City Council notifies administration that it will not support budget staffing just 153 firefighters

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr. 25, 2014

FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan was given notice by the City Council that it will reject any fiscal 2015 budget that includes the layoff of 60 city firefighters.

City Council President Joseph Camara said he polled his council colleagues and they all agreed that a fire department complement of 153 was not adequate and could even pose a public safety issue.

“When the fire chief comes and tells us that a first response can come on time but the second response will be delayed, that hurts,” Camara said. “That’s no way to run the city. The numbers don’t work.”

Camara said he’s informed Flanagan about the council’s intentions.

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Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan meets with fire department union to discuss concession offers

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr. 23, 2014

FALL RIVER — As massive layoffs loom for 60 firefighters in July, dropping the complement from 213 to 153, Mayor Will Flanagan met with union leaders Tuesday and made an offer they may refuse.

In the meeting with Flanagan, Jason Burns, president of firefighters Local 1314, and union vice president and District Fire Chief James Mellen said the mayor laid out a plan the would save a few jobs if the union agreed to substantial pay cuts.

Burns said there were essentially two offers; the first was that the firefighters would take a 10 percent pay cut and increase staffing from 153 to 163. Through the second proposal, they would take a 15 percent pay cut and increase staffing to 171.

Burns said his membership is not opposed to concessions to help close the $4.5 million fire department gap but said Flanagan’s offer “is still on the backs of the firefighters.”

Flanagan, according to Burns, went on the airwaves to announce his offer before the union president had an opportunity present the offer to his membership.

The mayor made a similar move in January when he announced the pending layoffs to union leaders, then was interviewed by The Herald News immediately after and before union members would learn their fate. Flanagan acknowledged he made the concession offer to the firefighters but said his first goal is to deliver a balanced budget to the City Council.

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City administrator says administration has identified options to cut budget deficit from $16 million to $3 million

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr. 22, 2014

FALL RIVER — What was purported to be a more than $16 million shortfall in the upcoming fiscal 2015 budget has been whittled down to $3 million, City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros told the City Council on Tuesday night.

As the city braces for a 35 percent reduction it its fire department, Viveiros made it clear that shutting the budget gap was the administration’s prime priority and that the city would look for solutions afterward in an attempt to save some of the firefighter jobs.

“We are looking at changes to the way we deliver services,” Viveiros said. “The budget is not sustainable in its current state.”

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FEMA informs Fall River that city will not get SAFER grant

Herald News Photo | Dave Souza

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr. 7, 2014

FALL RIVER — The Federal Emergency Management Agency informed the city on Monday there will be no SAFER grant, which could have saved the jobs of 16 firefighters, Mayor Will Flanagan announced.

That means Flanagan will go forward with the layoffs of 60 firefighters this summer, reducing the Fall River Fire Department from a complement of 213 to 153.

“We are going to see a more nimble fire department on July 1,” Flanagan said.

The city’s fire department has been bolstered by SAFER grants for nearly the past four years.

Firefighters Local 1314 President Jason Burns said it’s disappointing news, but the firefighters knew it was an uphill battle.

He noted the fire department has brought in $26 million to the city coffers to fund 158 firefighters in past years.

Two years ago — after learning the city was awarded what was, at the time, the largest SAFER grant ever given to a municipality — Flanagan said the city had to start planning for the future.

“We need to assure in two years we’re not in the same place we are now — relying on a bailout by the federal government,” Flanagan said.

“We thought we were making headway,” said Burns, “but obviously that wasn’t the case. Whatever it was, it didn’t work. Where are the solutions coming from the sixth floor?”

 

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City officials quick to begin assessing projected $16.7 million shortfall for fiscal 2015 budget

Herald News Photo | Dave Souza

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr. 1, 2014

FALL RIVER — City Council President Joseph Camara reiterated a point he made at Monday night’s joint City Council and School Committee meeting when it was learned the city could face a more than $16.7 million shortfall going into fiscal 2015 — the administration and the School Department need to get together now and find solutions….

 

Flanagan said he’s met with the fire chief and a former district fire chief “to look at ways we can take the firefighters and move them onto the fire trucks.”

Not all firefighters fight fires, Flanagan said, with some doing inspections and some acting as paramedics.

“We’re going to take as many bodies and move them on the fire trucks,” Flanagan told the crowd.

Flanagan said that is highly unlikely that staffing would go to 200, the number the mayor originally planned.

“That’s realistic,” Flanagan said, “However, any cuts we make to the fire department will be a temporary cut. I want to bring those firefighters back as soon as possible.”

