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Friday, October 5, 2012
Municipal Press Release Oct 5, 2012 Fire Men Situation
14 comments:
Anonymous
said...
By reading between the lines would this mean that firefighters hired through an "external agency" have been hired on a full time basis and we will soon bear the costs associated with a full time, centralised, fire department? How many full timers would it require to service all shifts adequately?
They have retained the services of qualified firefighters from an external agency? How much do you want to bet that these firefighters from this external agency are personal friends of Mr. Munshaw? I would also bet they will be paid more with less qualifications and hands on experience than volunteers like Mr.Margetak or Mr.Robutka.
Now people do you not think this was planned out from the beginning. Remeber the first year of this term when we all wondered what this council was doing. The second year they started to implement "change". Whats next in store for us hopefully we will be able to stop them they could do a lot of irreversible harm to this community. If they are allowed to continue for another year it will be very difficult to undo the damage they have caused with the local Fire Departments. When i said one year ago they are turning this community into a police state i was laughed at. Now what do you think.
Since you chose not to comment on this, I will be doing so on my blog, for I have been deliberating on this for the last few hours, and have decided there is much that needs to be said.
Just like with the cancellation of the Thunder in the Valley, it took few days for an official statement signed by the Mayor to be posted. (Notice that the statement is not dated, as one would expect from an official statement.) The Mayor was also not readily available to the press, at least according to the Lethbridge Herald story, much like the first time around. Now, like with the ever evolving explanations for the cancellation of the Thunder in the Valley, the gears must be turning overtime to come up with a better story to support what just happened. The way this has been handled so far, no matter what they do from this point on, every move will cost the taxpayers some serious money.
noun 1. a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking. 2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.
I realize the remuneration Crowsnest Pass volunteer firefighters receive is not a great deal, and it’s probably not anywhere close to what full-time firefighters earn, elsewhere. We all know they are not paid a lot of money for the time and effort put forth serving our community. Nevertheless, they are paid volunteers.
The words “volunteer” firefighter are a bit of a misnomer. To many people, it implies they do this for nothing. Ask those who volunteer at the York Creek Lodge or for any of the other community organizations how much they are paid and you will find out the true meaning of volunteer.
Anon. 9:31 - Before one expands on their knowledge of the English language, it would be worth considering how many “Qualified” people would rush into a burning building to save someone for $12 per hour. Yes, this can happen sometimes and always makes the news. This is not how the volunteer fire departments work. When they rush in, and risk their lives, this usually does not make the news. Getting properly trained volunteers is not easy. If the town recruits new volunteers who will be volunteering because the job pays $12 per hour, you don’t want these kinds of volunteers. So a deeper reflection on the meaning and the spirit of volunteering would be helpful. Something beyond a collegiate dictionary, one would hope.
Anon @ 9:31 - I'm not suggesting our volunteer firefighters do this for the money. I'm sure they don't and suspect most could get by fine without it. However, people need to be aware that they are "paid volunteers," even if it is $12 per hour. There are people in Crowsnest Pass who have to survive on less than this.
Again, those who volunteer at the Lodge, Food Bank ... etc. are not paid. Some of these people put in as much time, effort and heart into what they do, as those who are reimbursed for volunteering. In my mind, this is the true meaning and spirit of volunteering in the community.
No disrespect to any other volunteer. But the skill level required to hand out food at the food bank is probably a little different than what is required to tackle my house in Flames. I suspect it would be a couple of hours of training versus probably hundreds of hours.
No disrespect either from here, but I don't think it is hundreds of hours. They just learn basic things; not the full blown thing. Maybe someone who knows more could expand on this.
Maybe someone who knows more could expand on the training at the "external agency".
In case of emergency, we can only hope that one of the custodians of the secret identity of the "external agency" is available. I guess there must be a list of the custodians, but of course the list is confidential.
This council is not able to work with any volunteer organization. There is no need to split hair about who is a volunteer and who is not. There is little or no understanding, at the top, about how a small community functions. It is all about a misplaced need for control. They would do well to look up the word autonomy, if they want stop digging the hole into which all of us are falling.
