We had the first meeting of the Mayor’s Ad-Hoc Fire and Rescue committee Tuesday out at the Airport. It was at the Airport because all of the conference rooms at City Hall were booked. First a little bit about the issue at hand: the City last year created a new Fire and Rescue Department headed by a career Chief. That department works with the volunteers to provide Fire and Rescue services for our citizens. As one might imagine, these 3 departments work together very closely on a daily basis and collaborate on somewhat longer term issues via the “Public Safety Committee”. There have been some differences of opinion over how things should work so the Ad-Hoc committee is taking a look at it.
The meeting lasted about 2.5 hours and I felt it was pretty productive. The first item we discussed was putting a Council member on the Public Safety committee. Some felt that this would be a distraction but I think it necessary. There is a Council liason on almost every other board – Utilities, Airport, Museum, Schools, etc. Public safety, along with schools, is the most important thing we do so we have to get it right. Having a Council member there doesn’t guarantee a result but it does provide a level of awareness and communication that is very important to the citizens and the balance of Council.
The balance of the meeting was really a discussion of the changes that all involved would like to see made. That changes are wanted and/or needed is not surprising, this is a complicated enterprise and I think everyone figured there would be some adjustments along the way. Besides, when you have the long traditions that we have in Manassas, changes to the status quo in any aspect of our municipal lives require many people to cooperate and collaborate over a longish period of time and that’s ok.
We’ll meet again in a couple of weeks. Date not set yet.
One word of clarification: the changes that we are discussing are on the administrative side, not the operations side. Our career and volunteer staff run calls together, the staffs augment one another and they all train together so no worries there. If you call 911, the City will have qualified people respond. This process has little or no bearing on our readiness to help citizens in the short term and will only make us better at it in the long term.
May 19, 2009 at 10:21 am
Andy, in reading this post, it was one of those “learn something new everyday” – I was not aware we had a Public Safety Committee in the City. Of course, that comes from looking at the master list maintained by the Clerk’s Office, and Safety is not on it.
That aside, I personally agree with having a member of Council on this committee. Public Safety is one of the essential government functions (and in some places called “sovereign duties”) and it just makes sense; especially so since Public Safety is a cornerstone of our Emergency Operation Plans & COOP.
Not sure who comprises the Committee, but I presume it is made up of both key City leaders and employees, and selected representives of key volunteer organizations. Having a Council liaison, to me, is not a detractor; more an enabler and a “direct line” to the Council. Just seems a logical and smart move given my thinking above.
May 19, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I agree with having a council member on the committee, however, it should not be one with a clear conflict of interest. The Mayor is a member of the MVFC and should not be taking part in any public safety committe or any other ad hoc committee that involves fire department operations. While I trust the Mayor, the perception is he has a conflict of interest and as we all know, “Perception is Reality”