MANSFIELD — It appears new hires in the Mansfield Fire Department will help alleviate manpower shortages that have led to frequent daily closures of one of the city’s five stations.
That was the message from Safety Service Director Lori Cope and fire Chief Steve Strickling on Tuesday night during a City Council safety committee meeting, a session called to to discuss Mayor Tim Theaker’s decision to trim the budget by eliminating non-emergency overtime in the fire department.
The fire department’s overtime budget for 2020 is $600,000 and the move came in the wake of an estimated 20-percent decline in revenues due to the state-ordered pandemic response.
The city relies heavily on income tax for its general fund and the unemployment rate in Richland County was 20.4 percent in April.
Cope said four firefighters were hired in March and interviews are scheduled for four more next week. She said with known retirements coming up, the new hires will put the department at 91, one above its budgeted strength of 90. She said another retirement in late summer will drop that number back to 90.
A fully-staffed department has 19 firefighters and paramedics on duty at one time. Prior to the change in policy, Strickling would use OT to ensure 19 firefighters were on duty in the event of illness or vacation.
Cope said the city administration will also meet with firefighters next week to discuss the issues and listen to suggestions for change. The union has been requesting such a meeting.
The original May 5 move, which had the potential to temporarily close two of the city’s five stations depending on manpower that day, has been modified a couple of times. The policy now is to never temporarily shutter more than one station at a time and the chief may employ OT after only three firefighter call-offs, according to the city.
Mansfield Firefighters IAFF Local 266, the union that represents the local fireighters, has continued to criticize the cutbacks, posting daily updated station status reports on the union’s Facebook page and urging residents to contact the administration and council members.
More than a dozen letters from city residents were read aloud by safety committee vice chair Cheryl Meier, who represents the 2nd Ward. All but one of the letters questioned and/or criticized the mayor’s decision as a threat to the safety of local residents.
Cope pointed out the city has laid off no firefighters or police officers. In fact, she said, the city’s only lay-offs thus far were two part-time workers in the parks and recreation department.
“We’re in unprecedented times,” Cope said, adding that the city has reduced or cut overtime in nine different city departments, as well as reduced purchase orders and hiring and worked to minimize training expenses.
“We’re trying to be responsive to what we’re seeing in the bigger pictures,” Cope said. “We are trying to get ahead of the damage and perhaps reduce the chance of lay-offs in the future.”
Strickling said the department recently received a $62,200 COVID-19 related grant from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, a dollar amount he said that was based on the number of Medicare-eligible patients the department transported to the hospital in 2019. He said those funds can be used to help fund department operations, including payroll.
He said the department is looking closely at additional grants related to COVID-19, a pandemic that has cost the department about $140,000 thus far in salary, overtime and equipment.
“We anticipate we can get some of that back,” he said, adding a member of his department with grant-writing experience is assisting in applying for available funds. “We are looking at every angle we can find.
“We are doing the best we can with the amount of people we have coming in to work each day,” the chief said.
Also on Tuesday, 4th Ward Council member Alomar Davenport praised the efforts of police during Saturday’s peaceful protest in Central Park, a Black Lives Matter protest in response to last week’s killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
Davenport praised Chief Keith Porch’s decision to use plainclothes officers at the event instead of uniforms.
“I thought that was the real reason it went off so well,” Davenport said. “Thank you for helping us to be able to voice our concerns in a peaceful and non-violent matter.”
Davenport also said he has been meeting with a small group of members of the community about the relationship with the police department. He said the group’s work has been slowed by COVID-19, but they are ready to meet with the administration and police leadership to discuss adopting a “code of conduct” similar to one he said is used in Toledo.
“We are leading Ohio in how to go about this relationship and proactively creating a better environment and finding ways for the community and law enforcement to interact,” Davenport said.
In other matters Tuesday, council voted unanimously:
— to approve payment on two sewer back-up damage claims for city residents Monica Sturts ($650) and Vikki Whisler ($228.93) for a March 3 issue at 204 Cherry Hill Road.
— to re-appoint Jodie Perry (Chamber of Commerce), Chris Hiner (Financial Institution) and Scott Cardwell (Downtown Business) to the Downtown Improvement Advisory Board. The new terms run through June 30, 2024.
— to authorize the city’s public works director to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the funding and construction of a sidewalk project on both sides of East Cook Road between Ohio 13 and Brookfield Drive. City engineer Bob Bianchi told council the $478,000 project will be funded by a $392,000 Municipal Planning Organization grant through the Regional Planning Commission and $86,000 from the city’s permissive sales tax. No general fund money will be used, he said. There is no sidewalk in the area now and Bianchi said pedestrian traffic has increased, creating safety issues.
— create a new special city revenue fund, titled “Local Coronavirus Relief Fund.” It will be used to account for money sent to the city from the State of Ohio through the federal CARES Act for pandemic-related expenses.
— aprove the safety-service director to accept $72,507 in grant funds from the U.S. Dept. of Justice to offset costs incurred by the police department related to COVID-19. The funds will be used for employee overtime costs ($10,599), capital expenses ($34,497) and supplies ($27,411). There is no local match for the grant dollars. Porch told council it’s a two-year grant that will reimburse the department for payroll should any department employees suffer COVID-19 illnesses, teleconference and computer equipment, and personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer.
i
