Cincinnati hires new fire chief

[Box 2565]

Cincinnati hires new fire chief
Richard A. Braun was an assistant fire chief in Columbus
By Jane Prendergast (Cincinnati Enquirer)• jprendergast@enquirer.com • December 8, 2010

Cincinnati’s first fire chief from outside the ranks will be a 36-year veteran of the Columbus Fire Department whose first task might be to figure out how to cope with a department made smaller by layoffs.
 
Richard Braun, on the Columbus force 36 years, will take over here in mid-January, City Manager Milton Dohoney announced Wednesday. He replaces Robert Wright, fire chief for more than 12 years who retired last month. Braun got the job over at least 28 other applicants after a 3½-month process. He’ll retire in Columbus.

Two others also were finalists: Cincinnati assistant chief Ed Dadosky and Rochester, N.Y., Chief John Caulfield.

Braun earned $135,907 a year in Columbus and will earn $135,000 here. The job was advertised with a salary range of $100,000 to $136,000. Wright earned more than $125,000 last year.

Dohoney said in a statement that he briefed Braun on his proposed budget cuts, which include laying off 144 firefighters.

“This is where Chief Braun’s abilities in strategic planning, resource allocation and rapport building will be especially useful right off the bat,” the statement said.

Columbus saved public safety and other city jobs after voters there last year approved an increase in income tax.

Marc Monahan, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters union, said it was a sign of disrespect that the rank-and-file hadn’t been notified of its new boss. He had said from the time Wright announced he’d be leaving that hiring an outsider in the midst of serious budget cuts could be a problem. Dohoney’s budget also calls for closing 11 fire companies.

“My concern was that he’d be an outside hatchet man,” Monahan said. “But now you bring somebody in from the outside and expect him to be able to manage that chaos?”

The outside hiring – which also goes for police chiefs and assistant chiefs – was made possible by voters’ approval in 2001 of Issue 5. The ballot measure in the wake of the April riots that year was promoted as a way to change the culture of the police department. Police Chief Tom Streicher leaves in March. Dohoney has said he’ll start a search in January for his replacement.

Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz questioned the appropriateness of hiring a retired person who’s drawing a pension and paying them a salary at the same time the city might cut 144 firefighters. She sent a list of questions about it to Dohoney’s office and asked for answers by noon Thursday. Employees don’t have to acknowledge if they’re in the DROP program, but Ghiz wants to know if Braun is enrolled.

The Cincinnati Fire Department has an authorized sworn strength of 868, but staffing is about 816 now. About 80 percent of the calls the department responds to are for medical care, with 20 percent for fires. The department’s proposed 2011 budget is $62 million.


 
 

[Buckeye 53]

The thing I find most disturbing, other than the total destruction of the once mighty CFD, is the focus on whether the new chief is in the DROP program or not.  The cries of "Double Dipping" are rampant.  I just want to point out that I consider a case like this as "Double Working".  The chief from Columbus put in his time in Columbus & earned his salary, benefits, and retirement.  He is entitled to those when he retired from Columbus.  He has now been hired by the City of Cincinnati to be their Fire Chief and as such is due all the negotiated benefits of that position.  He went through the hiring proces and they picked him.  If the City of Cincinnati was so concerned about all this, why did they hire a retired guy, AND, at a higher salary than the departing chief?  As for being a "Hatchet Man", that's pretty accurate.  These cuts have been in the making for a long time and they were going to happen no matter who was chief.   FYI-The DROP program was started in the Ohio Police & Fire Retirement Systen in 2003 to try & keep some of the higher earning employees working to keep those funds in the system and keep the retiring members off the pension fund's health care.  The maximum time you could participate in DROP was 8 years and now we are seeing the first members go due to their time being maxed out. 

[Buckeye 53]

Hey Box 2565,

Can I post the "Whistle Blower" article on this or is it too inflammatory? 

[Truck11]

Very interesting, doesn't sound like it is a real hit with the rest of the staff. I can't imagine it will be a whole lot of fun for the new Chief, but it sure sounds like he has the years and expirence to do the job, but only time will tell.

[Engine33Truck]

Is it just me, or is the once grand and excellent Cincinnati FD going to hell in a political handbasket?

[Box 2565]

Hey Box 2565,

Can I post the "Whistle Blower" article on this or is it too inflammatory? 

Although I believe some of the information in The Wistleblower is accurate, I would leave it off of here as it is a 2nd alarm on arrival....

[Box 2565]

Is it just me, or is the once grand and excellent Cincinnati FD going to hell in a political handbasket?

Like most major cities in the Rust Belt, Cincinnati is far beyond broke.  If the City were a corporation, they would have filed bankruptcy years ago.  Cincinnati has been on the decline for quite a while (population seems to have stabilized and there are a couple of neighborhoods that have radically improved) however the folks at City Hall seemed to be unaware of that information.  Tax revenues took some big cuts in the last couple of years and yet nothing was done to address the budget issues that came with the reduction in revenue.  All of the political hoodoo has finally shown up on the steps of City Hall and the Mayor and Council are surprised and amazed as to what has happened.  Now the police and fire unions are being asked for concessions over negotiated items.  Who negotiated these items?  The same folks that are so surprised that there is a massive budget shortfall.  You see, the Unions are the reason Cincinnati is having trouble. That is why concessions are needed; Council had nothing to do with what happened!  There's enough manure in that thought to fertilize most of the crops in Iowa next year.

