doc13mets

The problem is more and more towns are relying on mutual aid. Unfortunately many towns are no longer in a position to give it as freely as possible. Harrison use to have 2 Engines and 1 Ladder in service every day. Now they barely have 1 Engine and 1 Ladder in service. I was listening on my scanner during the fire the other day and Kearny had put Harrison on standby to cover while they were fighting the fire. Harrison had 1 Ladder and 1 Engine available. Then Harrison had to send EMS 2 over to Kearny to assist at the fire scene then they went onto assist on 2nd call in Kearny. Harrison's BC then told his dispatcher to notify Kearny that they only had Engine 3 available. So that is what was available to cover all of Harrison/Kearny at that time. I never heard a tone go out on NA or EN’s frequencies, so they weren’t on standby. If any thing else came it would of been quite a slow response. Now this is with current levels. Imagine if the FD was short 1 Engine and 1 Ladder Company more. You would of had Harrison at the fire and most likely a NA or EN apparatus. This would leave protection in the area very thin for any other emergencies. Fire Departments do everything they can to help out their neighbors but we have to consider the fact with cutbacks in other neighboring towns like JC, North Hudson, Harrison that those towns will not be able to offer all the resources that you can count on. It is imperative that the mayor and council realize this. Would the fire have been put out the other day if Kearny was shorthanded? Yes. But as efficiently and safe as they did? No. Waiting on resources is never a good thing. Tackling a fire in its first stages are extremely important to a successful operation. They say fire is doubled every minute in size. Think about that. Save our Fire Department. Keep our residents safe!

If there is a car/truck parked fully in a yellow area they should be ticketed and towed. If there is a car parked in a regular spot and the bumper is overhaning into the yellow. Well discresion should be used by the officer. Most likely the person who parked infront of the "overhanger" is the one who did a bad job parking as they are probably taking up enough room for 2 cars. It drives me crazy on my street when people have space infront of their house for 2 cars yet they park right in the middle taking up both spots. Thats one of the bigger parking issues on these smaller streets.

I am not taking a side here, but I think the general sentiment (at least from what I can tell) is that particular laws aren't being enforced when it's "Convenient" but only when there are layoffs looming. Why weren't these laws always enforced is probably why it's on people's mind. I remember something from a number of years about UPS stopping delivery to Kearny because there was a ticket blitz and they kept getting hit. I think there was some contract issue at that time as well. I am a huge supporter of the KPD/KFD but a ticket blitz only hurts residents and not town officials. If that is indeed what is happening.

Yeah thats prob what he meant. I got confused also I thought it was on Wilson Ave because I kept hearing the Chief say "Wilson St. command". Good stop.

Usually two on duty right? Two isn't a whole lot especially if they were actually busy then no one would be able to pick up the phone, sometimes durning certain calls you can't just say hold on. Should have called 911.

A firefighter makes a lot more then a regular EMT. I don't see how that would save money. If anything you could put an Ambulance in Station 3 and one in Station 2. When an ambulance goes out of station 3 Ladder 1 would be OOS (while they are doing EMT duties). When an ambulance goes out of station 2 they take Squad 2 OOS (while they are doing EMT duties). But to add 2 more FF's per shift would most certainly cost more money they what would be recouped with the charge. The cost cutting savings I would do would be have 4 civilian dispatchers hired to do the FD dispatching. Move those guys back as line firefighters. Civilians would cost less.

Guess thats why the number cause of deaths of firefighters is cardiac arrest cause its so easy and relaxing. Why don't you man up and go volunteer at a FD and do it for free if you think it's easy work.

I have a second cousin through marriage on the KFD. That's the closest I get. Honestly I am just frustrated because the way civil service is setup to discriminates based on geography Kearny and Harrison residents. JC, Bayonne and Newark people can get hired in our town but we can't in theirs. Civil Service does offer a lot of benefits for a town I do see that. I am just very frustrated being a Kearny homeowner and someone who has lived here my whole life and have very little chance of becoming a local firefighter because I have to rank below every single veteran in all of Hudson/Essex county. Being under only Kearny veterans I could deal with. I am not against Veterans getting additional credit for serving their country. I just believe absolute preference is a bit much. A lot of states including federal government positions award an additional 10 points to veterans which I think is extremely fair. I think that is the way it should be in NJ. Say I get a 95 and a veteran gets an 86, adjusted they would have a 96 and be ranked hire. I think that is fair, they did a great service. But a candidate that gets a 70 (and let me tell you it was a 4th grade math test) and I get a 100, chances are the guy who got a 100 might be a better candidate. If you are a veteran and a good candidate for the job you do deserve some preference. Unfortunately there are a lot of members of our armed forces that pretty much joined because they couldn't get jobs elsewhere. I see them on FD's now and they are most certainly not dedicated. Honestly I did not know the way preference worked until about 3 years ago. In fact until about 3 years ago I thought Kearny still had residential preference. I'm currently 28 years old. I went to college and probably should have taken the civil service test when I lived at Seton Hall durning school (I could have changed my address legally to go on South Oranges list) but I didn't, I focused on finishing school. I've never had a desire to serve in the armed forces. I respect those that do and believe me I think they deserve bonus points for preference but not absolute. I have chosen to serve my community in another way civilly (and don't get paid for it) unfortunately that does entitle me to any benefits for any municipal positions.

