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Proposed fire‑department reorganization fails on tie vote; full review set for committee of the whole
Summary
A proposal to reorganize fire‑department staffing into distinct firefighter, medical‑only and reserve positions failed on a tied roll call. Council scheduled a committee‑of‑the‑whole session to permit a more thorough review of budgetary and operational impacts.
The council considered a plan to restructure the fire department’s staffing categories — separating positions into firefighters, medical first responders, cadets and reserves — to reflect increased medical call volume and to permit recruitment of candidates who only wish to serve as medical responders.
Scott, the fire chief, told council the change would better match staffing to operational needs: “We now have people who are looking to join the service who do not wish to be firefighters. They only wish to be medical first responders,” he said, arguing the classification would protect firefighting slots for personnel focused on fire duties while allowing others to serve medical calls.
Council members asked about training costs, budget impacts and whether the change would add recurring expenses for additional gear or radios. The city manager said personnel pay is budgeted by response patterns and that any new recurring costs would be reflected in the next fiscal budget year if the plan were adopted.
A motion to adopt the proposed reorganization resulted in a tie roll call; by rule the motion failed. Council then scheduled a committee‑of‑the‑whole meeting on April 14 to allow deeper review, presentation of financial detail and to give all councilors more time to ask questions of staff and the chief.
Next steps: the city manager and chief will prepare detailed financial estimates, training cost figures and draft job descriptions for the April 14 committee meeting.
