but I prefer to keep firefighters and police on the job.
By the way, to ‘Huh?’, you try to make 2 runs per 8 hours at a fire station seem trivial. If it is my child that firefighter is rescuing, then the run is not trivial. Not all the runs are major fires, it is true – I presume the total includes EMT runs, for example – but not one of a firefighter’s runs are trivial. There is also much prep work to be done back at the station to get ready for the next run. I am not a firefighter, and not related to a firefighter except my uncle, who is long retired. I prefer to be Dearborn, with assured levels of police and firefighters, than Allen Park, who wants to lay off the entire fire department.
Make note, though, firefighters and police, the same pressure that our ‘overpaid’ teachers are under to reduce benefits and pay will be aimed at your unions next. Perhaps you can come up with your own plans to reduce your own costs that will reduce friction when the time comes.
April 11th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Put the minimum stafffing question on the ballot again, and I’m sure u will get different results. O’Reilley kissed both departments fannies to get re-elected, now that that’s over, get down to dollars and cents. Everyone should sacrifice at this time. I talked to a cop about this,and he said, the people voted for it, and its too late. What a nice attitude.
April 11th, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Let me say from the outset that I fully support our firefighters and policeman. I think they should be paid well for what they do, and they earn every penny of their salary. Having said that, the long term issue with having these types of staffing retirements is that the municipality has to pay these employees a pension and health care benefits long after they retire from service, usually longer than they were actually employed. I would assume that the view of the firefighters is that their benefits are earned, were negotiated in good faith and signed onto by those on the other side of the negotiating table with full knowledge of what they would cost, and that they should never be adjusted or modified. This is understandable, as nobody wants to see their benefits or retirement income cut. The problem is, they were made promises by previous administrations in these negotiations that simply can’t be kept indefinitely. This is the real issue.
I read Mr. Thorington’s column. As the union president, he predictably blames the banks for the current economic problems. What exactly the banks have to do with Dearborn’s budget problems is beyond me. He also mentions that firefighters do not receive Social Security benefits. What he fails to mention is that they do not have to pay into the Social Security system (6.2% of all wages and salary, or 12.4% if you’re self-employed, up to $106,800 in income). He also fails to mention that while they don’t get Social Security benefits, they receive a pension and relatively generous health care benefits, which most non municipal employees do not receive. Again, in my opinion, this is not their fault, nor is it a reason that they or their unions should be vilified. Regardless, we are at a tipping point in our city and our country. The money just isn’t there to keep the promises that were made before.
It’s nice to have a high ratio of police and firemen per capita, but mandating these minimum staffing requirements is an issue that will put a financial burden on our city for years to come.
April 11th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
I understand and respect your difference of opinions. I would however like to clarify some facts.
Dividing the number of calls by the number of days/apparatus/staffing/hours does not work out correctly. The math is not as easy to calculate as it may seem. Most incidents require more than one apparatus response. Almost all fires require a response of multiple apparatuses and firefighters. Extrications typically require a response of three to four rigs. Medicals that require advanced life support care requires a response of two apparatus.
Polls showed that the firefighters would have passed the ballot initiative before 9/11. I do acknowledge that it was a tragic event that no doubt swayed some votes. It would have still easily passed.
Firefighters cannot retire after 20 years. We have a minimum of 25 years and most stay 30 years. The majority of firefighters do not/ cannot go on to a second municipal to stack on a second pension. Other than a Chief, there are not many municipalities that allow you to go there and not start at the bottom of the system.
This is a physically demanding job that where you cannot work effectively and safely into your golden years. We do not receive social security benefits and the City does not pay into the social security system for us. We pay into our pension plans along with the City.
I respectfully differ with “BacktotheFuture.” However, I do not want to see any services cut within the City either. Like I said in the article, we will work with the City to make ends meet. It is in all our best interest to keep Dearborn strong. I believe that burnt out housing and delayed ambulance responses are huge and a necessary thing to prevent decline in the City. I’d also bank on a good, quick police response as a necessity to prevent the City from declining.
