dadbo46

Bentonville, Ark......home of Wal-Mart corporate headquarters. Hhhhhmmmmm !

How about hiring the best candidate for the Job and promoting those that deserve it regardless of residence.It amazes me how you can be a felon without a HS Diploma to get on that Job but they want you to be a scholar once your there. What a disgrace to the Profession especially to those dedicated members. A whole new can of worms is goin to be opened and the Administration is just to blind or stupid to realize it.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/spending-questioned-for-long-island-fire-districts-20110317
We in Westchester are not much better. Career or volunteer

There are people represnting the taxpayer: THEY ARE THE PEOPLE YOU ELECT TO OFFICE! They are the problem, not the workers.
The problem of money going from unions to campaigns are no different at all than money going from vendors, business organizations, and lobyist organization money (like our beloved fire serivce groups, FASNY for one) to political campaigns to gain influence on business contracts and legislative votes-no difference at all. again, the pols are the problem.
what unions got exemptions to bamacare????? and what were those exemptions for???

I'm a Union member, have been for 25 years, and also served for 15 years as a steward. I am also a slightly right-of-center Republican, and have been for my entire voting life. Thanks to Obama and Crew, I will remain so.
That said, as a Republican I am embarassed by the Draconian measures undertaken in Wisconsin, and because of them I have no doubt that four years from now, Wisconsin will be just as left-wing looney as the People's Republic of Vermont, or the Commune-wealth of Massachusetts. I also believe this misguided sledgehammer approach will be overtuned in court, because it tramples the civil rights of those workers.
I am also highly embarassed by Sarah Palin and lately, John McCain. But they are only temporary.

Would it be a cost saving measure if all Westchester Town and Villages changed over to the County PD? In my personal opinion I think it would be great but I'm no expert. I would imagine that the cities would/should continue to police themselves. However, there so many PD's in Westchester. I'm curious if it would be a better system. I'm a big fan of mergers that could save tax dollars while still providing the same great service.

Half the FD is already gone and now the PD is getting the slash and burn method of municipal economics. The city will not be able to cover it's own work so it will not be able to provide services to other communities on a mutual basis so they're going to push the cost fo their services out to other communities. OR the state police will have to take over policiing in Camden and people statewide will have to support the failure of the city to do it's own job.
No matter what your politics, party, ideology, this is a recipe for disaster.

WOW !! Old CD-3. George Kusterer, John Hill, Brother Magnotta and I put the inside of that together.

Metro-North has done a text book job of bringing the M-8 online. They spent a great deal of time planning and researching a new design. Once the first sets arrived, they began an aggressive daily testing routine. As per the contract, they cars had to withstand 4,000 problem free miles before acceptance. When there is any failure of any kind, the clock resets to zero. There are always issues in the beginning that need to be ironed out. Those first cars were running all hours of the night to rack up the miles and put them through their paces. Corrections have been made and now they have been accepted. They have entered revenue service as fast as MNRR could have possibly gotten them there.
The only person to blame is the previous governor of Connecticut. His short sighted administration delayed funding repeatedly. Ct. is responsible for 70% of the New Haven lines costs, including fleet purchase costs. The M-8 design was finalized almost 5 years ago and funding was the only delay.
Metro-North can't pay for them without gov't funding.
Metro-North can't put them inservice without the appropriate testing
Metro-North can't make Kawasaki build them faster, nor can it make the ships, trucks and trains get them here any faster.
You'll note that when NY was solely responsible for the replacement of the M-1 and M-3 with the M-7, we didn't wait this long.
Your anger is completely misplaced. There is only one group responsible for the delay and that is the Conn. Dept. of Transportation operating under the previous Governor's administration. Thankfully Gov. Rell took office and saw funding delivered.
As for MNRR being a corrupt organization...well, no one doubts an interstate agency's high level of bureaucracy, but you should travel back in time 25 years and see what the railroad looked like then. MNRR under MTA has transformed a hodge-podge of railroads and equipment, with dilapidated infrastructure and rolling stock into one of the smoothest running commuter operations in the United States.
Your comment certainly negates your knowledge of any "back-story".

