Veteran Engineer Bill Scott’s History with the Carmel Fire Department:
• 1988: Part-Time Firefighter
• 1989: Part-Time Engineer
• 1992-2000: Interim Engineer
• 2000: Full-Time Engineer
• July 2007: Retired
Note:
Among his activities and achievements regarding the department’s fleet was the restoration of the vintage 1923 LuVerne engine.
COMMENT:
In the July 13, 2007 article, “Fire department loses one avid tinkerer but gains another,” by Mary Brownfield of The Carmel Pine Cone, former veteran engineer Bill Scott articulated that he planned to “stay longer,” but he did not want to continue sitting by “watching the city slowly dismantle the fire department.” “I was going to stay a few more years, but I just don’t want to work for the city anymore.”
QUESTIONS:
• After 19 years of service to the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea as a firefighter and engineer, what does “I just don’t want to work for the city anymore” signify?
• What does Bill Scott’s attitude towards the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea say about the city administrator and city council, particularly Mayor Sue McCloud, who are ultimately responsible for the working environment and morale of our city employees?
• Has the City Administrator and Mayor used the Fire Consolidation Study as a strategy to undermine morale in the Carmel Fire Department and create the feelings expressed by Bill Scott?
• With a total FY 2007/08 General Fund Budget of $13,094,894 and total Reserve Funds of $9.6 million, WHY don’t we, the residents of Carmel-by-the-Sea, have our own Fire Chief and a more robust portion of our General Fund Budget delegated to the Carmel Fire Department?
FACTS:
The Carmel Fire Department has not had its own Fire Chief since Bill Hill retired in 2001.
Carmel Fire Department:
Revised Total FY 2007/08 Budget: $1,678,154 (13% of Total FY 2007/08 Budget)
(Note: FY 2007/08 amount less than FY 2006/07 amount of $1,738,046)
For perspective, the Carmel Police Department FY 2007/08 Budget represents 20% of the total FY 2007/08 General Fund Budget or $2,673,132.
• Are Carmelites proud that one of their veteran employees departed our city’s employ with the attitude, “...I just don’t want to work for the city anymore?”
1 comment:
It makes you wonder what Sue McCloud and her followers on the city council are thinking. Is the police department so much more important, in their view, than the fire department? Are they trying to starve the fire department of funds and force the top veterans out so that the city council can claim our fire fighters are no longer capable of providing adequate protection for our businesses and homes? First McCloud et al wouldn't hire anybody to fill the top three positions in the department leaving it rudderless. Then they brought in outside contractors to run the department. Contracters, who said they were overworked. What's next from the McCloud administration? Are we going to be "protected" by firefighters from PG or Monterey who don't know their way around Carmel and will have to take extra time finding a fire? On so many fronts the mayor and city council seem determined to damage Carmel from both a business and residential standpoint. What are they thinking? What's their motivation? They claim they are saving money when it's tight but the truth is that the city has plenty of money. Why don't the voters stop believing what Sue McCloud and company say and look at what they have actually done and continue to do to Carmel?
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