It was originally referenced to show what can happen when Unions and Municipalities work together and not against each other. Nothing more nothing less. I can't help it when other posters misread it to believe it had something directly related to NJ. I thought it was an interesting read to share.

The only reason there are so many verterans being laid off is because ever since the NCAAP sued Kearny and forced them to change from a Kearny Resident list to a Hudson and Essex County resident list it has forced Kearny to essentially only hire Veterans from other towns. Veterans only need to get a 70 to be put at the top of the list. I need to get a 100 and guess what, the veteran who got a 70 that has lived his whole life in Bayonne or Jersey City or Newark gets automatically placed higher then I who have lived my whole life in Kearny. Thats just unfair. And to make matters worse unlike those residents from Bayonne, JC and Newark who can be hired in their own towns plus Kearny (and a number of other towns) I can not even get on the list to be on their hometown. How fair is that? Time to dump Civil Service, the system is unfair. Plus the town could save a load of money!

You have no clue what you are talking about. First off you should know Hudson County is the smallest county in NJ. For the smallest county in NJ I hate to tell you they also have the highest amount of fire calls then any other county. The geography of Hudson County prevents the majority of towns having anything else but a career department. The only two towns in Hudson County that have volunteers are East Newark and Secaucus. Now East Newark is lucky because of the size of the town, if it was bigger they also would have a paid department. A lot of it has to do with how close the buildings are to each other. Secaucus honestly is an anomaly and has been lucky enough to survive with an all volunteer department for so long. I actually have heard some rumors that they could become a paid department down the road. You couldn't get enough volunteers to man a town with the amount of calls KFD gets. You would need like 200+ volunteers. And imagine a fire in South Kearny? No volunteers would live down there it would take a long time for any response you are talking like 12-20 minute potentially, that would be an extremely unsafe and nightmarish thought. There has been no nepotism or patronage in the KFD for a long long time. Get your facts straight. Look at the hires since the early 90's. The facts are clear. What ignorance. Do I even have to type a reasonable response to this part? I think not, my fingers may just fall off. Any rational human being would not make such a post. I've already wasted enough time responding to this individual.

What is the need for the KPD to wear tactical uniforms?

Wouldn't that be nice? Well Kearny has to go through a huge list of Essex and Hudson country residents and if there aren't any Kearny residents near the top oh well, can't hire them for PD/FD jobs. So they won't be part of the community. But neighboring towns like Newark, Jersey City and Bayonne only hire residents. Kearny people can't be hired in those towns? Fair I think not. There are plenty of qualified people in this town willing to do the job. Leave the PD/FD alone with cuts. Crossing guards play an important role. Should there be more oversight? Probably. Do I think they are allowing the children to be unsafe? No but just maybe we need to explore a better way to supervise these individuals. Oh and replacing crossing guards with PD... Silly just silly. Huge salary difference. Would PD be better? Probably but it's not necessary.

Does anyone know if Christie's reforms for civil service got passed? Everytime I had heard the vote was being pushed off. In those reforms it would allow Kearny to opt out of Civil Service. Then I'm sure the NCAAP will just sue us again and tell us they want to control our hiring. Another poster said its more then a job. Well for most of the older guys I believe that. Some of the younger guys from other towns I know for a fact its not. I even heard on say "I would never step into a fire house in Kearny unless they were paying me..." obviously working for our great fire department is little more then a job to this guy. I really do believe most of them don't think that way but this is what you get when the NCAAP forces you to hire out of town people. BOE needs to make cuts. To many nonsense positions. Lets keep our PD and FD intact.

You do realize East Newark's Fire Department is Volunteer and has no paid positions right?

I’ve always been more of a Burrito type of a guy… Come on man are you serious? And come on KOTW you always talk about freedom of speech yet in all honesty its anything but that!! I see more censored stuff on here then I do coming out of China!! Can't even tell if this post was serious in nature or a joke because we have no idea of the actual context because of the censored out part.

That salary is not correct. It does not include pensions. Nor Health Care (they do pay 1.25% basically nothing but is more then the past). They no longer have a clothing allowance. (At least I don't think so, I am pretty sure they gave that up in their last contract.) We have 24 captains because. (Simple Math here) 6 Rigs - (2 Ladders and 4 Engines) 1 Captain for each = 6 Per shift. 4 Shifts... 6 x 4 =????? You guessed it! 24! Now lets stop the rumors.

