| |
|
Wed Mar 10 10:17:08 2010 - [Any truth to it or more DFD Kool Aid?] By: Cynic |
Here is something from BUZZ Duluth that was written about DFD overtime. I don't know if the person knows what they are talking about or not but it could be one explanation.
Quote: "You question why the fire department's overtime was so low in comparison to years past- here is an explanation.
#1. The hiring process with civil service is very lengthy. A few years ago, there were many retirements, and it took a great deal of time to get new hires to replace them. Because of both public safety and fire fighter safety mandates, minimum staffing requirements caused for a great deal of overtime.
#2. The administration and the fire union negotiated for a couple of different programs. The first is a healthcare savings account. This allows banked vacation to be rolled into an individual health care savings account at the end of each calendar year. This has reduced the number of vacation days taken, and therefore reduces overtime.
The second program was a vacation sell back program. If a person was on vacation on a given day, and the labor pool was exhausted, requiring an overtime shift, the person on vacation could give back the vacation day, to be either put into the bank to be rolled into health care savings, or to be paid at straight time. Either way, the city has a significant savings over paying overtime.
I believe that the fire administration and the union deserve a lot of credit for a huge reduction in overtime expenses from the past few years. There are still ways we can make improvements, like streamlining the civil service process. The current process can take several months to generate a hiring list and then hire a fire fighter. Because of this lengthy process, overtime costs can soar when the fire department is short-staffed."...
Posted by: staffer on 3/09/2010 10:08 AM |
|
Tue Mar 9 22:30:08 2010 - [Outsiders listening to DFD insiders ] By: call Gold Cross |
| Ok Friend of DFD you are right again. Got it, outsiders listening to insiders then make an objective decision. Neutral players hmmmmmmmmm ya that's it neutral players. People from outside the area yessser that's it. |
|
Tue Mar 9 21:15:29 2010 - [Spend your money anywhere but DFL Duluth] By: Ben Dover |
I have to laugh at all the DFL Assclowns who are currently controlling the City of Duluth. It is such an act. They pour Kool-Aid so much that even they have been blinded by its side effects. DFL Duluth is nothing but a well planned show meant to steal more and more money from the unknowing hard working people of Duluth.
Does anybody really think that Stalhalinski's timing on his recent article on City of Duluth AFSCME corruption was an accident? Consider that the timing followed a supposed hard fought contract settlement between Donny Boy Ness and AFSCME. Once again, Ness will be screwing the taxpayers over and he will call this making hard choices. How can a mayor sign a deal with a criminal gang and then turn around and call this a fair settlement? Fair for whom? Ness reminds me of the story of Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple when Kool Aid Jim raped a young girl in the back of the bus he used to travel through the U.S. and all the time he was raping her he told her that he was doing it for her, not for him. That he was getting nothing out of it. This is a perfect analogy of what Ness is doing to Duluthians who pay the bills. Now he agreed to a new contract allowing his AFSCME buddies to continue to steal as much as they possibly can for at least another year. I would be willing to bet that this Fall we will hear the Boy Mayor telling us that because of cuts in LGA that taxes must be raised or police and fire will have to be cut. He will fail to mention that he agreed in March, 2010 to give the farm away to his AFSCME friends.
Do yourself a favor. Buy nothing in DFL Duluth. Shop online, in Cloquet, in Superior as AFSCME leaders do, and don't feed this animal anymore money. They will continue to steal what they can through property taxes, but you can help by not spending any money here. Hopefully, because of the decades of the DFL ruining the City of Duluth, the new census will reflect that the population decline means a redistricting of Congressional borders. This could bring in a larger group of non DFL Kool Aid drinkers and a good chance to start putting an end to this DFL corruption that has ruined Duluth.
Should Duluth have the lowest wages, highest poverty, worst health, worst infrastructure, worst roads, most expensive fire department, highest utility rates, and most padded and stolen overtime hours in the entire state?