He was the senior Supervising Dispatcher in the city at the time of his passing. He voluntarily demoted himself from Chief Dispatcher to Supervisor in 2002 to better provide for his family. I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with, and for Dennis for a number of years up in the Bronx. In addition to the street renaming, a Yankee jersey, Number 22 is hanging up on the wall of the Bronx CO, and his dispatcher number will be officially retired tomorrow as well. I learned more about being a boss by watching him than I ever have, and learned a lot about the Bronx in a few short years. We could throw out a location that we weren't sure of, and he could give us the Box number and assignment like it was second nature. Hey Doc!!! Mosholu Parkway just north of Gun Hill??? Box 8992, 79 Engine, 37 Truck, and the 52's. As The former Dispatcher "Tree Tree Oh, K" now, One Two Six would say, "He was the computer before there was a computer." He is truly missed by his friends, family and colleagues. I think the changes that have been going on in the job today would break his heart. RIP, DOC, you were one of a kind. And to quote him, channeling Vincent La Guardia Gambini, "And I'm done with this one!!!!"
Jimmy JBE Raftery
Supervising Dispatcher #47
FDNY Manhattan/Citywide Operations
Bronx Alumni 1997-98, 2002-2004, 2005-2009

Your anger is directed in the wrong location. It is the State of Connecticut's fault. Metro North owns 50% of the cars and wanted to replace them years ago. The state dragged its feet until it was too late. MTA Metro North did the best they could with the cards dealt to them.
Only The first train did the 4000 mile acceptance test, now the rest only have to do 1000 miles of trouble free testing. Better to wait the get stuck between stations because something new and untested failed.

eveyone wants to seconds guess everyone become a chief then

This style was orginally designed for PD use. Many PD's use these in their traffic enforcement cars, to blend in with other traffic, and the ghost lettering is good at night when hunting DWI drivers. Mostly all the ghost lettering PD car's don't have lightbars, either. AND, they 99% of the time don't respond Code 3.
I don't see the rationale on putting them on Chief's cars. Would this be appropropriate to do on fire apparatus as well? No.
Why wouldn't you want your vehicle identified easily? Why would you want to LOWER your daytime visibilty?
I really don't understand this concept.

So now it is up to Bee Line to be 24 hour emergency responders in addition to bus drivers?
In downtown New Rochelle there must be a building that can be used as a shelter without expecting the bus company to keep drivers on duty around the clock in case an emergency happens. Who's gonna pay for that?
There just needs to be real municipal emergency planning.

With rallies taking center stage I am surprised the protests in Wisconsin have not been post here yet. Public Employee Unions and collective bargaining have been villafied by the Tea Party and their likes to put more blame on the backs of the public servants for the fiscal mismanagement of the legislatures. Around the country they are pointing the fingers are public servant, who have sacrificed for countless years, as the reason budgets are breaking and looking to union bust and create take backs and limit collective bargaining or do away with it all together. No where has any one suggest doing away with food stamps, social services or the other sit on your butt and collect services.
See some news coverage at: ABC NEWS

Chief,
I don't know how the details differ, CT vs. NY. I work in a combo department. Are you saying that, if I'm working alongside one of my career colleagues, and we screw up (or even if we don't!) and some smart lawyer decides to come after us, the career firefighter should be indemnified, but I should not? What's the basis for your distinction? We're performing exactly the same duties under the same command.
Mike

Volunteer firefighters are under the control of the local government (in my case, the Board of Fire Commissioners). If a firefighter meets the requirements set forth by the Board of Fire Commissioners, he should be protected just as a career firefighter would be. If your municipality's volunteers are not "under the control" of the Board or governing agency, it is the fault of the municipality.

This appears to be an excellent, well thought out and designed rig, I especially like the front mounted pump. It is so easy to use. And, the layout for equipment appears to take advantage of every inch of space. Well done to the truck committee.

