Firefighters rally against Fike’s policy
The sound of car and truck horns honking outside City Hall in support of Uniontown’s firefighters reached Mayor Ed Fike’s office Monday, but did not convince him to change directions in calling for laying off some full-time firemen. City volunteer firefighters protested the possible layoffs by holding signs that asked passing motorists to honk in support of public safety.
“Public safety is gone without the full-time firefighters,” said Alvin Sapp, who has served as a city volunteer for 26 years. “Volunteers can’t do it alone. There’s not enough volunteers anymore.”
He said the volunteers held the daylong protest to help generate support for keeping all 13 full-time firemen on the job.
Able to see the volunteers through his office window facing Gallatin Avenue and hearing the horns honking, Fike said he respects the volunteers’ show of support and respects all firefighters, but the city can’t afford 13 paid firemen.
“I respect that. I can understand their support. I have always supported firemen myself,” Fike said. “It’s all about the dollar. Unfortunately, we can’t just wave a magic wand and create new money. Fortunately, we have volunteers.”
He said he does not want to abolish the fire department or close either of the two fire stations, but he believes a property tax increase would be needed to keep all 13 on the payroll.
Fike has said at least 25 city employees, including seven firemen, have to be laid off to avoid ending the year in a $220,700 deficit.
Sapp said volunteer firefighters and the public would be at risk if career firemen do not respond to emergencies.
The city volunteer fire departments have about 100 members, but most are older, he said. Three or four regularly respond to alarms and only one or two respond during the day, Sapp said.
All fire departments have difficulty enlisting volunteers, he said.
Fike said he believes voters selected him as mayor to reduce the city’s expenses and keep taxes as low as possible.
His goal is to lower the real estate tax rate next year and have a strong fire department that operates at a minimal cost, he said.
It has taken a lot of courage to enact unpopular, but necessary cost-cutting measures the last two years, Fike said.
He and council laid off 41 employees, including seven firemen, last year and this year. The firemen and some of the other workers have been recalled.
A 4.5-mill increase in the real estate tax rate went into effect this year.
The 10-man sanitation department was replaced with an outside contractor that pays the city an $8,000 a month franchise fee last year, but an arbitrator ordered the city to pay the workers $83,225 to compensate them for the time remaining in their contract, which expires at the end of this year.
Fike said he wants to follow to the agreement that was reached to recall the seven firemen. The agreement required the city to keep three of the firemen on the job to at least Sept. 18 and four through the end of the year.
He said the city has adhered to a provision in the agreement that required the city to meet with the firemen at least 30 days before taking action on any layoffs, but he and council have not yet made any decisions regarding layoffs.
The fire department has said laying off seven men would delay emergency response time, force the closure of the East End Fire Station due to insufficient manpower and leave the city without zoning and code enforcement officers.
Pamphlets the volunteers distributed said they have not been trained as fire engine operators and the last time a volunteer joined the department was in 2006.
Fike said the volunteers should have commercial drivers licenses (CDL), which would allow them to drive the fire trucks. If volunteers can learn how to fight fires, they can pass a CDL test, Fike said.