Oh yeah, the man is retiring and the City not only sent him to Las Vegas for a week, he's there on a "Urban Wild Fire Conference."
Can anyone please tell me the last time we experienced an Urban Wildfire? Now wait a minute, I'm not through. The City, (YOU) are also sending him to Indianapolis next month for another get away, even though his services will no longer be needed or available after his retirement on April 15th. Gordo was heading there as well but backed out because there's been way too much pressure on him on the Blogs.
Yeah, this is news Gary Comegys and Barrie Tilghman didn't want exposed either. Hey, maybe she'll get stupid again and call another Press Conference defending why it's all the Blogs fault that more CONFIDENTIAL information leaked out.
Is this how you want your City Business run Folks? Why not send Hoppes instead? Oh, what am I talking about. That would actually make sense and NOT look like the City was giving a personal perk to its FOB Employees. I'd like her to explain this one when we're in Court at the end of April.
22 comments:
And so we see the wisdom of the line item budget.
He has always grabbed every class he could get at the City's expense. Classes that the majority of firefighters wouldn't even consider. This one will be used for Delmar and Its safe to bet that he wont even show to class. Thats his style at FDIC. If he makes it to class at all it aint for long. Its party time baby. All my VECOS buddies are here and I'm the damn fire chief.
This week its Vegas and in two weeks Indy. Josalyn is waiting for slick Willy just like every spring. While we're there we can get with our buddy from Pierce and count our money. Lots of drinking and socializing on the taxpayers dime and nobody to question us. Man this is the life. You cant be serious asking us to go to class. Thats not what FDIC is about. FDIC stands for Food, Drinks, Insest and carousing all night. We sleep all day you know,this is hard work.
He also placed an order for new uniforms for himself!
A few months ago a memo was sent out from him cancelling all Training that involves travel, unless it was budgeted. I'm sure this class wasn't budgeted, most of us have never even heard of it! There are many members that wanted to go to Baltimore to an EMS conference this weekend but didn't put in for it because it involved travel. Several are still going on there own time andthere own dime. Maybe he should try that for once!!
He doesn't go on fire calls anyway so why does he need it?
He pushes pencils all day! May 15th can't get here fast enough.
Mr. Ireton I urge you to remove or demote Hoppes as well because this spending will continue!
Why is this City sending anyone for training, when they will retire in a few weeks? What a waste of tax dollars. The earlier post said he cancelled firefighters training budgets and doesn't go to fires himself. I demand the Mayor address this issue. This fire department is outrageously out of control. Where will it end.
Urban Wildfire? you have got to be kidding.
Oh I get it. Thats when someone throws out a cigarette and a vacant 15k sq. ft. lot catches on fire. OK.
Shouldn't he already know how to put a fire out?
id like to see the reciepts for "in room entertainment" when he gets back..cause you know whats legal in vegas right????
Aww... I hope he has fun.
http://www.iafc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=100
WHY ATTEND WUI 2009?
Federal, state and local wildland fire personnel and resources have come together to provide:
Operational best practices, innovations and procedures for preparedness and response
Networking with peers on shared issues like ensuring firefighter safety, engaging community stakeholders as partners and improving community planning projects
New technologies and products to you can apply to the WUI problem
HIGHLIGHTS
Conference workshops and case studies - Incorporated into educational tracks that encompass prevention, education & mitigation; suppression strategies and tactics; and wildland fire policy.
Headline news - If it’s in the news it’s at WUI 2009. Learn from the real experiences of those who have been battling the largest wildland fires of the last few years.
Hotel
Conference Location and Accommodations
Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
2500 East Second Street
Reno, NV 89595
Phone: 775-789-2000
Website: www.grandsierraresort.com
Reservations and Rates
Phone: 800-648-5080
About the Hotel
Housed in the shadow of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada, the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino has become northern Nevada’s most complete destination resort. A stay in one of their rooms offers access to premiere restaurants, headline entertainment, family-friendly activities and endless recreation. With all WUI meetings and exhibits located just off the guest-room elevators, you won’t want to leave this Reno retreat.
