By Andy Campbell
The Chronicle
CEHALIS, Wash. — Many Chehalis city departments are suffering from budget cuts — some are forced to leave positions unfilled, some are considering layoffs.
In a rare move, employees in one department chose to work some hours without pay instead of seeing one or more colleagues lose their jobs.
The Chehalis Fire Department has had some rough decisions to make this year, after city officials came to them multiple times with bad news.
The department had already done away with outside training and opted not to replace any fire engines or equipment earlier this year, said Casey Beck, firefighter and president of the Chehalis Professional Firefighters Local Union 2510.
Then in May, when the city asked them to lay off two of their new firefighters who were on probationary periods, the union decided every firefighter would take eight hours of unpaid work each week in lieu of losing staff. What they are calling a “furlough” plan will be active until at least the end of the year, Beck said.
“We figured it was the best way to serve the community,” Beck said Tuesday. “When push came to shove we took a financial hit and tried not to decrease our service level.”
When the second quarter budget forecast came in, Beck said, the city asked the department to shave off an additional $10,000.
Fire Chief Kelvin Johnson said half of that would come from the budget, and the other would come from more furloughs. Before Sept. 30, each fire employee has to work an additional 13 hours without pay.
Still, the firefighters aren’t complaining.
“Honestly, the city’s hurting a little bit, so it’s not out of the question to help a little,” said Chehalis firefighter Mike Cooley.
Rob Gebhart, a 21-year veteran at the department, agreed.
“Sure there are mixed feelings,” he said. “We knew the city was having financial issues, but at the end of the day the fire department has essentially reduced staffing.”
And pay. The two said the furloughs can amount to about $250 to $300 per month, which can add up.
Though Beck said local residents haven’t noticed a difference in service, there are drawbacks to reduced staffing. The department has a “two in, two out” policy when responding to structure fires, Cooley said, meaning firefighters can’t enter a burning building unless two are entering and two are outside working as support.
Since the furloughs reduced staffing to two or three firefighters on duty at any given time, they can’t legally enter a building unless someone needs to be rescued.
Both Chief Johnson and City Manager Merlin MacReynold said they currently have no way to tell what 2010 will look like for the department’s budget.
“I really appreciate the fire union’s approach to helping us out,” MacReynold said. “Hopefully with all the federal programs in place we’ll see a little improvement in 2010.”
But he can’t count on it. Because the city is so “sales tax driven” and building permit sales are so low, things could potentially be “just as bad or worse next year,” MacReynold said.
Many other city programs have taken cuts, including the Chehalis Police Department, which also saw a 12 percent increase in their budget over the next few years due to an agreement dating back to 2008, Mac-Reynold said. He said the state government would have mandated a higher pay increase if the city overturned the agreement.
Beck said it’s always going to be rough telling employees they can’t get paid for every hour they work. But the 13 firefighters at the department — the same number they’ve had since 1996 — are essential to serving the community, especially with the high volume of aid calls the department receives, he said.
“We had to make some choices, and we understand the city’s position,” Beck said. “We had to put our money where our mouth is. We cannot afford to lose anyone.”
Copyright 2009