There was no doubt that a shameful liberal like yourself would take the opportunity to bash a great man like Reagan when all this thread was about was wishing him a Happy Birthday. Judging by your age status 18-21 you weren't even alive during the Reagan Presidency so anything you know was taught to you in whatever bastion of liberalism ( sorry i meant college) that you hide from the real world in.
You speak of Iran Contra .. first things first junior, no concrete evidence has ever been uncovered that directly linked Reagan to Iran Contra with that being said, the sale of weapons was devised to secure the safe release of 6 American Hostages that were being held in Iran. Some money was then funneled to the Anti Communist fighters but funding and arming anti communist groups is nothing new for the US.
Were the other presidents that you mentioned good presidents ? Yes they were but they weren't the leaders that Reagan was. The rest of the world respected and feared him which ultimatly kept us safe... but thats something that rose colored glasses wearing liberals like yourself know nothing about.
You have proven yourself time and time again on this site to be liberal, anti cop , anti government, and sometimes anti everything. You're obviously a young know nothing kid that thinks that your corner of the world is everything and the rest of us known nothing.
You post your stupidity on here like you know what's going on when in reality you couldn't shine the shoes of the senior men and women who are on this site.
I'm sorry about the rant guys and i know this will get pulled down real quick but you can only read this s*** from this guy so many times

May I say, what we have here is a "culture clash" of sorts. Most of us know the following, but for the edification of the member who asked the question;
There is no such thing as a career chief's turnout coat that says "Ex Chief." The only way a career chief would still be wearing a turnout coat and not be a chief anymore, would be through a demotion (voluntary or involuntary) and the new coat he would be wearing would display his current rank, or through a move from being a career Chief to a career Commissioner.
In volunteer fire departments, the selection of chiefs is a different process than in the career civil service system (which is primarily based on testing). The election of a chief does carry a significance to the members of those departments. Words like "honor" carry a lot of weight in both systems. But, a member would probably say he was honored to have been selected to serve as chief, and therefore might chose to wear a turnout coat that displays "Ex Chief", as a way of showing his gratitude to the department for that honor as they see it. Additionally, the other members of the department will probably recognize that "Ex Chief" simply by leaving the "Ex" out of the title. It's a way for other members to show their respect; especially if they believe that "Ex Chief" was a good chief while in title.
In this particular instance, there is no way to lump the two different systems together, or for that matter to even try and compare them. They are distinctly different, so maybe we should just note those differences.....maybe not judge them....and just say.....
"It Is What It Is."

Greetings all. I have been member on this site for a long time, and at the moment I am also an assistant Chief with the Elmont FD. I will not get into specifics at this point, but just wanted to say a few things.
First, the Elmont FD is in no way racist, nor is the company in question trying to incite a racist point of view. Like it or not the nickname "rebels" and the use of the confederate flag has been a somewhat popular choice of fire companies for decades. Im sure you all know of a company somewhere called the "rebels". Hell just google "fire Dept. maltese cross rebel flag sticker" and you will see a dozen designs for your helmet and other applications from many fire service stores.
Second, the company was organized in 1924, and at the time was the only company on the East End of the district, away from the other then 3 existing companies in the West all a few blocks from each other. Back in the day the competition between fire companies was probably more fierce then it is today. The other companies did not want them to be located at that end of the district and "beat" them to the fires in that part of town. They got the nickname of the rebels because they went against the grain from day 1. The nickname rebels was born for being "different" not being racist.
This all said, the flag does bring about some strong feelings from many folks, and in the end we exsist to serve the public not offend them. I will leave it at that for now.
Be safe all.

From yesterday's NY Times:
Fire Dept. Revamps Approach to Emergencies on the City’s Waterways, or Nearby
By AL BAKER
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/nyregion/15fire.html?ref=nyregion&pagewant

From yesterday's NY Times:
Fire Dept. Revamps Approach to Emergencies on the City’s Waterways, or Nearby
By AL BAKER
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/nyregion/15fire.html?ref=nyregion&pagewant

Perhaps the president can invite everyone from Newburgh to the White House for a beer summit !

Bloomberg wants to stamp out costly city fire alarm boxes, but union says it's a dangerous move
BY Daniel Roberts and Kathleen Lucadamo
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Mayor Bloomberg wants to get rid of fire alarm boxes from city streets, saying the measure would save the FDNY $2.5 million.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/01/30/2010-01-30_lets_pull_fireboxes_mike_says.html#ixzz0e8RQGYCg