Joey Thorington
President Dearborn Firefighters
April 11th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
I just want to say that …Bachtothefuture has it right ,all of our city services are being held hostage by police & fire! Trust me I know how important these two services are TO OUR COMMUNITY…But on the other hand ,we all live in a COMMUNITY for the whole experience, ARTS RECREATION SOCIAL ACTIVES SHOPPING ETC…but to live in a police state is not what I’m committed too! I for one do not want CONTRACTORS from other areas just cutting my city parks,or sweeping MY street, I want city employees who are COMMITTED to maintaining this city, to preform these JOBS!! While we’re at it can somebody give my a number of the city directors that live outside MY city ? These people are making all these decision and don’t even live here…where is their COMMITMENT ? The city charter states all appointed employee positions must live in the city.How many police & fire employees live in the city?
April 12th, 2011 at 8:17 am
I don’t understand what counts as a run? because I live on Cherry Hill off Telegraph, and every day I hear and or see at least 4 or more times a day, Fire Trucks going in this direction?
Personally I think in this case, it’s better to have, than to have not. I appreciate all the Police and Fire do for all of us. It’s a service one hopes to not have to use, but it’s nice to know their there.
April 12th, 2011 at 9:29 am
If I’ve done my research right I think the fire department staffing level passed by the voters didn’t require the city to hire one additional fire fighter. All it did was at the time keep the status quo. They didn’t demand more fire fighters but asked to protect what they had. If the census would have been down in 2010 the fire fighters would have lost people. That was a risk they were willing to take. We all know Wayne county is not exploding in population. My numbers might be off but the results of the census doesn’t require the city to hire anymore fire fighters either. If people cant see that the banking industry/wall street is responsible for this mess then you have a problem. The years and years of banks giving home loans to people that they know can’t afford them might be just one reason for this mess. What happens when people go back on there loans? Mass amounts of people lose there homes. Would that cause property values to fall? Does the city not rely on property value for taxes? Major banks failing, the economy grinding to a halt. Some how I don’t think that was the workers fault. So stop trying to fix the problem on the backs of workers. 2 runs every 8 hours sounds like a cool job. I guess those 2 runs only last like 1 min, or can they last hours? I’m guessing that fire fighters have some kind training to do, or is that the type of job that anyone can do? Who came and taught my daughter fire safety in school??? oh wait it was the fire department. Sounds like maybe just maybe fire fighters do a little more then we all think. I know I like it when they respond in under 4 minutes to my emergency. Or yes we can be like detroit and have no cops show up when you call, or have the ambulance take 20 minutes to show up, if they even do.
April 12th, 2011 at 11:57 am
deepreader–The greed of the banks, sub-prime lenders and lax government regulations lead to the burst of “the housing bubble” which made property values plummet. Cities gain revenue by taxing property. When property values drop, tax dollars drop. It’s a pretty easy inference to point out that the police officers and firefighters did not “create” the fiscal shortfall. They are just taking the blame.
Sloppy Joe–“but to live in a police state is not what I’m commited to”??? Really? “All of our city services are being held hostage by police & fire”??? Looks like you drank the “Kool Aid”.
April 12th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Does anyone know how many of the Council people who ultimately approve the union contracts were backed and endorsed by the police and firemen?
April 12th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
Diogenes: I do not know how many council members suported the minimum staffing or other FD issues were backed by the FD or PD, however, they all did at the time, and the FD adn PD almost always support in incumbant since Dearborn very rarely has turnover (with the exception of Brian McDonnell who was support by the FD.
Sloppy Joe: The rest of the City being held hostage by PD and FD? What about being held hostage by a 10 year old to keep the pools open? Hostage by land lords who do not keep up a building and allow it to ruin those around it? Or would you prefer to be held hostage in your own home because going outside or taking your kids to school may get you shot (Detroit)?
If you divide a firefighters schedule up into more common 8 hour shifts, you will find that a firefighter works 365 days a year, 8 hours a day (obviously they dont, that is just the break down). So maybe it is ok that they get to retire after 25 years (minimum with minimum pension).
If a firefighter or police officer dies before they retire they receive NONE of their pension, their family receives NOTHING of the money the firefighter contributed through out their career (usually 5-10% of their pay).
