LETTER: Selectmen, Town Manager Respond to Firefighter's Accusations

Dear Tewksbury Residents,

There has been much discussion over the past few weeks regarding the potential periodic closing of the South Fire Station next fiscal year due to a reduction in funding for overtime.  In an open letter to the Town, a member of the Tewksbury Fire Union has accused the Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager of not caring about the South end of Tewksbury or about public safety.

We consider this an outrageous accusation and a scare tactic of the worst kind.  In fact, the Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager value all of the Town’s public safety personnel and appreciate the hard work and dedication they provide to our community.

The issue of closing the South Fire Station has been a concern of the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager for a number of years and we have repeatedly looked for ways to resolve the issue long term in the best interest of the entire Town.  Despite efforts to address this issue through the bargaining process, where it rightly should be resolved, it has unfortunately made its way to the public forum.  Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.  The Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager do not close the station. Rather, a provision in the union contract, which the Union is unwilling to change, is forcing the closing of the station when we drop below our 12 person complement. 

Article 23 of the union contract entitled ”Town Wide Safety” states in relevant part the following:

The parties agree that for firefighting protection for all areas of the Town, the firefighting complement will be at the North Station one lieutenant and two firefighters; at the South Station one lieutenant and two firefighters; at the Central Station two EMT/Firefighters assigned to the Ambulance and a lieutenant, two firefighters and a captain to oversee the entire firefighting and ambulance complement. In the case of unforeseen circumstances and/or fiscal restraints, the closing of a sub-fire station(s) on a temporary basis will be the first action taken by the Chief of the Department.

The Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager unanimously disagree with this provision.    Without this contractual provision, we believe the Fire Chief could use his professional judgment to deploy staff in a more efficient manner. Like all parties involved we also believe strongly that no engine company should respond to any calls for assistance with less than 3 Firefighters on board and none of our proposals suggest that. We acknowledge that the best operational model is to have 12 employees on each shift, but that is no different than wanting 10 police officers on a shift when on many occasions we have been as low as 5 or 6 to stay within the parameters of the budget. Unfortunately there are times we cannot meet optimum staffing levels and it is during those times we believe the Chief needs the discretion to assign department personnel to best meet the needs of the town within the budget.   We strongly believe this discretion needs to be given to the Fire Chief during fiscal constraint and that no contract language should tie the hands of current or future Fire Chiefs from making decisions that are in the best interest of the community. 

The solution to the problem is not always about spending money or to take money out of the Stabilization Fund to fund overtime.  This action will not address the issue with a long term solution and we believe changing the contract would do just that.  Our philosophy has been that the Stabilization Fund exists to purchase onetime expenditures for all departments (and if used to fund the operating budget it is done only when there is a solution within the next year to solve the problem for good).   Using the Stabilization Fund to solve a recurring operating budget expense is a one year band-aid, is the easy way out, and is short sighted.  It simply pushes the problem down the road without addressing the fundamental financial issue.   While we are well aware of the public’s concern regarding this issue the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager do not intend to pass this problem on to the next leaders of this community and we ask for your continued patience while we work to address this problem.   We have great respect for the members of the Fire Department and we know this is unpleasant.  We regret being at odds but we also feel it is time to address this issue.  Taking money from the Stabilization Fund is not the answer.  We believe that our approach is in the best interest of the entire community.

Tewksbury has millions of dollars of unmet needs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in unmet operating budget priorities that impact every department and every section of this community.  Difficult decisions need to be made and real solutions are necessary.  The rhetoric and divisiveness that we are seeing solves nothing and only hurts our community.  Over the past few years, we have worked diligently to ensure that the Town’s finances are solid and that proper planning takes place so that the short term and long term needs of the community are addressed.  We understand that we have much to do but we strongly believe we are moving in the right direction, even in the face of difficult economic times. 

Great economic uncertainty still exists as well as potential events that are beyond our control.  The things that we can control we need to be smart and disciplined about so we do not leave Tewksbury in a worse place than we found it.  We have a responsibility to the entire community and we will continue to do our best for all of our residents.

Tewksbury Board of Selectmen

David Gay, Chairman

Doug Sears, Vice-Chairman

Scott Wilson, Clerk

Todd Johnson, Board Member

Anne Marie Stronach, Board Member

Richard Montuori, Tewksbury Town Manager