What an embarrassment this city has become under DFL control. |
|
Tue Mar 9 21:10:20 2010 - [Getting paid to sleep is a tough gig] By: Friend of DFD |
Of politics and prosperity,
Where does this 75,000 quarterly come from I am not sure what you are refering to. Also what local FD are you talking about. I spoke with the 3 surrounding duluth and found some interesting facts. Are you talking about 1 that does so few calls they barely exist or one that actually has some calls. And I would actually like to know what you think the pay should be for a fire fighter in duluth realisticly. |
|
Tue Mar 9 20:41:46 2010 - [Neutral to DFD is all bought & paid for] By: Friend of DFD |
call gold cross,
I said nothing of a conspiracy, just that duluth and superior should have used people that were neutral and had no connections to these cities to get an unbias result. Regardless of the results it should have been a neutral committee with only information being given by the locals to get a true decision of whats best. |
|
Tue Mar 9 20:05:04 2010 - [DFL Duluth heading down, Superior up] By: Of Politics and Prosperity |
No confusion Friend of DFD, I would say you were DFL Donny himself with your "looking forward to change, thinking outside the box, and moving forward towards the future". Yep, in Duluth the only thing that has changed in the last 35 years is that the degree of corruption in City Government is now outrightly criminal, and 20,000 people left. The AFSCME Self Assisting Duluth Government Group continues to far exceed it's value by cost ratio. In the private sector the way Duluth is run would not work. They "skillfully" think outside of the legal box and seek no solution to their inability to successfully move Duluth into the future. Like our Federal lobby laiden government, it has stopped moving forward and now, just like Duluth has permanently become, hopelessNe$$ly dug deeper in economically irreversible and irresponsible debt! Duluth needs to break the unions, offer $24.00 hrly. including benefits, to start with, 1/2 hrly pay over time for firefighters until they can find qualified people who will sleep for 1/2 pay. Not what they pay now. I may have been incorrect about monthly overtime, but even with your figures, it equals $75,000.00 quarterly and that still exceeds what I know for fact is the total annual budget of a nearby volunteer fire dept., that answered a family emergency in 7 minutes, middle of the day, 5.5 miles from the hall! This volunteer fire dept. has also set aside $20,000.00 towards a new truck within this budget! Solid core services grow from Community Pride and that grows from RESPECTFUL treatment of Governmnet resources. It's hard to be proud of Duluth for just that reason, as for the common, private sector, working stiff, taxpayer it is all about cutting all his living costs not just some union contract language!
Corrupt greedy people and politicians have given away too much to too few in Duluth and now DFL Duluth handpicks, with the silent direction of the status quo, it's future because not even a qualified leader, can get past those who have no Community Concern and continue to vote themselves LARGENE$$ from the public treasury! Superior's Mayor Ross IS moving Superior into the future, take a look!!!!!!! |
|
Tue Mar 9 19:36:27 2010 - [Common sense called conspiracy by DFDer] By: call Gold Cross |
| Ok Friend of DFD you are right of course it is a conspiracy by the leaders of Superior. |
|
Tue Mar 9 18:46:07 2010 - [Drulz, another fine product of ISD 709?] By: 66RULZ |
| Moderater get off the dfd backs an accept yoru role bithces. I support the borthers and sister dfd and its time you shut up and leave the bloging to these that make this city work your headline sucjk are so full of right wringer shit juss shut this descrace dbd down or give it up loosers. Your all gelous but cold not organize a 2 truck convoy let alone what werking brothers ans sisters do every day for you ungratful keybord basterds. read the name and weap cause the brothers and sister now whats best fir all yuo cry babys. fuk off gop dcb an pay your fare share6! |
|
Tue Mar 9 18:18:29 2010 - [DFD - Someone has to be in charge] By: Friend of DFD |
Moderator,
Common sense in your eyes will never come to this city, unless you mean the kind of common sense that only agrees with you and never challenges. You are looking for your way or the highway. Someone has to be in charge, the majority has elected who they felt was best. It was not your canditate. DFD didn't buy all the entire city as you seem to suggest. They did what they thought was best and so would you. I try to provide the best info that I can on what I can about the DFD. However it seems no matters what is said you will not look outside the box, either even though you call for it to be done.
