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City, HUMC agreement leaves firemen, EMTs burning mad
(by Mark J. Bonamo - March 12, 2008)
Three Hackensack firefighters share serious looks as they look on during the public discussion regarding the layoffs of eight paid city EMT workers at the March 4 City Council meeting.
The March 4 Hackensack City Council meeting began with the usual roll call and the handling of basic municipal matters. But less than five minutes after the evening meeting started, more than 60 Hackensack firefighters rolled through the council chamber doors. It soon became apparent that the questions raised regarding the transfer of the city’s daytime emergency medical service coverage to Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), therefore eliminating the jobs of eight paid EMS workers, would be hard to handle.
Firefighters normally try to put out fires. But judging by the incendiary words of firefighter John Linquito, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2081 – Hackensack Professional Firefighters and EMTs Association, Hackensack’s firefighters and EMTs were more than ready to politically start one.
“We’re the heart of Bergen County,” he said. “We’re the county seat. We’re the best firemen. We’re the best policemen. We’re the best EMTs. We set the example throughout the whole county. This is a poor example that’s being set right here. We have an obligation to the city and to its taxpayers. Now a conglomerate is coming in, taking everything and making deals. And they’re taking my guys out of work.”
“This job is a calling,” Linquito continued. “It will never stop and we will keep fighting.”
With the stage now set for a fight between the Hackensack city government and its fire department and EMTs in the wake of recent municipality moves, both sides see the issue as an example. The municipal authorities see their decision concerning the EMTs as an instance of necessary fiscal belt-tightening in the face of tough financial times for both the city and the state. Meanwhile, Hackensack’s firefighters and EMTs see the situation as another example of city business as usual.
Cost-cutting measure meant to save city $600,000
In an agreement finalized between the city government and the hospital in the final week of February, the eight paid city EMT workers will be replaced by workers hired by HUMC, with the change to become effective by June or July. According to Hackensack City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono, the city will save just over $600,000 a year as a result of HUMC answering ambulance calls seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with volunteer ambulance corps members providing overnight and some weekend service.
Before public comments were heard at the city council meeting, Hackensack Mayor Jorge Meneses read a statement in which he defended the city’s decision to cut the eight paid EMTs loose.
“Hackensack, like so many other communities, is faced with severe budgetary and tax issues,” he said. “As city officials, we are committed to finding sources of revenue, controlling all possible costs in an attempt to meet the state-mandated budget caps and also keep our city taxes under control. The necessary steps to accomplish these goals can sometimes be very painful.”
“We deeply regret the disruption this move will cause our employees and their families,” Meneses continued. “However, our obligation to the city must be paramount in our minds at all times.”
For HFD deputy chief, the numbers don’t add up
For Charles Grieco, a deputy chief of the Hackensack Fire Department and president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3172 – Hackensack Uniformed Fire Officers Association, his sense of obligation to the city is reflected differently.
“We’re not going to give up on our citizens, and we’re not going to give up on our brothers,” said Grieco in a conversation with Hackensack Chronicle immediately after he spoke out against the EMT personnel changes at the March 4 City Council meeting. “These eight civilian EMTs work side by side with us everyday. They still are under fire department command. For us, there is no difference.”
Grieco notably differs with the municipal authorities over the potential savings of laying off the eight EMTs.
“I don’t agree with the city’s $600,000 number,” he said. “The EMTs bill for their calls. They revenue in close to $300,000 dollars a year that goes into to a general fund. There are ways that they can make even more money, and we are willing to work to find ways to do that.”
According to officials from the Hackensack Fire Department, the EMTs responded to more than 3,400 calls last year.
Grieco, who also serves as first district vice president of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey, pointed to another way that any budget shortfall that could lead to EMT job losses could be addressed.
“The International Association of Fire Fighters union has brought in grants over the years to the city to the tune of over $2 million,” he said. “We are still waiting to hear about the $1.2 million SAFER act,” a reference to the Hackensack Fire Department potentially benefiting from the Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003, which provides federal grant money directly to local fire departments to hire additional personnel.
Grieco believes there is a wider reason for the EMT personnel cuts that is linked to the future ribbon-cutting of a new HUMC building.
“The city is tying this in to the medical center getting their cancer building that they have been fighting to get for two years,” he said, a nod to the Feb. 26 agreement between the city and HUMC in which the hospital agreed to a one-time $1 million payment for permission to build its new four-story cancer center and 975-space parking garage. A non-profit institution, the medical center does not pay taxes. Construction on the new cancer center will be completed in approximately 18 months.
“Now all of a sudden they can get the cancer center, and we can lose guys,” Grieco continued. “You don’t sign a contract with the EMTs in September 2007 and then fire them in February.”
Lo Iacono answers
Lo Iacono strongly refuted the idea that the EMT personnel decision has anything to do with the new cancer center. In an interview with Hackensack Chronicle on March 10, he attempted to pick apart the firefighters’ arguments one by one.
“This is clearly the most difficult thing I have ever had to do in my public career,” he said. “But first of all, we’ve got a very serious budget crisis in the city that we need to deal with. In addition, there are four other city jobs being eliminated. If these eight jobs had not been eliminated, we would have had to eliminate other jobs to compensate for these dollars anyway. There is no question that we are moving forward with this plan.”
The firefighters union representatives have claimed that by eliminating the eight EMTs, the total revenue deficit from the loss of billed services could be as high as $800,000. Lo Iacono was especially emphatic regarding these numbers.
“I don’t know where they got the $800,000 number,” he said. “That is absolutely untrue. It’s nowhere near true. My number for the cost of running the EMT unit is just shy of $1 million. The insurance reimbursement in 2007 was (close to $400,000). That gives me net savings of just over $600,000. Another facet to remember is that the insurance income is very volatile. It’s not a number that you can count on being the same every year to defray costs. That $800,000 income number is way off base. They are overstating the numbers dramatically.”
Lo Iacono also had a stern response regarding the issue of the potential benefits of the SAFER grant.
“The SAFER grant has nothing to do with this,” he said. “These are not firefighters. The SAFER grant is very narrowly defined. It’s for hiring firefighters, not EMTs. It would have no effect on the EMTs whatsoever.”
Firefighters committed to fight
Inside the council chambers, Grieco remained unconvinced by the city’s cost-benefit analysis of the situation.
“Whoever replaces our guys won’t know the streets of Hackensack, the people of Hackensack and the issues of Hackensack,” he said. “And they won’t have 20 years experience like we do.”
“It’s not just about our eight guys,” Grieco continued. “It’s about the taxpayer who has a heart attack at home and doesn’t get quick, proper service and dies in front of his family. Is that right?”
Sitting next to Linquito in a gesture of union solidarity, Grieco stated what he thought was the right thing to do going forward.
“We’re willing to sit down with the city and work this out,” he said. “But if it takes going to the public with a referendum, that’s what we will ask for.”
HFD Chief Joel Thornton
Hackensack Fire Chief and resident Joel Thornton spoke for many members of the public present at the city council meeting when he looked to the future during public comments.
“I know budgets are tight,” he said, examining the EMTs situation. “But if there is any way at all that their jobs can be spared, not only for the people of Hackensack, but also for their families, I have to place an impassioned plea for that.”
E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com
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