"Joe I hope that your house doesn't catch on fire or that you'll need Salisbury's fire Dept.'s help one day. Why must everyone bash the fire dept? Some of you have no idea what these men and women have been through. And most of them are volunteers. So when your sleeping sound in your bed at 3 in the morning. When the pager goes off your not the one responding. Your not the one out in the cold or the heat for hours. Just so that when you finally get home you have an hour before you have to go to work."
While MOST of this is true, I'll keep this for my records just in case one of my properties does catch on fire and it's not taken care of properly. What saddens me the most about a comment like this is the fact that YOU place a CONDITION to the service provided.
I guess if I were to donate a bunch of money I'd be taken care of better than those who oppose fishing trips or hey, let's even mention the $2,000.00 per Station by the Volunteers Funds to pay for Chief See's Retirement Party. All of which they even have the nerve to charge you something like $37.00 per person to get in too!
Let me state this as well. Folks, messages like this come from a very select few. You can probably recognize them in the video. The rest of the Volunteers are in fact great people. That being said, it doesn't matter what ANY of them think, what was done with the money for a fishing trip was, (IMO) wrong. I can guarantee you that a good 95% of the Volunteers would agree with me.
I have heard all sorts of different numbers, 5 to 8 people on the boat. That leaves out more than 100 other Volunteers that former Chief See hated anyway. Your statement above would make a LOT of sense if ALL were treated equally but that is NOT the case. I guess what you're saying is, only a select few Volunteers wake up at 3 AM to provide a service in the hot and cold and that's why this select few were chosen to have a party.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
29 comments:
Coast Guard regulations limit the number of anglers on that type of boat to 6 when it is a paid charter. Captain, mate, and 6 anglers total 8 on the boat.
Anon 1:27 PM could you really tell what "type of boat" that was?
Anon 2:01 if he is the boat captain I think it is, yes he can.
Now for these whining cry babies that think the city and county owe them fishing trips, parties or anything NONE OF US ASKED YOU TO VOLUNTEER. YOU went out and volunteered to fight fires. YOU did not volunteer to go fishing at taxpayers expense. So stuff that bs that you spew everytime something within the SFD is uncovered. WE the taxpayers owe you nothing.
It was let out of the bag after the fact that this "trip" was to be a team building thing between the volunteers and career. I havent talked to a career member yet that was invited.
You'd think that those volleys who weren't invited to participate would be ticked off about it....I would be. It seems like it was a perk for the higher ups, or for the fav's of them.
What's up with these firemen being taken advantage of and then defending those bullies who cheat THEIR system...???? Strange.
Like that retirement party. If the volleys were required to contribute they ALL should be invited to attend. And NOT for any additional money.
It just doesn't seem right.
Regardless of the reasoning, please, please, please, PLEASE do not have this blog denigrate once again into a "the SFD sucks and here is why" pissing match like it did with your gripe against Wayne Barral. It took months for the blog to recover from it, and longer for me to begin reading it again.
anonymous 2:49, you have my word. I'm not going there.
Just an FYI... MOST charter boats are coast guard regulated to only allow 6 passengers. However, this boat is an inspected boat making it's limit 12-14. While I feel that fishing is a great activity and a wonderful incentive and reward for those that work hard to keep us safe, I do wonder where exactly the money came from and how did they decide who got to go (to make it fair, where names drawn from a hat??) Just my thoughts.
It has been tossed out that this so called funding came from the Lacey Fund which is handled by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore located on Belmont Avenue in Salisbury. If this is the case this money was left in a will to the Salisbury Fire Department. I am sure this person that willed this money to the fire department thought the money would be used responsibly and not on landish chartered fishing trips.
Why were only a select few allowed to attend this fishing trip? If it was a "reward" for such hard work the volunteers do than why was David See on the boat? David See hated the volunteers and dropped the F bomb on them every chance he got.
Now looking at the city charter as prescribed below it appears that the "Fire Chief" is in violation of the city code and this does need to be addressed by the Mayor and City Council.
http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/Portals/0/CityCodes/MD%20Salisbury%20T02.pdf
Title 2
ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL
2.16 Fire Department
F. Duties and Responsibilities of the Fire Chief. The fire chief shall have general command, control and supervision of all emergency services. Without limiting the scope of the foregoing sentence, the fire chief shall:
5. Ensure that no fire department resources are used for the personal gain of individuals, or public or private corporations or other entities;
No matter what the "funding" source I betting this is a violation of fire department resources. This is definitely a scandal and thank you Mr. Albero for bringing it to the attention of the tax paying citizens.
