Comments on: Boise Fire Goes After EMS Business

By: Maya

Maya — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:12:18 +0000

I have a great photo to share. It consists of a BFD ladder truck, BFD engine, and BFD Batallion Chief vehicle (and the 10-12 personnel that they sleep) parked at Edwards 21 last week for a couple of hours (of course, while ON DUTY) so that all the tax-funded heroes could play sand volleyball. Here are a couple of things to ponder:
1) Were all these vehicles in their response areas? If so, need I say more about waste?
2) If someone twists an ankle during this beach festival, will the taxpayers pay work comp until they are back to duty? Of course, this is the fire union, dummy!
3) What is the cost for fuel to run these vehicles around to local recreation spots and grocery stores? Should we be paying for it?
4) What is the cost for personnel per hour of beach volleyball? Hint: its the fire union, dummy! These are some of the highest-paid and most benefit-rich jobs in the WORLD.

We currently enjoy outstanding EMS at a reasonable rate. We are fortunate to have medics who devote all of their time and talents to our medical needs (not the 10% of training time that the FD currently devotes to medical training).
As far as fee-for-service, I am all for it. I currently pay less than $80 per year for ACEMS. I have never used an ambulance and don’t anticipate the need anytime soon. However, I want to know that the best-trained people will arrive should I need to call.
In contrast, my fire taxes are approximately $800 per year. I have never used their services and also don’t anticipate the need anytime soon. No matter, I am still paying out the nose every year. Why? It’s the fire union, dummy!
I guess we are all dummies, as this attempt to fragment and duplicate the EMS service has reared its head in virtually every possible political venue in this state over the past 10 years. A great deal of tax money has already been spent to scheme and study this issue. It seemed that nobody noticed or cared, perhaps until now. Now is the time to let Mayors and Fire Chiefs know that we don’t intend to fund their endless quest for money and power and we refuse to let our EMS system become its latest victim!

By: GeoffG

GeoffG — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:06:57 +0000

To all those interested in fire union influence in politics, please checkout the link below which appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/firedistricts.nsf/0/14487F880AA93F0686256EFA0015F5C4?OpenDocument

It’s a real eye-opener. I wonder how much of this type of influence is exerted in our own local fire district boards or in local elections?

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/special/firedistricts.nsf/0/585415870E5B797086256EF7006E1EB3?OpenDocument

By: Idaho Native

Idaho Native — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:38:13 +0000

I just wonder if Vern Bisterfeldt and Jim Tibbs will object to the awarding of the bid for a new ambulance? They should since the issue for buying one has never been discussed with them in the first place….they claim. Talk about arrogance on the part of Team Dave. I think it is time for a new Mayor.

By: dog

dog — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:21:27 +0000

Rock, Paper, Scissors might work?

Thanks Guardian. This is an example of citizenship happening.

By: Discoboy

Discoboy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:06:46 +0000

TO THE EDITOR:

When and where are the public meeting(s) going to held? This would very informative to the general public. Thank you.

EDITOR NOTE– All we got from a councilor was, “soon.”

By: Discoboy

Discoboy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:56:21 +0000

Answers-Part 2

RE: Question 8.
Irregardless of how you choose to look at this, the impropiety speaks for itself. When you couple this with the consistency that the IAFF has been known for, this local situation is not out of the ‘normal’ for Union Firefighters (see the following:
http://www.sfbg.com/38/40/cover_fire.html). The problem is that they see NOTHING wrong with this approproach. AND when the time comes for some justification by the general public, they continue to use the same old phrase…”public safety will suffer.”
I am truly saddened when I see the Parks&Recreation department(where kids need to go to play), the Boise PD department, and Boise teachers having to cut budgets while the Boise Fire Department continues to increase theirs. Where is the fiscal responsibility in that? Is there local political corruption? Draw your own conclusions.

By: Discoboy

Discoboy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:50:21 +0000

Answers-Part 2

RE: Questions 4-7, 9-12, 15, and 21…

The answers required can only come from specified individuals. Speculation has no merit in this discussion. If, indeed, a public meeting is scheduled with the Boise City Council over this matter, it is my suggestion that those named individuals be present (or a representative from their department) to give valuable testimony.

By: Discoboy

Discoboy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:24:39 +0000

Shame on KTVB Channel 7, KIVI Channel 6, KTRV Fox 12, and the Idaho Statesman for not reporting on this story. One has to wonder at the reason behind this…especially since some of them knew about it. 🙁

Good job for KBCI for reporting it. 🙂

By: Lucas Baumbach

Lucas Baumbach — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:05:13 +0000

I’ve talked to both sides of the issue.
Off the record Dennis Doan said that the only net benefit would be saving administrative costs. But, he forgets that Boise Fire only added paramedics or EMTs (Brandon correct me on this one) a year ago. The duplication of administration is on Boise Fire’s side. The Bieter Council needs to be replaced for this and their other power grabs.

By: Fed Up

Fed Up — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:03:32 +0000

The Mayor and/or Chief Doan has yet to offer any insight as to why the City of Boise really needs an additional ambulance. The reson why is because we don’t need it!

My take on the issue is that the Boise Fire Department wants to add ambulances to their service so they can do a one for one personnel swap with ACEMS crews. For every ACEMS crew that BFD replaces with a firemedic crew, the PFFI (Fire Union) ranks grow by an equal number.

Interestingly enough, the PFFI was a major contributor to the Mayor’s campaign. Dennis Doan was, at the time, the president of the PFFI. Since the election, the previous Chief retired and Dennis was “chosen” by the Mayor from deep in the ranks of BFD as the new Chief (Captain to Chief… wow!). Chief Doan then surrounded himself with cronies from the PFFI.

Is Dennis qualified for the job? Not sure, but it is interesting that BFD was recently recruiting a Deputy Chief of Administration, this is a new position who does the admin work that a Fire Chief would normally… so… what does the Chief do? still doing PFFI work?
The bottom line is that it looks like the PFFI is deciding how we spend our tax dollars.

This feels a lot like Chicago or New Jersey!