No Confidence, No Competence

“In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.” - Laurence J. Peter

Fire Starter has previously provided extensive evidence regarding the overpaid and under worked “Joint Fire Administrator”. As detailed on this page, Stephen Hrustich costs the Village of Johnson City over $83,000 per year in salary and benefits. His commitment to the village is 20 hours per week. He gets an identical package from the Village of Endicott. This places his hourly cost to the taxpayers of Johnson City at almost $80 per hour. The only “sweeter deal” is to be the Village attorney at $200 per hour!

What has not been discussed in the past is the reaction of “his men” on the Johnson City Fire Department. Fire Starter has learned that earlier this year, the Johnson City fire fighters took the unprecedented step of voting “no confidence” with regard to their part time “Fire Administrator”. In any position of public accountability, a vote of “no confidence” is a devastating indictment of incompetence. In the fire service, it is a life and death accusation of dangerous mismanagement. Among the accusations:

Hrustich has failed to adequately staff the department allowing as few as 4 firefighters to protect Village residents. Multiple times since the staffing reductions, village fire fighters have had insufficient personnel to respond to medical calls.

He implemented (and later rescinded) the “automatic first response” between Endicott and Johnson city often leaving one or both Villages unprotected while on duty personnel chased false alarms and minor fires.

During the height of the H1N1 outbreak, Hrustich denied fire fighters the industry recommended respirator because of cost.

During the N1H1 outbreak, his solution for protecting the fire fighters was to have them provide care from a distance of six feet!

He has denied that station closures would result from the staffing cuts but it has already happened several times since the changes were implemented.

He promised to apply for federal SAFER grants alleging that the money could be used for equipping volunteers while knowing that the funds were not for that purpose.

He later drafted sloppy and shoddy SAFER grant applications for both Endicott and Johnson City. These amateuristic submissions were rejected by the federal government while Binghamton and Kingston’s grants were approved.

The chief has repeatedly attempted to take charge of fires and issue orders while he is driving to the fire from his Tioga County residence thereby placing fire fighters at risk from his ill informed decisions.

He has stubbornly resisted utilizing the closest professional department for mutual aid, (Binghamton) in favor of various volunteer departments with slow and unpredictable responses.

The no confidence resolution indicts Hrustich both for mismanagement and incompetence. It questions his priorities and it questions his skill as a fire fighter and chief. Overall, the no confidence resolution paints a disturbing picture of a man in whom residents and fire fighters can not have confidence.

In the end, Joint Fire Administrator Hrustich has been willing to sell his soul and risk the lives of residents and fire fighters to advance his career and bank account. This is exactly the kind of “leadership” Mayor Hannon sought to buy. And it appears that Hrustich’s price is $83,000 per department.

D'OH - Case to Go Forward

Fire Starter has just become aware of a new development in Captain Meaney's Federal lawsuit against the Village of Johnson City. Meaney is suing for a violation of his free speech rights. According to Binghamton Fox40, Mayor Hannon alleged that the suit was frivolous and wanted it thrown out but the judge said the claim was legitimate!

Fire Starter will continue to dig for more information on this recent decision.

Exit question: When will the village wise up and try to resolve their disputes through negotiation rather than litigation?

UPDATE: The Press & Sun Bulletin are now reporting the story.

A link to the decision is on the second page on the web site. Interesting reading!

Where Have All the Wealthy Fire Fighters Gone?

They have become the “Welfare Queens” of the 21st Century. (You probably remember the urban legends of women on welfare living high on the hog). Today, it is the mythical fire fighter who is making over 85k a year while local private sector employees get laid off. Who are these public employees? Surely there must be some among the ranks of the Johnson City Fire Fighters! (No there are not, and don’t call me Shirley!)

Much has been made of the “41%” raises the Johnson City firefighters received over the 5 year contract with the Village of Johnson City. What is rarely talked about is the fact that for years, the Village Fire Fighters agreed to smaller pay increases than othr municipal employees in return for not paying into their health insurance. In addition, prior to the current contract, there was a minimum department size guaranteed under the contract.

Under the current contract, Village Fire Fighters contribute to their health insurance much like all other public employees. In addition, the department is now 7 fire fighters smaller than it was just 5 years ago (not including the laid off 6). This is due largely to the elimination of the minimum manning clause. These changes were demanded by the Village and were part of the negotiated agreement leading to the current contract.

Well surely (there you go again), JC Fire Fighters, with their current contract have far surpassed other local fire departments in salary. In fact, a side by side comparison of pay reveals otherwise.

The Binghamton Press &Sun Bulletin published salaries for local government workers for 2008. Unfortunately for the JC Fire Fighters, this was the calendar year in which they received 2 years of retroactive pay increases. However, if one were to compare JC Firefighter’s 2008-2009 contract pay with the average pay for other municipal fire fighters, an interesting pattern emerges:

First Grade Fire Fighter:

Binghamton: $64,551

Endicott: $60,189

Johnson City: $61,891

Fire Lieutenant:

Binghamton: $65,489

Endicott: $73,017

Johnson City: $67,167

Fire Captain:

Binghamton: $76,830

Endicott: $72,985

Johnson City $71,712

A side by side comparison reveals that the Johnson City pay was in line with neighboring municipalities. In other words, in return for their concessions regarding health insurance and manning, they have begun to come in line with other firefighters in the area.

I have not heard the Johnson City Fire Fighters complaining about their salaries or jobs. I believe they are hard working public servants who appreciate the jobs they have. Daily, they risk their lives for the citizens they serve. They appreciate the fact that taxpayers work hard to fund their salaries. Perhaps the Village Board and Mayor should show the same appreciation for village taxpayers.

Now, about that 85k per year fire fighter…there do not seem to be any full time fire fighters in JC earning that kind of salary. Perhaps there is a part time employee who makes the equivalent of 85k…or more.