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Fire chief resists cuts to public information officer and station maintenance while accepting smaller savings
Summary
Fire Chief Hayes White objected to several recommended cuts, including substituting a civilian for the department's uniformed public information officer and reductions to facilities maintenance and materials/supplies; he defended a battalion chief planning position as essential for strategic work.
Fire Chief Hayes White told supervisors the department can live with some of the budget analyst's recommendations but strongly opposed substituting the uniform public information officer (PIO) for a civilian because the role requires subject-matter expertise during incidents and in the Joint Information Center (SEG 4268'4276). Chief White said routine facilities maintenance is already substantially spent this year and further cuts would risk station safety and operations (SEG 4340'4360). He also defended creation/filling of a battalion chief for planning and research to support long-term strategic improvements (SEG 4560'4569).
