CCFD Firefighters Respond to Rep. Morgan's Misinformed Campaign

Coventry, RI – The Central Coventry Fire District stated today that Rep. Morgan did not paint an accurate or fair picture in her statement this morning. The district did not have knowledge of a backup plan in place and is not convinced that a substantive plan including details exists.

Click here to view Rep. Morgan's March 20 release.

“It’s time to clear the air,” said David Gorman, president of Coventry Professional Fire Fighters Local 3372. “We’re confident the residents of Coventry have had enough misinformation today. This is a significant decision residents are going to have to make next week and it needs to be based on reason, not political conjecture. This so-called backup plan we learned about today from the Special Master’s letter is not detailed or complete and residents have a right to learn more about it.

“We didn’t have information about the Court’s backup plan until today, when the Court directed the Special Master to issue a letter to residents about it. Nor are we altogether sure a detailed plan exists,” he said. “We think everyone should know more about the plan in order to make an informed decision at the March 26 budget vote. We take offense at Rep. Morgan’s conspiracy theory that we knew there was a backup plan and that we purposefully denied it in order to deceive the voters. These types of accusations are neither fair nor productive for the residents of Coventry.

“My members have made great personal sacrifices and we are firmly committed to providing emergency services and to seeing that long-term sound financial management is brought back to the Central Coventry Fire District,” he said. “We believe at this juncture that everyone affected – Rep. Morgan, the fire district, and most importantly the voters – has a right to understand what this backup plan entails; when it would come into effect; at what cost; and what the impact to emergency service response would be.

“The Special Master’s letter states that the contingency plan does not provide for a seamless transition; could take up to eight months; and may require changes in state statute. We’d like to hear more about what all of this means,” he said. “The residents have a right to know what they are voting on. The devil is in the details.

“If the intent is to utilize the state-wide mutual aid plan as Special Master Land’s letter references, it is important to understand that under such a mutual aid plan, one town or district responds to assist the other town or district when they are in need; however, if CCFD is not here to reciprocate the mutual aid, then no such plan exists,” Gorman added. “The State Fire Marshal made this clear during court proceedings in December.

“Finally, the Central Coventry Fire Fighters endorses the budget as proposed by the Special Master for voter approval, as it entails major concessions from fire fighter personnel made in good faith and was written to include a single-tiered tax rate for businesses and residents based on the Court and Special Master’s mandate that there be a single-tier rate,” he said. “We ask that the voters understand that a good portion of the tax increase is being put before the voters because of this new tax structure affecting every fire district in Coventry and across the state; every fire district will be forced to raise their residential rates and to reduce their business rates to be in compliance with the state. It’s not only happening in Central Coventry, but it will also be happening in neighboring districts in the near future.”