14 comments:
By reading between the lines would this mean that firefighters hired through an "external agency" have been hired on a full time basis and we will soon bear the costs associated with a full time, centralised, fire department? How many full timers would it require to service all shifts adequately?
They have retained the services of qualified firefighters from an external agency? How much do you want to bet that these firefighters from this external agency are personal friends of Mr. Munshaw? I would also bet they will be paid more with less qualifications and hands on experience than volunteers like Mr.Margetak or Mr.Robutka.
Now people do you not think this was planned out from the beginning. Remeber the first year of this term when we all wondered what this council was doing. The second year they started to implement "change". Whats next in store for us hopefully we will be able to stop them they could do a lot of irreversible harm to this community. If they are allowed to continue for another year it will be very difficult to undo the damage they have caused with the local Fire Departments. When i said one year ago they are turning this community into a police state i was laughed at. Now what do you think.
Since you chose not to comment on this, I will be doing so on my blog, for I have been deliberating on this for the last few hours, and have decided there is much that needs to be said.
JP
"firefighters from an external agency"
Translation:
"contracting out to our crony's company"
Just like with the cancellation of the Thunder in the Valley, it took few days for an official statement signed by the Mayor to be posted. (Notice that the statement is not dated, as one would expect from an official statement.) The Mayor was also not readily available to the press, at least according to the Lethbridge Herald story, much like the first time around. Now, like with the ever evolving explanations for the cancellation of the Thunder in the Valley, the gears must be turning overtime to come up with a better story to support what just happened. The way this has been handled so far, no matter what they do from this point on, every move will cost the taxpayers some serious money.
vol•un•teer vol-uhn-teer
noun
1. a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.
2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.
I realize the remuneration Crowsnest Pass volunteer firefighters receive is not a great deal, and it’s probably not anywhere close to what full-time firefighters earn, elsewhere. We all know they are not paid a lot of money for the time and effort put forth serving our community. Nevertheless, they are paid volunteers.
The words “volunteer” firefighter are a bit of a misnomer. To many people, it implies they do this for nothing. Ask those who volunteer at the York Creek Lodge or for any of the other community organizations how much they are paid and you will find out the true meaning of volunteer.
Anon. 9:31 - Before one expands on their knowledge of the English language, it would be worth considering how many “Qualified” people would rush into a burning building to save someone for $12 per hour. Yes, this can happen sometimes and always makes the news. This is not how the volunteer fire departments work. When they rush in, and risk their lives, this usually does not make the news. Getting properly trained volunteers is not easy. If the town recruits new volunteers who will be volunteering because the job pays $12 per hour, you don’t want these kinds of volunteers. So a deeper reflection on the meaning and the spirit of volunteering would be helpful. Something beyond a collegiate dictionary, one would hope.
Anon @ 9:31 - I'm not suggesting our volunteer firefighters do this for the money. I'm sure they don't and suspect most could get by fine without it. However, people need to be aware that they are "paid volunteers," even if it is $12 per hour. There are people in Crowsnest Pass who have to survive on less than this.
Again, those who volunteer at the Lodge, Food Bank ... etc. are not paid. Some of these people put in as much time, effort and heart into what they do, as those who are reimbursed for volunteering. In my mind, this is the true meaning and spirit of volunteering in the community.
No disrespect to any other volunteer. But the skill level required to hand out food at the food bank is probably a little different than what is required to tackle my house in Flames.
I suspect it would be a couple of hours of training versus probably hundreds of hours.
No disrespect either from here, but I don't think it is hundreds of hours. They just learn basic things; not the full blown thing. Maybe someone who knows more could expand on this.
"Volunteer" not expected to volunteer 24/7
Maybe someone who knows more could expand on the training at the "external agency".
In case of emergency, we can only hope that one of the custodians of the secret identity of the "external agency" is available. I guess there must be a list of the custodians, but of course the list is confidential.
This council is not able to work with any volunteer organization. There is no need to split hair about who is a volunteer and who is not. There is little or no understanding, at the top, about how a small community functions. It is all about a misplaced need for control. They would do well to look up the word autonomy, if they want stop digging the hole into which all of us are falling.
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