N.J. cops on cellphones aren't above the law

http://www.firerescue1.com/labor-issues/articles/900826-Calif-firefighters-take-salary-pension-cuts-to-save-city-money/ Calif. firefighters take salary, pension cuts to save city money Firefighters sign deal for two-tiered pension plan By J.M. Brown The San Jose Mercury News SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — In exchange for a two-year extension of their contract, members of the Santa Cruz Firefighters Association and a union representing fire department managers ratified an agreement Tuesday to take a 10 percent cut in their salary and benefits for the next two years and implement a two-tiered pension plan. The Police Officers Association also ratified a deal Tuesday to increase the contribution to their pensions by 5 percent. Public safety spending makes up roughly two-thirds of the city budget, which is facing multimillion-dollar deficits several years into the future. The city's human resources director, Lisa Sullivan, announced the deals at Tuesday's City Council meeting, saying the deal with firefighters was crafted earlier in the day and immediately voted on by members. The deal comes less than a week before voters will weigh in on Measure H, a proposed increase in the utility users tax that will fund public safety and other city services. Among the biggest financial donors to the Measure H campaign are the police and firefighters unions. Mayor Mike Rotkin applauded both deals, saying, "Here are some real facts on the ground that should make a difference on how you vote on Measure H." However, Sullivan said the deals, from the perspective of city negotiators, were not purposely timed to the election. She said the firefighters wanted to avoid prolonged talks over the upcoming contract expiration. The deal with police comes after months of talks with the officers union. Outside the meeting, Fire Chief Mark Ramos said the fire department agreed to the concessions Tuesday to boost Measure H and show the public they are serious about cutting costs. The firefighters have agreed to change their pension benefit to allow them to retire at age 55 with 3 percent of their final year's salary multiplied by their years of service. Currently, firefighters and police can retire at 50 and receive the same percentage. There were no immediate estimates available on the savings that will result from the deal with firefighters, but Sullivan said the agreement will negate the need to bargain over contracts that would have expired in August.

The PD made an offer that would save more then the Town was asking of all departments combined or just the PD? Just curious. I agree it's up to the Town to work with the Unions in saving money and making sure no public saftey services are cut. I already pay enough in taxes in this town and I expect the same service that I have offered to me today.

Kearny PD no longer uses "open air wave radios". They use an encrypted system. If you are listening and are not PD/Someone who should have access then you are breaking Federal Laws. No reason police should be using Cell Phones to call for "help" or recieving calls on them to respond to a incident.

No one is saying not to have those discussions. People are saying those discussions just belong in a new category, one that hasn't yet been created, that we are hoping would get created. I'd rather limit those discussions about garbage pick-ups, driveway parking and complaining about the mayor to the Kearny section because its about Kearny. FYI, your posts aren't about Kearny get some common sense, I just want this forum organized.

I don't lie, can't you see that. I say when I know something and I say when I don't know something. I know very little about the Harrison FD's state of affairs 4-5 years ago. One thing I do know is you can't just throw out the national scale, cause its not a national scale. It's call a NFPA standard. It is guidelines that are constantly corrected and kept up to date to help fire department keep adequate staffing for the proper protection and safety of citizens and firefighters. The fire department is not breaking the taxpayers back, the % of property taxes that is actually allocated to the FD is very small. If you did cut the FD taxes would not be reduced. Politicians never actually lower taxes even if they say they will. The bigger issue at hand is the Medical/Pension issues. This is a statewide problem as police/fire unions are fighting this. But the fact is they will eventually have to give in and chip into these programs. Most people pay a portion of their benefits its only fair that police/fire make that concessions to protect their jobs and keep the residents safe.

Iwill tell you the numbers I know and the numbers I believe to be true. I am not a Harrison Firefighter. You could probably call the fire department and get these answers correctly. 1 - Fire Chief 4 - Battalion Chiefs That’s all I know for sure. Now the rest of these numbers are estimates because they are not up to date, but are extremely close maybe 1 or 2 off each number. Not sure how recent cut back effected this. 12 - Captains 32 - Firefighters I've said before I think Harrison could survive with running 1 Ladder, 1 Engine and 1 (or 2) EMS units. Also another cutback could be instead of having 3 Captains on duty demote 2 captains per shift to Lieutenants (which would be a newly created position) and shave 10K off there salary a year. 3 supervisors for every 1 firefighter is a lie as simple as that.

I'm not saying it happens in Harrison, I was talking about across the US fire calls are up. That goes for non fire related issues as well. And Arsons are up big time more and more fires are being investigated for this. Sadly less then 99% of the public think that way. And its not just homes its commercial fronts as well. I never once said it is appropriate to have 2 or 3 supervisors per firefighter. I am not sure this is true. If it true then that is wrong. But I am pretty sure if it was true it was corrected with the cutbacks they made this past year. I don't really know what you are talking about