SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP — Retired fire chief and fire science professor Bill Kramer distilled the internal turmoil at the Springfield Township Fire Department into one cause: “firehouse family squabbles.”
With more than 30 years as a fire and EMS consultant, Kramer said it’s not a problem unique to Springfield Township.
“Every fire department I’ve been a part of, and every one I’ve consulted with, there’s always internal discussion and debate because it’s like a family squabble,” Kramer said at a special township trustee meeting Wednesday.
“When you have people living together 24 straight hours, you’re going to have your disputes,” said Kramer, whose company is based in Cincinnati.
“Sometimes they go too far,” he said. “And that was the case here.”
Kramer was hired by the Springfield Township Board of Trustees as a third-party consultant to identify various personnel issues that have arisen in the fire department, brought to a head at the June 14 trustee meeting.
He was paid $200 an hour for 16 hours of work, plus expenses.
Twenty-five members of Springfield Township Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 3849 and part-time firefighters with the department signed a letter for the trustees pointing out several issues that happened mostly in the past two years.
Trustee Chairman Paul Glesinger announced at the end of the June 14 meeting the board would look into an outside source to perform an internal investigation.
That outside source was Kramer, who shared his final report with the trustees and members of the fire department in attendance.
“I was given no marching orders by the board of trustees. I was not asked to investigate any individual, but simply to look at the fire department, see what’s going on and see what can be done to make it go forward in a more harmonious way,” Kramer said.
Kramer was in Springfield Township on July 12 and 13 and conducted group discussions with all three of the department’s shifts. He also conducted private interviews with 11 individuals who requested them.
Kramer’s findings were broken down into two categories: findings and suggestions for the fire department as a whole, and findings and suggestions specifically for fire Chief Matt Carey.
The talent and skill level in the Springfield Township Fire Department is as good as any he’s seen, Kramer said. However, much of the underlying discontent comes from workplace gossip — even eclipsing the recent friction that occurred between Carey and Asst. Chief Matt Wells, when Carey returned from medical leave.
“If I had to summarize everything I’ve done here and give you one piece of advice, everybody on the fire department, it would be just do your work,” Kramer said. “Forget gossiping. Don’t worry about the he-said-she-said.”
Kramer also identified a need for consistency in operating procedures, particularly a need for standard operating guidelines. Finally, a major problem with staffing was identified, where part-time personnel is hard to recruit and retain and full-time personnel is placed on excessive overtime.
“This could be addressed with additional full-time personnel or part-time personnel, but many part-time personnel do not feel welcome and many have left,” Kramer said. “If hiring remains problematic, one solution, as a last resort, would be to return to a daily complement of five (instead of six).”
The township is also looking into SAFER grants to cover additional personnel costs.
For Carey, Kramer recommended the chief adopt the approach that, “This is our fire department” rather than “This is my department” to avoid being perceived as a bully.
“There is a fine line between aggressive leadership and arrogant behavior and the chief will endeavor to avoid the latter,” Kramer said.
Kramer also recommended the chief have regular officer meetings with minutes copied to off-duty personnel. Any topics introduced should not only be discussed, but acted upon with some type of follow-up, Kramer said.
“The fire department belongs to all members as employees and to the community members who fund it through their taxation. The chief’s position belongs to Matt Carey,” Kramer said.
“This conciliation should mark a new era and departmental members can get on board and do their jobs in a more harmonious fashion, or be part of a resistance and face the consequences.”
Between Kramer’s presentation and an open discussion between department members, the chief and the trustees that followed, all parties present agreed the meeting was a step in the right direction.
“There’s no real way right this second to know because nothing has actually changed with one conversation. It’s too early to tell,” said Jon Brown, secretary and treasurer of the IAFF Local 3849.
“But right now I don’t feel any reason to be negative,” added union president Jordan Bittner. “The last 45 minutes was the most productive conversation we’ve had between the board and the chief in a long time.”
