From The Batavia News, May 26

BATAVIA, NY – Forget trying to save a few thousand dollars at the fire department, Charlie Mallow says. He'd rather save millions by shifting the department from all paid to primarily volunteer personnel.

The City Council president suggested that during council's meeting Tuesday evening at City Hall. Councilman Bill Cox started the discussion by asking council to consider removing the fire chief's car allowance and a $4,000 stipend. After a few minutes of talk, Mallow said Cox's suggestions aren't going to save nearly as much as eliminating paid firefighters.

“We're a little afraid to talk about the real issue ... we're nickel and diming the administration instead of taking care of the real issue,” he said. “Can you imagine what we could do with $2.5 million? Someone's gotta step up. Let's get moving here. I'd like to see a couple of paid people and a group of volunteer firefighters.”

Council agreed to pursue a study to do just that. The group gave City Manager Jason Molino the go-ahead to authorize a study to move the fire department from completely paid to mostly volunteer. The move would save millions of taxpayer dollars to eliminate not only firefighters' salaries and benefits but the overtime costs, the group agreed.

“It's about time we did something about it,” Councilman Rose Mary Christian said. This is the right time for such a move, Councilman Bob Bialkowski said, since the chief's position is vacant. Ralph Hyde has been hired as a temporary interim chief until a permanent chief can be found.

Fire Union President Greg Ireland said the union would most likely respond the same as it has with the city's decision to disband ambulance service. The union filed an improper practice claim May 22, just four days within the four-month limit to file a grievance, Ireland said.

The city voted Jan. 26 to disband city-run ambulance service. The union is seeking a judgment from the Public Employment Relations Board to revoke that decision and keep the city's service as is.

“We're trying to stop the city from going ahead with the elimination of the service and giving it to someone else,” Ireland said after the meeting. “They're just trying to circumvent the legal system. I would hope they would ask for the fire deparmtent's input. I would hope if they're going to make any changes, it would be a collaborative effort.”

The union already believes there was no collaboration on the city's decision to disband ambulance service. That's why the union is seeking to stop the city's decision, Ireland said.

“I think there should be some give and take on both sides,” he said. “The city is just taking something away. That's not give and take, they're just taking. I feel strongly in looking at the law and going on our (two) attorneys' advice.”

Molino had said the city and union had set up a meeting in April but the union canceled it and never rescheduled. That's because the meeting was to negotiate the impact of the change to the department, Ireland said. There should have been a meeting to negotiate an agreement before talking about changing the department, he said.

The fire department is facing a big change with the elimination of ambulance service as of Sept. 1. That will reduce personnel by 24 paramedics. A Genesee County task force has recently recommended accepting a proposal from Mercy Flight Inc. to take over countywide ambulance service.

The fire union believes the city is doing wrong by disbanding its own service and going with Mercy Flight. The improper practice claim will go before an administrative law judge in a public employee court, Ireland said. The judge will review the facts and either recommend a trial, that both sides should work to find a compromise or that the suit be dismissed.

Mallow said the union's filing has nothing to do with his suggestion to eliminate paid fire personnel. The council president has talked before about going with a volunteer fire department and said it's now time to pursue it.