|
|
Tue Mar 9 17:08:57 2010 - [DFDer knows a lot about hand picked] By: Friend of DFD |
Call Gold Cross,
And did you notice that the mayor of superior, who is totally against a switch, hand picked the task force. I think that the deck was stacked against superior before they even got started. They needed a panel of neutral persons, maybe from other communities, that could have objectively looked at the situation. This subject is too politically hot for anyone from around here to look at it for what it is and not what someone might think, or the mistakes of the past.
MODERATOR: Friend of DFD, you can't imagine how comical it is to read how a DFDer like you can call another city's mayor out for hand picking anyone or anything. You are way too funny! Duluth corrupt politics wrote the book on hand picking politicians. And we all know that nobody knows hand picked better than DFD as they hand picked not only Mayor Ne$$, but also Hartman, Gardner, Anderson, Cuneo, Gauthier and Boyle. Keep up the hand picking if you want to keep yourselves as the most expensive FD in the USA. If common sense ever comes back to Duluth, your hand picking days are all over. |
|
Tue Mar 9 16:46:09 2010 - [No wonder Duluth is in trouble] By: dishwashers |
| yes sir it is critical that dfd stay in the group of 2 rather than the group of 800. ya got me on that one friend of dfd. oh boy now wonders duluth is in trouble. |
|
Tue Mar 9 15:59:52 2010 - [Keep FD in the bunk, not in ambulance] By: call Gold Cross |
| Did anyone notice the task force in superior voted overwhelmingly to keep their fire department personnel the hell out of the ambulance business. DOA just like in Duluth. |
|
Tue Mar 9 15:52:30 2010 - [Droves of people move to Duluth for DFD] By: Friend of DFD |
Of Politics and Prosperity,
I think you have me confused with someone else. I look foward to change, thinking outside the box and moving toward the future. What bothers me is when someone picks out 1 thing that they think is the problem and then looses all focus on anything else. We can cut all that we want but if we don't have any business or people living in the city eventually we won't have anything to cut. What are the things that bring people and businesses to a city, solid core services, not parking ramps for non-profits, and programs to fund everything you can think of. We need to look at how we spend, but the answer isn't always to cut it may be to change or redirect how we spend it.
Looking at qualifications for jobs is another thing. This blog complains about the qualifications of our mayor, then in the same breath they complain about the DFD wanting to keep the high requirements that it takes to get hired there. Yes maybe only 2 departments out of 800 require this test, maybe these 2 departments are looking for the best candidants that they can find for these jobs. You say that the DFD makes the big bucks, so why not get what we pay for, the most qualified candidate that can give the city the most bang for the buck. Just because not everyone is doing it doesn't make it a bad thing. Remember when no one had cell phones, now everyone has them and they strive for newer and better all the time. Maybe this is the equivilant of the cell phone for the fire service. Someday everyone will require it and we were one of the leaders not the followers.
Also, you have no idea what volunteer fire departments cost. Their costs well exceed what you have said of the 25000 i spoke of earlier. Departments in the metro cost millions to run and provide less service than the DFD. Even local vol. departments cost more than that. |
|
Tue Mar 9 14:03:47 2010 - [Superior doesn't want to be tied to DFL] By: Dave |
Why pay for the DNT, when you can read it free online.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/162421/
Looks like Superior doesn't even want to be tied with DFL Duluth. Gotta love when the real Dave Ross, says we are heading in a different direction. |
|
Tue Mar 9 13:04:02 2010 - [Most expensive FD in USA without OT!] By: Slippery Slope |
| Thanks for the info Friend of DFD. Glad to hear DFD costs us mere pennies in overtime. |
|
Tue Mar 9 11:30:18 2010 - [The DFL Duluth problem is UNION GREED] By: Of Politics and Prosperity |
Friend of DFD blogs about City cuts. Cut this and cut that.
