It was a split 3-to-2 City Council vote to keep Fayetteville’s Fire Department just the way it is, but there was no such split in the sometimes rowdy crowd that gathered in support of their city firefighters.
Nearly all the 250 people attending the four-hour meeting April 23 were opposed to consolidating the city service with the Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services, and some were extremely vocal in their opposition.
The council chambers were packed to the point that many filled the foyer and spilled over into the area just outside the building where speakers had been set up for the overflow crowd to hear the proceedings. The nearly 250 in attendance were a mix of city residents, business owners, firefighters and their families.
In the end the council voted 3-2 against consolidation. Mayor Greg Clifton favored the merger, but had no vote, per the city charter that allows the mayor to vote only to break a tie. [See Mayor Clifton’s response to the defeat in his letter to the editor.]
Approximately 40 people took the podium during the public comments portion of the meeting which, by design, consumed the bulk of the proceedings. To say that passions ran high would be an understatement, with all but one of the speakers adamant in their rejection of the idea of consolidation.
The council heard from residents and firefighters, some of which seemed to contradict earlier statements by county officials proposing the advantages of consolidation.
Those attending the recent joint meeting with the City Council and Fayette County Commission were told that without consolidation, the city would have what will amount to a zero fund balance after five years.
While accurate on one level, the statement did not take into account that the balance mentioned was the city’s unassigned fund balance and did not include the city’s three-month general fund operating reserve which has been maintained for years.
Data compiled by city staff for the April 23 meeting showed that without consolidation, the city could avoid depleting the unassigned fund balance over five years by securing a 10-year Ga. Municipal Association loan to construct the new fire station on Veterans Parkway in 2016 as the county had proposed, use approximately $1 million in available city impact fees to equip the station and raise the millage rate by .6 mills, an increase of $48.05 for a home valued at $200,000, to hire three new firefighters which would provide coverage at all the city’s fire stations. Residents present at the meeting were quite vocal in their support for such a move, including the tax increase needed to prevent consolidation.
Another issue from the earlier joint meeting held that, in general, city firefighters were not as highly trained as those working on the county payroll.
Responding to that assertion was the city fire department’s medical director, Dr. Christopher Edens, who is board-certified in emergency medicine. Edens was emphatic that city firefighters were no less trained than county firefighters, having a minimum certification as an EMTI (Emergency Medical Technician – Intermediate).
He said city firefighters can start IVs, defibrillate, administer oxygen, establish and maintain an airway and administer some medications.
Beyond that, Edens noted that of the 24 FTEs (full-time equivalents), four of those are paramedics and five others are within 1-2 months of acquiring their paramedic certification.
The bottom line, said Edens, is that “we don’t have an ambulance for (firefighters) to be on even though they are already trained.”
The reference to ambulances was to the one unit stationed in Fayetteville which is owned and operated by the county and for which city residents already pay an additional tax totaling .456 mills that covers EMS services, said city Fire Chief Alan Jones.
There were also firefighters at the meeting who said their compensation package with the county was not as it had been originally described.
The things that stood out more than anything at the lengthy meeting were the comments of many of the citizens who insisted that council members not give up the fire department.
Some of those commenting were subdued in the insistence while others were nearly caustic in their remarks. Many in the meeting, and others outside after the proceedings, indicated their belief a vote to consolidate would amount to a sell-out by the council.
“We need a decision that’s in the best interest of Fayetteville,” Mayor Clifton said after the lengthy public comments and at the beginning of the council’s discussion.
Clifton said he had received an undisclosed number of emails from residents supporting the move.
“Others who didn’t bother to come (to the April 23 meeting) are in favor,” Clifton said.
Councilman Ed Johnson said, “I’m incredulous that we’re discussing (consolidation) after putting it down two years ago. Why it came up for a vote (today) bewilders me. Maybe it’s because there are two new councilmen. This is a disservice to the fire department by continuing to address this and a disservice to our financial staff who squeezed every nickel.”
Johnson said the council needed to “tighten our belts and rally with the citizens” to determine to what extent taxes should be raised.
Johnson then made a motion to defeat the proposal to consolidate.
Clifton responded, attempting to prohibit the motion by telling Johnson he had not been recognized. Clifton quickly relented.
Councilman Scott Stacy, one of the two new council members Johnson referenced, immediately seconded the motion.
Concerning the financial aspects of the proposal, Councilman Paul Oddo said, “We wanted to see what the county would present. The overall plan of saving over $4 million was substantial.” His comment dealt with the projected savings of $4.3 million over a five-year period, largely through salaries and benefits, if the city were to give up the fire department.
Former Mayor Ken Steele then spoke from the audience, questioning whether a portion of the proposal that would have city fire trucks and equipment transferred to the county under consolidation was possible.
“These are capital assets and should be sold to the county, not given. These assets were paid for by Fayetteville citizens,” Steele said.
Part of the consolidation proposal included the city rolling back the general fund millage rate to .045 mills from the current 3.11 mills.
The difference in the two, or 3.07 mills, would have been rolled back since property owners under consolidation would be required to pay the county’s fire district tax that totals 3.07 mills.
Without consolidation, the city would likely raise the millage rate by .6 mills.
“It’s an option to raise taxes, but not to put ourselves in financial straits,” Oddo said.
“I trust the instincts of our people, including the city manager and finance staff. We’ve heard the people (during public comments) responding, saying what they would accept,” Johnson said in reference to some comments from the audience indicating that they would support the increase in taxes to keep the fire department.
Councilman Jim Williams then entered the discussion, referencing a comment made earlier in the meeting by county historian Carolyn Cary.
“I think the most important thing that came across tonight was near the beginning of the meeting when someone said, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Williams said.
Councilman Mickey Edwards also offered his comments, referencing his homeowners’ association where residents recently offered significant resistance to an increase in association dues. Edwards likened such a posture to some in the city who would not like to see taxes raised if the consolidation measure failed. Edwards said he wanted people to know that he did not want to raise taxes.
Stacy spoke again, noting that he had seconded the motion to forego the consolidation.
Clifton then attempted to inject the idea that the vote would amount to an intergovernmental agreement with the county that could be voted on later. That assertion went nowhere, as some in the audience jumped from their chairs, screaming in response to Clifton’s words. The vote on Johnson’s motion followed almost immediately.
Voting in favor of turning down the move to consolidate fire services were Johnson, Stacy and Williams. Oddo and Edwards were opposed. Clifton, who gets no vote except in a tie, then congratulated the audience and the meeting ended.
There were numerous occasions during the high-tension meeting where some in the audience yelled out comments and challenges to council members, though most were clearly intended for Clifton. One of those occasions had Clifton telling former Councilman Larry Dell that Dell’s comments were out of order, and with Dell telling Clifton that he was out of order.
Though out of the ordinary for Fayetteville in terms of citizen discontent being expressed so dramatically, the scene April 23 was reminiscent of quite a number of meetings of the Fayette County Commission just two years ago, leading up to the time when commissioners David Barlow, Charles Oddo and Randy Ognio were elected, ousting the incumbents.
