On ‘So much up in the air’ as Edgerton firefighters return
Posted on December 8 at 9:44 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
We are all supposed to be adults. So why can't we all act like adults and face the fact that businesses make business decisions. Sometime that means job eliminations. It happens everyday. Palmdogg69, you say I would sing a different tune if it were my job on the line. Well, I have gone through job reductions, more than once. I have survived. I did not hide behind a union to try to keep my job. I did not sue the company to keep my job. I just started looking for a new job and got one every time. The 3 full time employees also got new jobs. That should have been the end of it. I was not fired for performance issues, nor were the 3 full time employees. I did not take the layoffs personally, but it seems that these employees did. They are now using the union to get more money. The union should be for firefighters. These 3 are not firefighters. What is the union even doing here in Edgerton. I say, Grow up and act like an adult!
On Outgoing chief burned out over legal bickering
Posted on December 8 at 9:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I have no problem with John Gietzel moving out of town, but let's set the facts straight. He has been absent from training practices and fire calls for months now because he has been living out of town. John Gietzel was a good chief for many years, but he has not been acting as chief for some time now. Perhaps the bickering that he is refering to is because of the lack of his presence and leadership. It is time for him to leave; he should have stepped down months ago. But I am confused by the statements printed here. He has been a strong advocate supporting the elimination of the full time positions in the past. Why the change of opinion now? Did the Gazette represent the comments correctly?
On Back to business in Edgerton
Posted on December 8 at 8:47 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I support the decisions that the fire district board has made and hope that they aren't regretting any past decisions. They were trying to do save the tax payers money without reducing safety. The money they spent in legal fees is justified by what the potential savings in wages would have been. That money could have gone towards equipment, training, or other improvements for the volunteers.
And why the pointed attacks on Chairman Linsley. His vote doesn't even count unless there is a tie by the other 5 board members. Hmmm, a tie by the other 5 board members - seems he's not even making the decisions. But I believe that he is making the right suggestions.
And shame on the Gazette for choosing John Dohner Jr as their volunteer to interview. His union affiliation at GM makes him an unbiased participant. Try to find another volunteer with the same opinion - it will be a difficult task. The split is not 50-50 as he states. The majority of the volunteers are proud of the job that they have been doing, as they well should be.
On Firefighters reinstated: District offers to put men back to work
Posted on November 16 at 2:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I stand corrected. Opinion, you are correct, they are driver/dispatchers. Now that the Rock County 911 center has replaced the dispatcher part of the job, their full time position is clearly not required. I hope that I did not offend any of the volunteer firefighters.
On Firefighters reinstated: District offers to put men back to work
Posted on November 16 at 10:24 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
So many people seem to be missing the point here, which is saving the city and surrounding area money! It is unfortunate that individuals lost their jobs, it always is, but it is a risk in every business, and happens every day. The firemen and their union should get over this and not take it so personally. The point was that the fire district board thought that they could save the district money and still provide the same service level with the volunteers. Over the past few years, it has been proven that the premise was correct, the full time firemen were not required. The volunteers were able to provide the same high level of service without the full time firemen. Problem is, now we have to pay out all of that money to the firemen that we could have saved. I applaud the fire district board for trying to save me money.
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On Back to business in Edgerton
Posted on December 9 at 9:13 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Earth to etown, you seem to think that these men were paid for being firemen. That is incorrect. They were paid to be driver\dispatchers. This means that they were paid to drive the trucks to be maintained and filled with gas. When they were driving to fires, they were operating as a volunteer. They were not paid to be trained previously. They were trained as a volunteer, but never took the time to get certified. If they wanted to be firefighters, they would have kept up there own training with the volunteers for the past 4 years. If you want to start paying firefighters, there are more than 30 trained firefighters that should be first in line. What is that going to do to the budget?!