Being a firefighter or police officer may not be the MOST dangerous job there is, but how many times a night do you get up for work? Try it, set your alarm to go off three times a night, run around the block a few times maybe have someone point a gun in your face, maybe run on a 7 year old who is beaten so badly you cant tell his race, now go back to sleep, quick, you need some sleep before that next run comes in. So maybe a cop doesnt get up 3 times a night from sleep, but how about that cop that gets off work at 6 am and has to be back at court at 9 am? How about going to work and having to decide if the next person you talk to is going to want to kill you. Then, if you make the wrong decision you wind up dead, or alive with everyone Monday morning quaterbacking your decision.
If we all think being a cop or firefighter is a cake job and they dont deserve the benefits they get (like highest rates of bladder cancer for firefighters, alcoholism and divorces rates for both professions), why dont you walk down to 4500 Maple and get an application and get on the gravey train all these “bums” have found. Oh thats right, becuase it isnt a gravey train at all!!
April 12th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Just to make myself clear, what I meant by my comment about the banks was that they had nothing to do with the decisions Dearborn voters made about staffing requirements for the police and fire departments. I should have made my comment more clearly. I understand basic economics. All I’m saying is that the banks are an easy target. Not that they don’t deserve some of the blame. They just don’t deserve all of it. Do you really think that the only reason people walked away from their homes was because of the banks were greedy? I believe quite a few people walked away from their homes because their homes were worth less than what they paid for them, and instead of honoring their obligation to pay the mortgage, they decided to walk away. Regardless, you can blame the banks for giving them the mortgage in the first place, you can blame the government sponsored agencies for buying all of those mortgages, and you can blame a lax regulatory environment for a lack of oversight, but you will never convince me that a lot of people who decided to buy a home didn’t know whether they could afford that home before they bought it. It’s a matter of personal responsibility If they couldn’t afford it, they shouldn’t have bought it. If they could afford it but walked away because the value went down, that’s even worse. After all, it’s not like most of the bank-owned homes in Dearborn are in the wealthier parts of the city. Most of the vacant homes are in areas that weren’t overly expensive, at least relatively speaking, even at the peak of the housing market.
I also made it very clear in my comment that police officers and firefighters do not deserve to be blamed, nor do their unions. Nobody is trying to fix all our problems on the backs of workers alone, but if the problems are going to be fixed, it will be by shared sacrifice. Everybody is going to have to bear some of the burden, whether they created the problem or not.
April 12th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Personally, I feel the staffing levels of the fire department are warranted and obviously the will of the people. The amount of support the firefighters recieved in passing the Charter language is a testament to that. Pardon me for assuming but it appears some of the blog comments posted here are by those who may be employed buy this great city and view the firefighters as a reaching into their pocket. I am not sure if this is warranted.
Firefighters risk their lives or are willing to risk their lives for us everyday. In my opinion they deserve adequate staffing to ensure their job is as safe as it possibly can be.
Public safety should be the citizens first priority. You can have all the parks and libraries and pools in the world, but if they are not safe and secure they are worthless. If there are burned out houses on every block our property values go down.
Dearborn’s strong public safety staffing in my opinion is the primary reason why Dearborn has not gone down the same road as our closet neighbor….Detroit. Is anyone else not amazed how Dearborn is pretty much surrounded by Detroit yet remains safe? It appears to me that the charter language regarding public safety serves us all well.
Although I don’t buy into all the Mayor’s claims that fire and police staffing our bankrupting the city. I would most definitly support the keeping of firefighters and cops over keeping pools open, spending money on Camp Dearborn, maintaining our libraries etc. Safety should always be paramount for when visitors and citizens don’t feel safe none of these other “perks” matter.
April 12th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Ten years ago the Dearborn Police and Firefighters went to the voters requesting mandatory minimum staffing, meaning no lay-offs or cutbacks in both departments. Ever. This, I felt at the time and still do, was a deliberate attempt to get voter support based on fears from the 9/11 attacks on this country. Both Mayors Guido and O’Reilly expressed concerns about the ability to support such an action and now it is clear the budget is breaking because of this ridiculous vote. We are going to lose parks, pools, libraries, curb services and who know what else because the fire and police departments have voter support from 10 years ago. It’s time to put this BACK on the ballot and see how Dearborn residents feel about losing everything for the sake of two clever, powerful departments.
