Two is better than one, says a task force making recommendations on how to restructure the city's firefighters. The members insist the city would be better off with two departments: one consolidated volunteer department and one department of career firefighters.
Having one department, said task force Chair Bobby Valentine, "would be like trying to fly a kite in a hurricane. It would be ridiculous for us to think it was feasible."
The task force presented a review of its plan to the Board of Representatives' Public Safety and Health Committee on Thursday night. A taxing district would be established to pay for the recommended consolidation of several departments into a unified Stamford Volunteer Fire Department. Stamford Fire & Rescue is the career department.
But many questions remain. Task force members were concerned about leadership, saying all Stamford firefighters should answer to a single chief. The Glenbrook Volunteer Fire Department is not interested in being part of a consolidation plan. Three separate plans were submitted to Mayor Michael Pavia, who then fashioned his own proposal.
Members of the Stamford Professional Firefighters Association Local 786 filled the fourth-floor Legislative Chambers at the Government Center, eager to hear details of the mayor's restructuring plan. However, Pavia did not attend the meeting and specifics, such as cost and funding, were not addressed.
The city is now served by six fire departments. Each is a separate entity, within its own district. Stamford Fire & Rescue's career firefighters have protested the restructuring plans. Among their concerns are the potential for layoffs, increased taxes and the logic of having two separate forces serve one city, they say.
"We obviously don't like the plan. We don't think it's best for the city of Stamford," Local 786 Vice President David Davis said. "We want to sit down and talk about this."
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