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Sparks firefighters and union leaders urge council to retain five recruits nearing graduation
Summary
At the May 12 council meeting multiple fire department speakers and union representatives asked the council to retain five firefighter recruits who will graduate from the academy in weeks, warning that losing them would waste training investments and reduce staffing as Station 6 opens and retirements occur.
Several speakers at the Sparks City Council public-comment period on May 12 urged the council to retain five firefighter recruits who are scheduled to graduate from the fire academy in a matter of weeks.
For the record, Nick Curran, a fire captain and academy commander for the Sparks Fire Academy, told the council the recruits had completed extensive training paid for by the city, including paramedic school, and that losing them would "hand[] over a ready-made workforce to other fire departments who would gladly benefit from our investment without contributing a single dollar to their training." Curran said he had been contacted by "four other departments" that would hire the recruits if Sparks released them.
Union leaders echoed the request. "Sparks Fire Department has been doing more with less since 02/2009," Tom Dunn, vice president of the Reno Firefighters Association, told the council. Dunn urged a plan "to return personnel in a timely manner so that the taxpayers receive the services that they expect and deserve." Mike Zopa, vice president of Local IFF 731 (representing fire personnel), told the council that now that a new revenue source is being discussed, the city should revisit how those funds would be allocated to avoid cutting frontline firefighters.
Why it matters: speakers said retaining the five recruits honors taxpayer investments and helps maintain response capability. Speakers pointed to upcoming operational needs: the opening of Station 6 and several anticipated retirements within months of the recruits' graduation.
Council connection to budget decision
City staff explicitly tied the recruits' fate to the budget options under consideration. Jeff Cronk, the city's chief financial officer, explained that the larger revenue option presented to council would allow the city to "remove 2 firefighters that are on the layoff list" while also restoring three police vacancies. Cronk described the proposed distribution of the roughly $1.5 million in additional annual revenue as funding for five personnel total (three police officers and two firefighters), $200,000 to CIP and the balance to eliminate a structural deficit.
Speakers noted secondary impacts
Curran and others warned that if recruits leave, Sparks will lose many months of preparedness because new hires would require recruitment and training. "By letting even one of these recruits go will be devastating to our department and a disservice to the community and its resources," Curran said. Union speakers framed retention as stewardship of public funds: training is expensive, they said, and the city would be sending a trained workforce to other agencies.
Decision and next steps
The council later approved the larger revenue option (Option 2) that Cronk presented. That option restored two firefighter positions from the layoff list; staff will implement the adopted budget and return with final budget documents for the required public hearing May 27 and the June 1 final filing deadline.
Ending
Council members and department leaders said they would continue to evaluate vacancies and retirements and attempt to prioritize public‑safety staffing within the budget constraints the council set.