Whether the mayor can muster the backing of the City Council to make those cuts is in doubt.

Camara said he and his fellow councilors would not approve a budget with a fire department that has a complement of 153 firefighters.

Mitchell called Flanagan’s plan “foolhardy” and not something he will support.

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Firefighters union, City Council say SAFER application from Aug. 2013 contradicts mayor’s recent statements

Herald News Photo | Jack Foley

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 26, 2014

FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s administration identified a $10 million budget shortfall in August 2013 and acknowledged that a reduction in firefighters would put the city’s safety at risk, according to information contained in a 2013 SAFER grant application.

But those facts contradict recent statements made by the administration claiming that the shortfall wasn’t discovered until January and claims by Flanagan that the planned layoffs of 60 firefighters would still keep the city within federal fire safety standards.

During the public comment portion of the City Council meeting Tuesday night, union representatives of the firefighters Local 1314 outlined those facts after a request from City Councilor Michael Miozza to review the 2013 SAFER grant.

Union President Jason Burns said that, when he was hired as a firefighter for the city, he took an oath to protect and serve, whether it was to fight fires or respond to other emergencies.

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Under SAFER pact, city could be forced to foot bill if layoffs occur in July

Herald News Photo | Dave Souza

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 26, 2014

FALL RIVER — If Mayor Will Flanagan moves ahead with planned layoffs in July, the city could be on the hook to repay the $14.4 million SAFER grant.

According to firefighters Local 1314 President Jason Burns and Fall River Fire District Chief James Mellen, the union’s vice president, terms of the grant dictate that through “the performance period,” which runs through mid-September, there can be no layoffs or else the grant must be repaid.

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Fall River councilor, mayor clash in effort to fix fire department’s fiscal 2015 crisis

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 17, 2014

FALL RIVER — City Councilor Michael Miozza rolled out a financial plan last week he believed would avert mass layoffs expected in the Fall River Fire Department in the next fiscal year.

“I think the money’s in the budget,” Miozza said.

Not so fast, Mayor Will Flanagan said on Sunday: the money Miozza suggested to return to the firefighters has already been earmarked to fund their budget in 2015.

“He gave the firefighters false hope because the money’s already allocated,” Flanagan said.

“If Miozza thinks the money’s in the budget, Flanagan said, “then show us where it is.”

Last Tuesday, Miozza told City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros and John Nunes, treasurer and director of financial services, that he wanted to give back to the fire department a portion of the $14 million SAFER grant the department received two years ago that was transferred to the stabilization account.

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City Council rejects Fall River mayor’s home-rule petition request to allow early retirement for firefighters

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 14, 2014

FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s plan for a home-rule petition that would offer senior firefighters an incentive to take early retirement as the fire department faces deep cuts failed this week after the City Council voted it down in a 4-4 split.

Voting against the home-rule petition, which would give senior firefighters five years toward their pensions, were councilors Linda Perreira, Raymond Mitchell, Michael Miozza and Daniel Rego. Voting in favor were council President Joseph Camara and councilors Pat Casey, Paul DaSilva and Jasiel Correia II.

Flanagan needed the approval of the council before sending it to the Legislature, although it appears there is little appetite at the Statehouse to pass the petition.

The mayor announced at the end of February that in fiscal 2015, he would cut 60 firefighter positions, leaving a complement of 153, as a more than $14 million SAFER grant expires in July.

Until December, firefighters said Flanagan had promised the city would fund a fire department of 200 firefighters.

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City Council blasts Flanagan over plan to cut firefighters during debate on early retirement home-rule petition

Herald News Photo | Jo C. Goode

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 11, 2014

FALL RIVER — With about 100 grim-faced firefighters and family members looking on, the City Council blasted Mayor Will Flanagan for his plan to slash fire department personnel by 34 percent with the pending expiration of the SAFER grant and what they asserted was mismanagement of the city’s finances Monday night.

“This administration has got to get its act together,” said City Councilor Daniel Rego, “accountability needs to be held.”

Rego said it is Flanagan who should be sitting before the council with an explanation.

Flanagan took the 213-member fire department — as well as many others, including members of the council — by surprise when he announced at the end of last month in that in fiscal 2015, he would cut 60 firefighter positions, leaving a complement of 153.

Until December, firefighters said Flanagan had promised the city would fund a fire department of 200 firefighters.

Two years ago, after receiving what was at the time the largest ever SAFER award, Flanagan pledged that he would work to fund the fire department without relying on grants.

City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros, who represented the administration at the meeting, said the financial team didn’t know there was no adequate funding for the fire department until they started preparing the budget in January.

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