April 12th, 2011 at 8:44 pm
249 – Sure, there’s plenty of blame to go around on the real estate bubble, but whatever – tax revenues are gonna be down, down, down for a long time. So – millage increases or lose City services, pick your poison. I’d vote to repeal the Charter police/fire staffing provision, but too much union opposition in Dearborn – its DOA. I don’t see anyone from the current administration carrying that water, no way, no how. So, enjoy your trade-offs, its da price you pay for voting in things like mandatory staffing.
Reminds me of a lot of things, easy to bring in, impossible to get rid of.
April 12th, 2011 at 10:19 pm
I am not the biggest fan of Mayor O’Reilly but I have a different memory of his stand regarding the vote on the police minimum staffing proposal. I clearly remember that he opposed that measure, on the now-restated grounds that it tied the city’s hands at budget time.
I happened to be looking over the millage breakdown today, and it seems to me that we pay more millage to the schools than we do the city. Can that be right?
April 13th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
Cathy u are so right. Put the question back on the ballot. Times have changed, and so have the people. Do everybody a favor put the mandatory question back for the voters.
April 13th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
When we put the issue back on the ballot, why not add “…for Dearborn residents only…” so we don’t get screwed by paying for and providing for the lesser communities around us.
I could get behind that in a heartbeat…
April 13th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Cathy & Manny
It would be nice if you had the correct information before you post. While 9-11 was a tragic event in our history the process to have the fire department satffing on the ballot started long before that. You can’t just have something placed on the ballot at the last minute. There are defined rules and procedures, which HAD to be started long before 9-11. How dare you use that event to try and influence others. If you took the time to learn something you would see how misguided your post is. Try stating the facts.
April 13th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
First i would like to say that i am pro union and think highly of police officers and fire fighters as well as our U.S. Military men and women, but i also recognize that unions can be a double edge sword. What is taking place in Dearborn is similar to what took place in Wisconsin and Ohio recently. Those states were broke just like Michigan/Dearborn and the governors had to make cuts to state workers and teachers benefits,the difference between Wisconsin and Ohio though was that the Wisconsin Governor got cold feet and he exempted Police and Fire from the cuts,the Ohio governor had more guts and he included Police and Fire and everyone else in the cuts. Unfortunately our Mayor is more like the Wisconsin governor and is more than happy to hammer everyone else while exempting police and fire,he could bring the charter up to be reopened and voted on again but he wont,he is a politician and we all know from whats been taking place in D.C. exactly how politicians think and act.
Everyone here acts like people are suggesting the city eliminate the entire fire and police force,its not the case at all,its asking them to make concessions like everyone else has had to make.
Just like in Wisconsin and Ohio,any the talk of concessions and right away the scare tactics come out, if the police had to make concessions or lose 5 officers then “the whole city will turn into a crime haven”,if the same goes for the fire department then “houses and stores will be burning to the ground”. When teachers were forced to take concessions suddenly “the kids were all going to suffer”,this is the same tactic and spin the federal government used last week to try to block any budget cuts,suddenly “seniors were going to die and kids were going to starve”.
Wake up people,police and fire use these same scare tactics to avoid making a single concession while everyone else in the community takes the hits.
It’s TIME TO MAN UP MAYOR OREILLY.
April 13th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
@Cathy, my guess is you have never had to call either department for anything of a serious nature- because if you did, you would have had one of the fastest response times in the State of MI, if not the country. If you or a loved one had a life-threatening medical emergency, you would be very happy you lived in Dearborn. In the case of cardiac arrest, brain cells start dying after 6 minutes without oxygen, but if you have Paramedics on scene in 4 minutes (which is the average response time for DFD if I am not mistaken) who can begin advanced life support measures, you or your loved one stand a chance at surviving with neurological function intact. Imagine waiting 20+ minutes for EMS response if your child wasn’t breathing….an unfathomable eternity with what would surely be a fatal outcome. Imagine that same 20 min while your small stove fire engulfed your home. Think of both departments as you would homeowner’s insurance. The average homeowner pays year after year, and most of the time doesn’t use the benefits- but the day a tornado strikes, or a tree falls through your roof, you are forever grateful you had the insurance.
I am well familiar with the workday experience of both departments, and I can assure you, the average citizen has no idea of what these men and women go though on a daily basis. And just to clarify, I do not work for the city, nor am I married to anyone who works for either department.
Just thoughts from someone who sees more than the average citizen.
