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City Cops dont either but Nassau Suffolk cops do. You cant honestly use NYC civil service salaries as a basis for LI civil service salaries. You're kidding, right?
To... what? One one hand we have the entire history of Long Island volunteer fireman bereft of a single incident of a volunteer getting drunk at the firehouse and then screwing up on a call. On the other hand we have one (OK, two, if you count the OP) people on the internet concerned that there COULD be an incident. By which metric do we set policy?
Also, glad to see this thread turned into another MY TAXES bitchfest about county employee salaries.
It seems that many people do not understand what a volunteer fire fighter does.
rather than bitching on a forum about salaries they are out there putting out fires for NOTHING.
grow up. are you guys really judging the moral character of a firefighter and if they will drink on the job or not? what have you done to help your community? complaining on CD does not count.
It seems that many people do not understand what a volunteer fire fighter does.
rather than bitching on a forum about salaries they are out there putting out fires for NOTHING.
grow up. are you guys really judging the moral character of a firefighter and if they will drink on the job or not? what have you done to help your community? complaining on CD does not count.
Trust me Kay, I have friends and family who are vollies. I know what goes on behind those doors ... and it's not all perfect and certainly not lawful.
The "they volunteer their time blah, blah, blah" excuse to justify their behavior got old a very long time ago.
Trust me Kay, I have friends and family who are vollies. I know what goes on behind those doors ... and it's not all perfect and certainly not lawful.
The "they volunteer their time blah, blah, blah" excuse to justify their behavior got old a very long time ago.
What behavior? What have they done wrong? Getting drunk behind closed doors is not a bad thing unless you have some kind of anti-alcohol agenda. Still haven't seen a single shred of evidence that this is a problem.
The question was asked whether the volunteer system works or not. It does not.
Our volunteer system on Long Island is a throwback to the middle of the last century when the fire whistle would be blown and everybody would come a-runnin'. Oftentimes that did -- and still does -- result in a very delayed response to emergency calls. The vast majority of fire department calls these days are for EMS. Those departments that have a pure volunteer staff significantly lag national standards of response time, especially during weekday, daytime hours (few volunteers available.) Because of these staffing difficulties, many departments are forced to hire EMS personnel. So much for the all-volunteer system.
There are significantly better - and cheaper - models for Long Island to use. Those departments that have successfully used volunteers have integrated them into a combination system that works very differently from our model. Many of the DC area suburban departments are combination departments and are cited as models of efficiency and effectiveness.
Our fire taxes are comparatively high for supporting all-volunteer departments. The taxes are used to purchase duplicative, high-end fire equipment (Nassau County has significantly more aerial units and heavy rescue trucks than New York City, with 80% less population); and build taj-mahal fire houses (there are also more than 300 fire houses in Nassau County -- most equipped with gyms and bars and rec rooms.) Does Long Island really need a total of 181 (71 in Nassau and 110 in Suffolk) individual, independent fire departments?
Add in the pensions, tax breaks and other perks (including lavish installation dinners) for "volunteer" firefighters, and taxpayers are paying a hefty price for rather mediocre service. Politicians, of course, won't touch the system because it represents votes and saying anything against this tax-payer supported social club is tantamount to treason.
The series done by Newsday several years ago on the state of our fire protection on Long Island was eye-opening. And despite being quite accurate, it was roundly dismissed because of the political minefield it represents.
I'm well aware that this post will bring a barrage of "we get out of bed at 3 in the morning in the snow of February to protect you" or "why don't you volunteer yourself" diatribes. Well, I've been there and I've done that. The truth is that those discussions are just smoke screens. The system doesn't work, we pay significant taxes for it, and we deserve better.
All hail to the gallant guys that go running into burning buildings.
I could give a rats patoot if they want to have a drink.
Whiny you-know-whats wanna complain?
You go dash into the fire.
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