Anyway, the solution to the problem is some significant layoffs.  Roughly, 130 police officers and 140 firefighters are being laid off within the next month or so.  The C.F.D. currently operates 26 engines, 12 trucks, and 2 squads.  Eleven of the 40 companies will be disbanded, 7 engine companies and 4 ladder companies.  Things are going to be bad.  Council has no concept of the outcome of these cuts.  All of the disbanded companies are coming from stations which currently operate an engine and a truck (golly gee no we kept all of the firehouses open nothing has changed).  I am tired of seeing comments like "Only 20 percent of your runs are for fires".  Guess what.  With all of those companies gone the delays will cause a one-room fire to become two rooms.  A one-alarm fire has a better chance of being a two-alarm fire.  Everyone here understands the concept.  There is also a push for reduction in staffing from four to three firefighters per company.  National Standards say to maintain staffing at four per company; however, City Council, with their years of firefighting experience, cannot see what is wrong with that.  

The final blow is the selection of the Chief.  I have nothing negative to say about Chief Braun.  Based on what I have read he was an outstanding firefighter for the City of Columbus and would be an asset to any department.  I'm sure he could make an excellent Chief for Cincinnati, but the City Manager, Mayor, and Council will never allow his position to be anything more than that of a political hack.  As soon as the uninformed voters spoke and said that the Chief and Assistant Chief's could be appointed, the jobs were destroyed.  The Chiefs can no longer speak up if they believe something is wrong or take an action that is contrary to the wishes of the City Manager for fear they could be out the door.  I'm going to stop now before I become really ticked off and start yelling and screaming through the computer.

P.S.  I will say that there might be one change that I would like to see.  Columbus has RED fire engines (none of those white roofs) and tractor-drawn aerials.  Maybe he can bring those ideas along...

[Buckeye 53]

Hey Box 2565,

Can I post the "Whistle Blower" article on this or is it too inflammatory?  

Although I believe some of the information in The Wistleblower is accurate, I would leave it off of here as it is a 2nd alarm on arrival....

That's what I thought you'd say.  What is the new photo you're using up by your ID? 
Hey, aren't the total # of my posts almost = to the year of your birth?

[Engine33Truck]

Steve, I apologise.  I wasn't trying to be inflammatory with my statement, when I posted that it seemed to me that the city council was screwing the CFD over.  And to the statement people have made "only 20% of your runs are fires"  Show me a fire department in this earth that doesn't run drastically more car wrecks and shoe runs (EMS runs) than fires.  You just won't find anything like that.  CFD runs the same amounts of the same types of calls as any other department.  Obviously the city council doesn't understand that.   And having only experience with six man engine, truck and rescue companies, I can't understand how paid fire departments work with four per rig.  Much less three, that I would never stand for.  What can you do with three men on an engine!? Unless you are a combination dept?  

Chief Braun, if left to do his job as a fire department chief, could make an excellent chief.  But the fact that the city council put him there for political reasons says otherwise, like you said.  However, I have the sneaking suspicion that he won't be very popular, as he was given the job over what, five, Cinncinati FD officers?

PS, I've always thought that CFD trucks look good in white.  White, red, grey and in some cases kelly green are to me the only permissable colors for fire trucks.
Edit:  I must correct myself, I was under the impression that Cinnci painted their rigs white (as I've seen a few), all red is their tradition.  However, I personally think they need Q sirens.  

[Buckeye 53]

Council: Concessions will save police, fire jobs

By Jane Prendergast • jprendergast@enquirer.com • December 13, 2010


A majority of Cincinnati City Council members say they'll stop the layoffs of 275 police officers and firefighters if both unions agree to a total of $20 million in concessions.

Councilman Jeff Berding, vice chairman of council's budget and finance committee, said he asked union officials a month ago to suggest cuts and received no response. He said both unions offer "more bonuses and more bonuses and more bonuses."


Marc Monahan, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said he felt blind-sided by Berding's heated comments. He said he came to the meeting this afternoon because he thought the committee was going to talk about the closure of 11 fire companies.


"The way they're handling themselves is unprofessional," he said of council members, five of whom voted in favor of seeking the concessions. "If they want to talk about fully staffing our fire department, then we'll sit down and talk."


Veteran police officers sitting in the back of council chambers shook their heads no as council members talked about it being time for unions to understand their contracts are too lucrative when the city faces a $60 million deficit. Councilman Chris Bortz said it was time for the unions "to join the real world."


Voting in support: Berding, Roxanne Qualls, Laure Quinlivan, Wendell Young and Bortz.

Voting against: Cecil Thomas. Two council members abstained: Charlie Winburn and Chris Monzel.