April 14th, 2011 at 7:34 am
Heartbroken, nice to hear from you again 🙂 I agree with everything you said.
April 14th, 2011 at 8:56 am
BacktotheFuture, the city reopened the Charter in 2007. The Charter commission left the staffing amendments alone.
April 14th, 2011 at 11:12 am
Thanks Candymanpat! Just a topic I feel strongly about…..
April 14th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Defendingworkers: I would be grateful to see any documentation you have showing that firefighters were pursuing this staffing issue prior to 9/11 and will apologize for misstating “the facts” in my post.
Heartbroken: You must be heartbroken for a reason and I’m very sorry. However, from your remarks, I must tell you that you don’t know anything about me.
I feel that if this City is forced to make deep cuts to it’s departments and services, every department should be part of that sacrifice.
April 15th, 2011 at 5:14 am
I am all for fire and police being staffed at the highest levels. And as Heartbroken states the response times for the DFD and DPD are outstanding and among the best in the state and nation. DFD saved my mom’s life twice by getting her to the hospital so quickly. DPD is at your door within 1-2 minutes and when you call them them usually send more than one car and they resolve the issue quickly.
DFD also does a lot of charity work with burn victims and their families and I do not know of any other fire department in the state that has so many fundraisers and employees who donate their own personal time in most cases to help the unfortunate.
If anyone has read the Press and Guide the past month or longer, you’ll notice that some terrible crimes happened in Dearborn with robberies and in one case a business owner was killed. Within anywhere from the same day to a few weeks, Dearborn’s finest caught the culprits. This is not the case in many other cities due to our high DPD staffing thanks to the Charter. As far as I know, we have more police offers per capita than any other Michigan city and more than most other cities in America and I am glad that we do since Detroit is adjacent to us and an overwhelming number of the crimes perpetrated in Dearborn are committed by people who reside in Detroit. Yet despite our proximity to Detroit, crimes decreased the past year in Dearborn, especially victim and violent crimes.
April 15th, 2011 at 7:27 am
Cathy, the Heartbroken is not a reference to current events, just a name I have used in the past, but thank you anyway. And you are correct, I do not know anything about you. However your posting makes the assertation that the city is going to lose EVERYTHING to the “powerful and clever departments” seems rather extreme. The budget issues in Dearborn are the product of less State funding, less tax income from Ford Motor Company, and lower property values, thus much less income for the City- hardly an issue unique to Dearborn. While I certainly agree that current and past administrations could have spent money in a better manner, to blame the FD and PD for the ship sinking is rediculous.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:04 am
From what I was told years ago (by a person that has lived in the city for probably 60+ years and held positions for me to warrant his respect and judgement), Dearborn has one of the highest millage rates in the area for police protection. Up until 5 years ago anyway, most of the “police protection” was for calls to Fairlane Mall. There was a demographics type of graph that was supposed to be used in marketing Dearborn to our clients. The “crime” graph bar was blown off the chart. We all agreed (included an ex-Dearborn police officer) that the skewed chart was because of Fairlane Mall. In these trying times, I think it’s time to shut down Fairlane Mall as, was before anyway, there’s a very small percentage of Dearborn taxpayers that patronize the place.
April 15th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
I have always been a supporter of police and fire and have ALWAYS known that they, especially the police, hold the line between Dearborn and Detroit. I am now a Dearborn PD mom, so there are some who may think I am biased. As a mother I am very proud of my son, however, we have frank talks about budgets, charters, unions, etc. We also have talks about waiting for back up, being careful when pulling over someone in the middle of the night with no one around, chasing bad guys, and the dreaded domestic dispute. So many people are surprised to hear that we have one man cars. That they are on their own until back up gets there. When I hear the sirens at night, I pray. After an hour or so, I call to be sure my son did not have to give his life for a modest salary. They work hard, they put up with a lot of crap, they deal with the worst of the worst, people and situation I would bet few of you would do. That said, that was his choice, I understand that. One more point: when he first started working for Dearborn I would he him refer to Dearborn as “my city”. I heard other cops do the same. At first I was taken aback, I had to think about how that sounded. But as I soon realized, they all view Dearborn as “their” city in the sense that they have the responsiblity to keep it safe and sound. I couldn’t be prouder of our police and fire. I pray every day for their safety. No matter your feeling about numbers and budget, I would hope you all would too.