It isn't "negative bloggers" like Dodge Street that have made Duluth smaller and less attractive. It's the spend way too much, teach way too little, no vote allowed, school district, that hurts Duluth. It's millions in DEDA and TIF gifts to the status quo that create too few and only poverty to low income jobs, that hurts Duluth. It's the way too high a cost and size of the DFD, that has a monthly automatic overtime price that is greater than the annual budget of most volunteer depts., that hurts Duluth. It's not the cuts in the City Utilities Dept. but rather greedy political, union, and unaccountable public treasury bought, manuvering that controls hiring and takes advantage of what in the private sector is considered insane overtime contract language, that hurts Duluth.
Duluth is a City where, status quo corruption, and a unconstitutionally, back pocket owned, public treasury buys a majority of same mindset, pulselessNe$$ puppet politians, time after time. This mindset can afford to plumb for their fish but not for the people, with Watergardens, Wethouses and Aquariums but not sump pumps or sewer systems! Having the status quo and unions being the sole beneficiaries from the only allowed industries of tax dollar subsidized tourism, big government, and social welfare, is why creative and independence seeking people leave or will not move to Duluth. Because of either lies too cover up or just plain greed, folks like Friend of the DFD, despite the progressive rosy picture they are fiscally still able to paint, it is the reason Duluth will and just keeps getting economically smaller and physically less attractive. Soon just the status quo will benefit and their economic iron fist rule by silence will own it all in Duluth!!!!!!!!!! If Friend of the DFD thinks the status quo will still make room for DFL progressivism, with their unaccountable waste and welfare, we need just look at who has walked away the tallest on a Federal level, really just the status quo have kept what they rightfully deserved to lose while middle class working America lost to them what was rightfully theirs still deserved to keep!!!!!!! The wealthly move to intentionally create unsustainable economy crushing debt and a huge competative, non-union, low income, workforce for themselves, just like how it works with Socialism!!!!!!!!!!!!
The solution has become obvious in Massachuetts, now the question is can those in DFL Donny Duluth, like Friend of the DFD, see the facts and start working to be part of a long term better for all solution rather than part of the short term better for some situation?
|
|
Tue Mar 9 11:22:47 2010 - [How do you sleep and wash dishes?] By: dishwashers |
| Did ya all read where dfd hired two new dishwasher and they each had years of experience as volunteer fire fighters. Then today a story on how the city council would not change some language so the city can hire fire fighters without a certain test that is only required in 2 out of 800 fire departments in the state duluth being one of those 2. ya gotta love it only in dfl duluth where the dfd buys the best councilors money can buy. |
|
Tue Mar 9 10:25:58 2010 - [Who needs OT when we get paid to sleep?] By: Friend of DFD |
Good mornig all.
Slippery Slpoe,
I don't have the exact these are rough numbers but I did some digging and found out that each firefighter that can get it averages about 5 times a year. At 4 hours of 1/2 time @ 20 per hour is 40 dollars total per time or 200 dollars per year. About 120 firefighters are elegible so that is about 24,000 in 1/2 time per year for the whole department. So 200 dollars per year is not going to put them on the major OT list. Now this is an average so it could be a little more some years and a little less others. Also, the way I understand it it is not something that the union or the city can just write out of the contract it is federally mandated for the 56 hr work week.
Anything else???? |
|
Tue Mar 9 00:36:39 2010 - [Keep paying DFD, AFSCME obscene salaries] By: Big Iron |
| Color me shocked that you're not going to do anything except cry and whine, Cynic/Barney/Used To Be/Still Wannabee. Your secret MIGHT be safe with me. |
|
Mon Mar 8 22:15:50 2010 - [Not too far off] By: Ms E |
Hi my Darlings
think about wat i said, it'd not too far off, i could put it all together for U n Cynic, when can we meet?
Moderator: You could also email or post the info on here. |
|
|
|
|
