County Firefighters Decry Cuts to 2004 Budget

by Leah Carlson
Gazette Staff Writer

Dec. 18, 2002

Montgomery County volunteer fire departments could lose a station, equipment and personnel if a proposal by Montgomery County Fire Administrator Gordon Aoyagi wins approval.

Aoyagi presented his proposal for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service's fiscal year 2004 budget to the county's Fire and Rescue Commission on Thursday.

Aoyagi's plan contains $2.5 million in cuts, including closing one fire station and reducing equipment and administrative personnel throughout the county. The current year's budget is $108.6 million, according to Montgomery County's Web site.

The proposed budget cuts are designed, in part, to pay for a 29 percent pay increase, spread over three years, that the Montgomery County chapter of the International Association of Firefighters negotiated for career firefighters last year.

The proposed cuts include:

• closing Kensington Volunteer Fire Department Station 21 on Veirs Mill Road, Rockville;
• removing a ladder truck from Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department Station 10 on River Road, Bethesda, and Hillandale Volunteer Fire Department Station 12 on New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring;
• removing an ambulance from Rockville Volunteer Fire Department Station 33 on Darnestown Road, Gaithersburg;
• and decreasing the number of administrators serving local fire departments from 20 to 12.

Aoyagi said the ladder trucks and ambulance would be used as backups, and the administrators would be hired as employees of the county, rather than the local fire department. All 20 administrators would have to reapply for their job, but only 12 would be hired.

He said Station 21 was selected for closure because of its proximity to other stations in Kensington and Wheaton. The county would keep the equipment, building, and land, but the station would not be staffed.

Station 21 handles about 5,000 calls per year with 17 career firefighters and 20 volunteers, according to Mike Kelley, administrative officer for Kensington Volunteer Fire Department.

Representatives from local volunteer fire departments criticized the proposed cuts, citing safety concerns and other issues.

The cuts would place residents "in grave danger by threatening community safety and the continued existence of the local community fire and rescue departments," Andrew White, president of Kensington Volunteer Fire Department, said in a press release.

"What he [Aoyagi] is doing is trying to eliminate the local fire departments in spirit and in action, and we're going to fight him on it," White said in a phone interview.

"We were not included, and we're the private partners. That's the most significant concern," he said. "We feel a trust has been betrayed."

Eric Bernard, president of Rockville Volunteer Fire Department, agreed. "That's what this frustration revolves around is the lack of partnership. It's robbing Peter to pay Paul. I just think it's very shortsighted," he said. "To me, you don't cut services to the public as your first line of defense. You cut everything else."

Aoyagi said County Executive Douglas M. Duncan required him to cut the budget by $2.5 million for fiscal year 2004, which begins July 1, 2003, because of decreased tax revenues. He said he asked volunteer fire departments to list their biggest needs and the areas where they could handle cuts, but he did not receive many responses. White and Bernard said neither received such a request.

"Nobody likes to propose cuts in community service," Aoyagi said. "Fire and rescue is not alone. It's a reflection of the economic times."

Aoyagi's presentation to the Fire and Rescue Commission was the first step in the budget approval process. The commission is expected to send its comments on the recommendations to Duncan, who will make a recommendation to the County Council. The council will finalize the budget in the spring.

Representatives from volunteer fire departments were especially concerned about the proposed reduction in administrators, who handle bookkeeping, budgets, training records, scheduling and other office duties.

"The administrative staff are our backbone," Bernard said.

"We rely heavily on the administrative support," White said. "It's enormous the amount of contribution that the administrative staff makes."

"You're getting into a situation where you have all chiefs and no Indians," Kelley said. "It's all about the community service. That's what we don't want to see fail."

Aoyagi said he wanted to achieve more efficiency and standardization by reducing the number of administrative personnel and making them county employees.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service includes about 960 career firefighters and 500 volunteers who respond to emergency calls, Aoyagi said.