April 15th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
I have a copies of the petitions signed in 2001 to get the staffing on the ballot for a vote. The copies that I have were signed in May and June of 2001, long before 9/11/01. Please know that we would never plan to intentionally play on people’s emotions and use a tragedy to benefit ourselves. We all lost several thousand people on 9/11, including 343 brother and sister New York Firefighters.
One prominent name that stuck out as I was looking for confirmation dates was the following: Mayor Guido signed the petition on 5/26/01. He was well respected by the residents of Dearborn. He was a great man and Mayor.
Joey Thorington
President Dearborn Firefighters
April 15th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Cathy,
Let me try and get ahold of the correct info you seek. I know for a fact that they collected signitures to have it placed on the ballot from me before 9-11 hit. I will call the city and see what the time frame is. I just know you can’t come up with an idea and in two or less months have it on the ballot. Lawyers are involved thousand of signitures are involved etc. I do remember them coming to my house way before 9-11 and getting my signiture for this.
April 15th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
“I feel that if this City is forced to make deep cuts to it’s departments and services, every department should be part of that sacrifice.”
Yep, misery loves company. The public safety employees shouldn’t be able to keep their jobs if I’m laid-off from my seasonal weed-whipping job.
Some advice for you: If you want to reap the benefits, such that they are, of a police or fire job, keep your personal life in order, stay out of trouble, keep your credit clean, go to college or work for another police or fire department, go attend a police or fire academy, graduate, go down to Maple Street, fill out an application, go through the whole interview and hiring process, get hired, make it through probation and then maybe you too can reap the same gratuitously extravagant pay and benefits that the public safety employees get. Until then, stop whining about what someone else has unless you put in the same effort they did to get where they are.
I wish I made as much money as a brain surgeon. The fact that I DON’T does not mean that a brain surgeon is over-compensated. I know that’s a difficult concept to comprehend in this age of everyone “deserving” what everyone else has, but that’s the way it is.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Come everyone,stop with the scare tactics,if dearborn had to lose a few officers i can guarantee that you still would have had the same great results that all of you are praising. Did anyone ever look into how many officers are actually in bureau’s and not on the street?
Does everyone really think all of these officers are out patrolling our neighborhoods?
Wake up people,a scam has been perpetrated and you sheep are going right along with it.
April 16th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Come on people, what else does this city offer other than a decent enough staffed police and fire department. I’m sorry but these are the only two departments I want fully maintained in this city. When I need one of these professionals I want them to be there and fast. I’m one the people that think they don’t get paid enough to do what is expected of them.
If you want a crappy police department why don’t you go live in that city in
Ohio where they keep dropping the test scores for police officers so a certain race of people can pass the test to become officers. I think we can’t appreciate what we have until we don’t have it anymore.
I say let’s look to City Hall to cut the fat in our budget. How many layoffs and pay cuts have they had there?
April 26th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
My question to Backtothefuture is,
Seeing as the mayor has said he will not lay of any fulltime employees, they will offer retirement or wait for attrition, which I believe they are already down a hundred or so employees from a couple years ago, then its not the police and firefighters who will sacrifice if their staffing is cut, they wont lose thier jobs, wont it be us in the neighborhoods who have to wait longer for 911 who will be making the sacrifices?
And another thing, if the police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances are accounted for and assigned, if we cut the staff we will have to cut the amount of cars and ambulances on the road. My question to backtothefutre is: Which ambulance or fire truck do you want to close down? Which neighborhood now does not get ambulance or fire coverage and has to wiat for a truck from the other side of town? Which neighborhood does not get a police beat anymore?
Hopefully not mine, I like having 911 there in minutes.
April 29th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
As a 23 year long resident of the city of Dearborn I for one think any cuts involving public safety is absurd. My family has had to use this service once for my dad and Dearborn’s firefighters arrived in less than 2 minutes and began providing care. I strongly feel that would have not have been possible in any other city in this state or any other and that makes me proud to call myself a resident of this city. Its obvious changes need to be made but the cities administrators have to look else where and leave our public safety the way it is. If we have to make cuts we need to lose luxuries not necessities and in my opinion public safety is a necessity.