Transparency it’s not!
Apparently the 15 or so members of the City of Belleville paid-per-call Fire Department got pink-slipped before Mayor Conley and City Manager Kollmeyer got around to telling the council about it. Or, to discuss it in open session with the citizens.
In fact, at Monday’s meeting, with a roomful of fire fighters and their supporters, Mayor Conley said the first words about an intergovernmental agreement for fire services. All she said is that it would be discussed at a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. next Monday. If there’s not enough room to hold everyone interested, they have permission from the school to move the meeting to the high school cafeteria (The Commons).
By now, everyone in the community knows that the fire department is being dissolved and only the fire chief has a secure position with the VBT Fire Department as a part of the deal.
The negotiations between the city administration, its attorney, and VBT have been going on for months, but it’s been a secret. That’s the problem. Some may see the wisdom of using VBT for fire services since the township surrounds the city and has more money to spend.
But the secrecy is another thing. They didn’t announce this before the election of sitting councilmen, who probably wouldn’t have been elected if the voters knew what was coming down. Stormy seas ahead.
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If all the Township is getting is their unqualified chief, I think they should keep their own fire department. What qualifications does Lorranger have? Any at all? When did he go through any type of command training? Is he even a trained firefighter? I don’t think the city residents even realize how unqualified he is. Obviously, he had done a horrible job of managing the department. For example, requiring that the fire department is sent on EVERY call an ambulance goes on (bump your toe, fd is coming. Need a ride from HVA to an appointment? Fd is coming. Got a cold and want to go to the ER? Fd is coming). In other words, wasting tax money and wear and tear on trucks for no reason other than padding paychecks.
One more thing that bothers me about the possibility of bvfd personnnel coming to Van Buren. Do they even do background checks? I know if at least two people (one of whom has moved on to Sumpter) who should have been fired or not hired due to criminal arrests. Negligent hiring and negligent retention are foreign terms in the cit of Belleville. At least I know VB does it right.