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Holiday insensitivity or seasonal stupidity?

To say this is local government city hall-dweller insanity at its best is a mild comment

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The City of Middletown, Ohio, Council voted to eliminate nine Firefighter positions and close a fire station, along with the loss of seven cops as well.

Editor’s note: Since this story broke, City Manager Judy Gilleland is still defending the clip, saying the town needed a laugh after a tense time of budget cuts and debates. See the follow-up here.

From FireFighterCloseCalls.com

As you have read about, the City of Middletown, Ohio, Council recently voted to eliminate nine Firefighter positions and close a fire station, along with the loss of seven cops as well. That was done on November 29.

In what may be the most classic example of WTF?!, NTS (Non-Thinking Syndrome) or whatever you wish to apply, amazingly, the City Manager directed that a “fun” video be produced and shot — on the same day — that the Firefighters and the fire department budget was cut.

The project is the idea of city hall dweller / City Manager Judy Gilleland and as she stated: “It’s been a very difficult budgetary year....we’ve been through rounds of of layoffs.” So she wanted to lift the morale of employees and provide some entertainment for her residents...at taxpayers expense and employee work time.

Yeah, that’s the spirit.

We could write for hours about this — but we’ll spare you the pain. But to say this is local government city hall-dweller insanity at its best is a mild comment. The manager and those involved (and those who were afraid to speak up and say how dumb this idea was — but agreed to smile, say yes ma’am, suck up and do the video) are textbook examples of how completely out of touch so many are with reality.

Why did all the people in that video act so happy?

We figure that when you find out that YOU are not losing YOUR job, there is a lot to sing about! All is right with the world! Plus the boss said do it. Nice clothes, emperor.

It’s all about them. Not the Firefighters and Cops who lost or will lose their jobs — and it’s definitely not about those who may need the fire/EMS units that are being cut. It’s all about a fun video to lift the morale of the surviving workers and provide entertainment for the taxpaying residents.
And that is why local government was founded.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...The smoke detector was chirping by the chimney with blare, in hopes that the Firefighters would soon be there... The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of staffed firehouses danced in their heads....

Chief Billy Goldfeder, EFO, a firefighter since 1973, serves as deputy fire chief of the Loveland-Symmes (Ohio) Fire Department. He also serves as Lexipol’s senior fire advisor and is a member of the Fire Chief/FireRescue1 Editorial Advisory Board. Goldfeder is a member of the Board of Directors for several organizations: the IAFC, the September 11th Families Association and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). He also provides expert review assistance to the CDC NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. Goldfeder is the recipient of numerous operational and administrative awards, appointments and recognitions. He has served on several NFPA and IAFC committees, has authored numerous articles and books, and presented several sessions at industry events. Chief Goldfeder co-hosts the website www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com.
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