By Randy Ludlow
The Columbus Dispatch
CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Circleville Fire Chief Tim Tener feared that Mayor Chuck Taylor was putting cash concerns ahead of the safety of the public and his firefighters.
But the mayor has backed off his once black-and-white pronouncement.
Expressing concern about overtime costs, Taylor last week ordered Tener to stop summoning off-duty firefighters to major fires and other emergencies.
Instead, the mayor said Tener should rely on mutual aid — volunteers from other fire departments — to reduce overtime, according to a city memo.
Tener said his firefighters would not stand by in civilian clothes when a large fire required that they show up in turnout gear and grab a hose to back up their buddies.
“This is more of a safety issue than a financial issue,” Tener said yesterday. “It’s the life safety of the public and the life safety of my personnel.”
Taylor said yesterday that fiscal concerns were perhaps overstated. He agreed that Tener could call in all available firefighters when needed. “Whatever it takes, we’re going to protect the public,” the mayor said.
Still, Taylor said, Tener must watch his money amid bad economic times for the city and its treasury.
Circleville has needed every firefighter it could put on the line to battle massive fires this year at Mason’s Furniture & Floor Coverings and the Manna Pro Feed Co. mill, Tener said.
The department, which also handles EMS runs, is short-staffed, with typically only four firefighters per shift to cover a city of 13,648 residents, he said.
Tener agrees with the mayor’s concerns about money, saying that his department’s budget was $123,000 in the red, largely because of overtime. But the chief said he has identified cuts and fund transfers to avoid a deficit.
In an Oct. 8 memo, Safety Director Mike Brown also imposed a spending freeze, increased oversight of firefighters’ use of vacation time, laid off a part-time clerk and forbade the chief from driving his city car to his home or out of town.
Taylor made headlines in the wake of the fire that gutted the former American Hotel, home to Mason’s Furniture. Police arrested him for refusing an officer’s order to leave an alley shortly before a wall collapsed.
Taylor pleaded not guilty to misconduct at an emergency, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. His trial is set for Oct. 29 in Circleville Municipal Court.
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