Thomas, a former police officer, said it wasn't fair to treat the unions as if they've done something wrong. They merely negotiated better contracts than the city would like, he said.


My 2 cents - No they won't.  Never have, never will.  It is only a poorly disquised way to try & force the members to give back hard won items for nothing but empty promises.  If they gave up everything now, next year there would be cries for cuts in companies &  reduction in staffing to the few remaining companies. I'm not bitter or anything, though.  During thses economic times it's easy to single out the "Unions"  I think most city managers would love nothing more than to be able to do away with all unions.  My last boss told me that one of his goals was to bust every union in our city.  

[Box 2565]

Steve, I apologise.  

No need to.  I'm not the least bit upset with you.   My rant was directed solely at those 11 people that run the City of Cincinnati.  Just in the time that I've hung around the C.F.D. the number of fire companies has gone from a total of 52 down to 40 with the number 29 on the horizon.  The politicians have dismantled this department and it's a shame...

[Engine33Truck]

Thanks.   That sounds like what's going on in Harrisburg up near my way.  If the politicians keep dismantling the fire department, then that fire department will lose the ability to function.  Three man companies.  That still throws me for a loop.  What the hell can three men do on a fire??  The engineer drives up to the hydrant, the guy in the back jumps out to dress the plug, they pull up, the engineer gets the truck ready.  That leaves the officer to go in alone or otherwise stand there looking pretty until the other guy treks up to the engine.  I just don't understand the city council's reasoning there.  I can understand a three man truck company, but definately not an engine or rescue co.  Rescue trucks (or squads or whatever) need to have at least five, preferably six, as their SAR and RIT.

[FAO25]

I live in the Northeast but it's the same everywhere. It's the Public Employee Unions that have crushed the communities.
Not the people who overspent on their credit cards and mortgages. Not the business executives that sold people things they couldn't afford or raided and sold their businesses for all they could get and took an early retirement. Not the national, state and local officials and politicians who failed to monitor and regulate these activities. These people who chased away business and robbed Peter to pay Paul and kept creating giveaway programs to the masses that could not be financially supported. You know the people I mean. The ones that now are asking for the givebacks. We can trust them. After all they have done such a good job up to this point.
The EMS argument can be misleading. The best and most effective and efficient EMS Systems have well trained, experienced and motivated fire departments integrated into them. Those that are in it just to get their run numbers up are a threat to public health.
That being said, the fire hazard needs to be examined. If you believe what Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn teaches, buildings have a life span. Traditionally 75 to 100 years if properly maintained before they need to be renovated. Failure to maintain them can reduce the life span to 50 or even 25 years. Newer building techniques probably less.
The fire wars of the 60's and 70's into the 80's can be explained. They were, to some degree an aberration. Regardless of the social and economic upheavals of the times, by Dunn's Law, these buildings were reaching the end of their lifespan. They didn't represent the normal fire load of a healthy community's life cycle. If Dunn's Law is true, these hazards have been purged and there is no longer a significant fire threat.
This is foolish and dangerous. Many large cities have High Rises reaching the 50 to 75 year mark. The same law indicates that these will become more of a threat. We can extrapolate the economic disruption and devastation of a 25, 50 or 100 story building collapse from what happened on September 11th.
And remember what Frank Brannigan pointed out. If you cut corners on building fire safety because it has a sprinkler system, what do you do have when the sprinklers are out of service? To say we can live safely with these cuts, companies or company staffing etc., is absurd.

[FAO25]

Thanks.   That sounds like what's going on in Harrisburg up near my way.  If the politicians keep dismantling the fire department, then that fire department will lose the ability to function.  Three man companies.  That still throws me for a loop.  What the hell can three men do on a fire??  The engineer drives up to the hydrant, the guy in the back jumps out to dress the plug, they pull up, the engineer gets the truck ready.  That leaves the officer to go in alone or otherwise stand there looking pretty until the other guy treks up to the engine.  I just don't understand the city council's reasoning there.  I can understand a three man truck company, but definately not an engine or rescue co.  Rescue trucks (or squads or whatever) need to have at least five, preferably six, as their SAR and RIT.

I would disagree with you regarding 3 people being adequate stafffing for a truck company. Many of today's fireground injuries and deaths can be traced to a lack of "Truck Work". Regarding the 3 Person staffing of engine companies, there is an answer. In many communities, years ago, engine companies were so called, two piece units. They ran with a pumper and a separate hose wagon, (truthfully in some cases both pieces were pumpers) and a 5 to 7 man crew. One of the two pieces, depending on local preference, would take the plug and the other would go to the fire and stretch attack line from there. Most or all cities have eliminated this type of organization. We still have the same operation though. One 3 person company goes to the fire. One 3 person company lays them a supply line. It's still pump and wagon. The difference is, they are in different houses, with different officers, with unpredictable times of arrival. They don't train together. Aren't supervised together. Well, you get the picture.

[Engine33Truck]

I stated that a 3 man truck company is adequate because they don't need to hit a plug (well, a true truck doesn't).  The engineer can set the truck up himself or with the help of the other two.  On vent work, you only need two, one with the saw and one with a pike.