Wildland Urban Interface
Start Date End Date Location Event Registration
24 Mar 2009 26 Mar 2009 Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
2500 East Second Street
Reno, NV
United States
Hotel
Conference Location and Accommodations
Grand Sierra Resort and Casino
2500 East Second Street
Reno, NV 89595
Phone: 775-789-2000
Website: www.grandsierraresort.com
About the Hotel
Housed in the shadow of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada, the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino has become northern Nevada’s most complete destination resort. A stay in one of their rooms offers access to premiere restaurants, headline entertainment, family-friendly activities and endless recreation. With all WUI meetings and exhibits located just off the guest-room elevators, you won’t want to leave this Reno retreat.
The Mayor and Council should look into this and make David See pay every penny of this back to the city. No one should be able to take advantage of the tax payers like this idiot has.
If he doesn't pay it back then maybe Barrie and Gary should. What happened to accountability?
If his trip is over today the 26th then maybe we should give him a welcome home party at the airport. Does anyone know what time his flight is or what the flight number is?
Don't forget to bring your camera's.
12:55 and eggs
Travel is cancelled most everywhere, I checked with severial departments. BUT not Salisbury, oh no ! And, whats worse, to send the chief thats retiring, how darn stupid can one be. If this happened anywhere else, he would have to replay it!
This is not how i want the city run. I don't want some blogger getting information that confidential from an elected official who we should be able to trust!
There is alot of waste at the tax payers expence, I'm sure there has been others that had a vacation on us. With the economy as it is there should be limited traveling and spending of tax payers money.
lets not talk about trust 4:20
Anonymous 11:27
Oh I get it. Thats when someone throws out a cigarette and a vacant 15k sq. ft. lot catches on fire. OK.
If it's only 15 sq.ft., he could just drop his fat ass on it and snuff it out.
But yet the city can't put lights on their police cars...
Joe, long post, just thought you would like to see an honest public figure. Proud member OCFD
By Bryan Russo, Staff Writer
Originally published March 27, 2009
OCEAN CITY – Chris Larmore has had quite a year as the chief of the newly merged Ocean City Fire Department, and he’s got much more to show for it than just the $1 he made in salary.
Larmore, the appointed figurehead of the merged volunteer and career fire department, has gone through a year of scrutiny, controversy and seemingly, has had his every move under constant watch by some since taking the reins and trying to move the fire department out of the turmoil and into the future.
In an interview with The Dispatch on Wednesday, Larmore says despite all that has happened in the past year, the task is very simple.
“The fire service has always been based on trust and honesty and if you tell the truth and aren’t shy about reaching out for help, a lot of the good people come to the front and that’s what I’ve been seeing a lot of in the last six to eight months,” said Larmore. “Ask good people to do a job, and what you get in return is really good work. That’s the basis of it all.”
Larmore could be deemed one of the biggest bargains in Ocean City history as he opted to be paid $1 for his service as chief of the fire department, even though his position would easily pay over $100,000 and has worked tirelessly since that appointment (60-80 hour weeks on average) to make the “ship” run in a more efficient manner.
“Right now, you could not put a dollar amount on the satisfaction I get from seeing this work,” said Larmore. “Does it cost me a lot of money? Of course, but it wouldn’t be more efficient to the city at this time, and I’ve always been taught to work as many hours as it takes to get the job done.”
For the record, Larmore gets paid one check on the first pay period of the fiscal year (July 11 last year), of which 15 cents is taken out for taxes, but he does receive medical benefits as a town employee, even though he pays his 10-percent pay-in share out of his own pocket rather than have it deducted from his earnings.
The question of “how can he afford to work a full-time job for $1” is something that has perplexed many since he took the job, but it’s what he’s done thus far that has more people standing up and taking notice.
Larmore said that after working for developer and mentor Jack Burbage, he saved enough money to live on though he claims he is in no way, “independently wealthy” and that coupled with the one house he builds a year, sustains his earnings and enables him to do his task for his aforementioned and almost charitable salary.
