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Chief: Be aware of perceptions
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 23, 2010 | 6:27 a.m.
The Las Vegas Fire Department chief is urging his firefighters to avoid spending time at the gym during work hours and not to "abuse sick leave" as his department battles poor public perception during its stand to avoid pay cuts and layoffs.
The chief's Feb. 10 e-mail to all staff, obtained by the Review-Journal through a public records request, sheds light on the department's struggles to win over the public and bureaucrats.
"Spending 2-3 hours a day at the gym like some crews do is just the kind of actions that tear us down," Fire Chief Greg Gammon wrote.
The image of firetrucks sitting in gym parking lots for hours is one of the biggest complaints Gammon has heard from the public, he said last week.
"There's a perception that's out there that they're at the gym more than they should, and all I can do is remind them ... just be mindful of the public perception right now," he said.
Among local agencies, the Las Vegas and Clark County fire departments have fought the hardest to avoid pay cuts. Las Vegas officials have proposed an 8 percent wage rollback in each of the next two years to avoid layoffs. The Fire Department is still negotiating with the city.
On average, Las Vegas Fire Department firefighters grossed about $110,000 last year. Of the department's $117.1 million budget, $98.3 million went toward 559 firefighters' wages and benefits.
The union that represents the department's firefighters has said that reductions will have damaging effects on the community, such as increasing emergency response times. It has set up a Web site, lasvegasfirefacts.com , where it says in bold letters, "STOP The City From Putting Your Life And Property In DANGER!"
But last week's memo indicates that may not be enough. Gammon has heard from citizens during a series of town hall meetings hosted by the city of Las Vegas.
"Throughout all of these town hall meetings that many of you have attended, you know that there is a certain amount of public displeasure with firefighters," Gammon wrote. "We're getting beat up by many but we're still praised by most."
Firefighters spending time at the gym has been one of the most frequent complaints.
The department requires firefighters to exercise 90 minutes each work day, which battalion chiefs are required to monitor. They can do that in their fire stations, which Gammon said usually have modest equipment, such as a bike and a treadmill. Or they can go to a public gym within their fire station's coverage area. They have to pay for their own gym membership and have to be ready to go to a call at all times.
Gammon said he doesn't believe his firefighters are spending too much time at the gym. Nevertheless, he recommended in the e-mail that firefighters use the fire station's equipment for the next couple of months "because we're going to continue to be in the spotlight and we need as much good publicity as we can get."
He also recommended firefighters limit the amount of sick leave they take. Gammon expects the department to save nearly $7.5 million in overtime costs between this fiscal year and last fiscal year because of firefighters not calling in sick.
This fiscal year, the department is expected to come in roughly $6 million under its $117 million budget, International Association of Firefighters Local 1285 President Dean Fletcher said.
"We're doing our part in our budget," the union president said.
Fletcher said he thinks the public is still supportive of firefighters despite receiving what he called "misinformation" about the department from the media.
Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, a government spending watchdog group, said the public's good will toward firefighters might only go so far.
"I think the public still holds those positions of firefighters in high regard, but there's a point of practicality," Vilardo said.
The public might react negatively when they see what the economy has done to them and witness a group, such as firefighters, being favored.
"That doesn't tend to sit well, regardless of what the group is," she said.
Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada, said the push against salary cutbacks could signal that the firefighters' union, which has historically not been active in local politics, could become a bigger player.
"Maybe now they're going to have a bull's eye on them," he said. "They've gotten a lot of attention lately on overtime in particular and some of the salaries."
Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.
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Firefighters need to be fit for the job. Working out at the gym is part of the regimen, spending 2 to 3 hrs at the gym is not unusual in my opinion, but do it outside work hours and use own vehicle. Anyone using company's time and vehicle to do personal activity does not convey a good image or public perception.
RE: Concerned Fire Officer
Your another dumb, misinformed twit. The LVFR is doing something right, there are only 7 fire departments in the United States, yes the United States that are both an ISO Class 1 department and Accredited. LVFR is one of them. They obviously are doing something very right!! And your no fire officer!
Went to the gym after work last night (the day this article came out), and there were 3 fire trucks in the parking lot. I understand that they have to work out daily and I don't even mind that they use the truck to go to and from (if a big group is going at one time)...but they filled the parking lot!
Compensation and working out in a gym reasonably close to the fire station are two separate things, entirely. Asking firemen to change what works best in their work day is not the right cause-effect reaction. Such an internal department decision, while framed in reasonablenes about public perception, assigns more stress to firemen who are simply doing their jobs by staying in shape.
The fire deparment has excellent persons, and they respond and do a great job, even to strip hotels to support local ambulance contracts.
The Strip Corridor has unique assets that require a strong department, with room and people density, and perceptions about safety from travelers abroad when something does occur (see Monte Carlo fire, which received national media coverage in real time). Those perceptions, and the actual realities to respond from the departmetn, are vital to Vegas' number one business.
Attaching reasonable work outs enabling fire fighters to get up, say, 20-50 flights of stairs in a hotel fire (or other) emergency, is not relevant to wage and compensation issues at a time all Nevadans should be willing to share the burden of downturn in a reasonable, measured, common sense way.