With all that said, Larmore has concentrated on creating a new cohesion in the merged volunteer and career divisions, but the recent economic situation has been equally as challenging.
“What went from my highest priority, being how to best merge the two departments to one, became how do you provide the same service with a reduced budget,” said Larmore. “A lot of our decisions right now unfortunately, have to do with operating to the greatest efficiency under strict budget constraints.”
Over the course of four months last year, the big story was the fire department controversy that loomed at City Hall, as the council tried to figure out the future for Ocean City’s 100-year-old public safety group, and everyone involved continues to call the situation one of the toughest they’ve ever dealt with, and Larmore is no exception to that.
“It was a very painful process for everyone,” said Larmore. “I’ve had people joke to me about the amount of hair that I lost and what remained turned gray, so in hindsight, it was a very long four or five months not only to me, but for everybody.”
The chief said that once the Mayor and City Council made the final decision and firmed up the new direction, it enabled everyone to focus on the job at hand rather than all the turmoil that was created during the controversy.
“It seems like it was 10 years ago, but it was a very traumatic time for everyone on the volunteer and the career side because people are very apprehensive of the unknown,” said Larmore.
One memorable exchange during the controversy was the volunteer contingent of the fire department, of which Larmore was the chief, essentially threatening to leave town and go to West Ocean City. Larmore said that there was a huge misconception that the tactic or the claim was in any way a power move.
“It was not a ploy or a threat to leave town for the volunteers, it was really that they were offered no other alternative in terms of involvement and they didn’t feel as though they were appreciated. I’d like to think that it was a misunderstanding, and that’s all behind us now,” he said.
Since the merger, Larmore has come before the Mayor and Council on a monthly basis asking for new things, such as improvements to Station 4, new equipment for paramedic rescue workers, two new fire engines (which will be delivered in the next few months) and has in all cases, preached improved efficiency in the new department; the biggest example of that being the new internal promotional ranking structure for the career division.
“The beauty of these promotions is that I will now have five more people at the table helping me to manage the department and because they are now management they don’t qualify for overtime,” he said. “We are going to be getting the best of these people at their regular salary, that’s why we were able to present to the council that we would be actually saving money in our budget.”
In talking to Larmore, you get a sense that rather than try to keep all the power that he has in this situation and perhaps increase it, he is instead trying to make moves to improve efficiency and delegate the tasks to other members in the department, which might mean that he isn’t planning on making $1 a year in this position forever.
“I firmly believe, and it’s more of a gut feeling, that one of the gentlemen that you see appointed with these promotions will eventually be the next fire chief because they are that good,” said Larmore, “but I’m fully prepared to do this job until I believe that we are the best combination fire service in the United States, and then I will step down, unless the council asks me to prior to that.”
So in the 10 months that has followed since the fire department controversy, Larmore has the merged department working under a new symbol, better equipment, more efficient tactics, but the same old work ethic and level of service to the town of Ocean City, but the biggest achievement may be the unity that he has at the very least partially instilled in a department that was bitterly divided less than a year ago.
Yet, he knows that one year or a few forward steps will not make everyone happy or forget all that has transpired.
“Human nature is still going to have a level of pain and remembrance of what we went through, and we just have to keep pushing to look at the positive, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said.
Why didn't he take Gordo with him. Maybe they would have decided to stay there, or better yet, some stupid sucker could have offered them a job in Mexico or somewhere. See Seniour.
Ireton, replace Hoppes too. I am sure there is a job at Station 16 cleaning the 12 bathrooms. If he doesn't want that job, SEE ya Later!!!!!
Anonymous said...
Why didn't he take Gordo with him. Maybe they would have decided to stay there, or better yet, some stupid sucker could have offered them a job in Mexico or somewhere. See Seniour.
Ireton, replace Hoppes too. I am sure there is a job at Station 16 cleaning the 12 bathrooms. If he doesn't want that job, SEE ya Later!!!!!
3:44 PM
This is exactly what I was thinking. I am a career firefighter and nothing would make the majority of us more happy than seeing Fatso Hoppes leave also.
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