This is definitely corruption in the fire department and someone needs to be held accountable.
Mayor Ireton I know you read this blog so please do your job.
I will.
Just have the guys that went put the money back, dont do it anymore unless every volunteer can go. Better yet spend it on what the people that donated it thought you would spend it on. "Pay it Back".
2:44
I dont think they should be ticked. I think they should hold their heads high that they did not go on the trip and waste money. THEY ARE the smart ones.
No, the privileged few need to go. Team building, my a$$. If these guys can't "team build" without a fishing junket using my donations, then they aren't adult enough to run into a burning building and save anyone or anything.
As for the commenter's "poor them" pity party, you don't know what I have been through, so don't lord it over me. I've faced down more life-threatening situations than any of the fishermen have. Including a gun in my face.
Rick Pollitt and Jim Ireton need to work together and find out who's who and what's what in this b.s. and kick them off the "team."
David See has more enemies within SFD than he has friends. He will go down in the history of SFD as being the worst Fire Chief and leader that the City has ever had. Of course Gordy has contributed to the downfall of his admistration. He just wasn't smart enough to see what was going on. Gordy as always stabbed his way to the top, and this is no different.
I'm a volunteer and I think it was very wasteful spending along. However, it was not Chief See nor Chief Gordy, nor Chief Hoppes' doing. The volunteers at station 16 brought it up at their meeting and voted to do it. Some agreed and some disagreed. The people agreeing outnumbered the others.
anonymous 4:28, prove it. Show us the minutes from the meeting.
While I truly doubt this to be true it really doesn't matter. A 501 (c) 3 has to be run by the law. Asking and receiving donations while implying the funds are for equipment and life saving items does NOT include a $5,000.00 luxury fishing trip, sorry.
By the way, many have been asking if this was during the White Marlin Tournament?????
Joe the video starts off saying on July 28, 2009 14 brave anglers...If that is the case then your answer is no. Good question though.
http://www.whitemarlinopen.com/tournament-dates
Tournament Dates
The 2009 White Marlin Open will be held from August 3 through 7 in Ocean City, Maryland.
I hope 3:17 is Mayor Ireton and he produces the positive results.
I an many others want to know who the 6, 8, or 14 so called anglers are. Could someone please clue us in?
One thing that was omitted in the 3:01 PM post was the fact that the Lacey Fund ran by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore is worth well over a Million Dollars and the 3 volunteer stations divvy up the interest with oversight from the fire chief and the volunteer board. Apparently the board has been dissolved and the oversight is in the hand of the fire chief and/or the volunteer deputy chief which happens to be Hoppes and Gordy.
If the Salisbury Fire Department is worth over a Million Dollars then why are the city and county taxpayers paying for all this new equipment and toys as Bubba puts it?
5:41
Simple, why send theirs when they can spend ours.
Hey Joe, how about you meet me somewhere in public and I'll readjust that attitude for you? No bullshit like you tricking Wayne Barrall into coming to your house, then you hiding and crying and pressing charges. Just you and me settling some scores? The winner gets this blog, which means your hobby is history.
How about it tough guy? You're so quick to call people pussies, let's see you man up. Not a threat, just an invitation to see how tough you really are. Then you can run to your favorite DWI & Handgun DA and see cry how a Salisbury firefighter beat your ass!
"I guess if I were to donate a bunch of money..." That's exactly the theory behind businesses that provide public servents, especially cops, discounted food and products. It's human psychology that if you take care of me, I'll take care of you. Business owners know if they hand out their products discount, the cops will flock to their establishment providing the business almost constant security, while the business that pays its taxes but doesn't discount its product does not. So Mr. Albero, you are either for the taxes paid being sufficient for all to obtain the same level of service from the police and fire, or you're for shops getting extra attention simply because they discount a sandwich. It's nothing more than graft and why it's against departmental policy in all progressive agencies.
Mostly this site tends to actually help bring some well-needed accountability around here. I've never seen so many "adults" take advantage of employers, bosses, coworkers and friends in my life. People who are supposed to be leaders and set an example are milking the system and screwing the real workers in the process. My local workplace has the same problems, NO ACCOUNTABILITY. Pay cuts, poor treatment & managers doing whatever they want etc. All the while the higher-ups tell us we need to take these pay cuts to survive and then they are paying $120k plus for newer versions of what we already have. Is there any integrity around here?????
So…I sit here and read this Blog, seeing a lot of people out there wanting a lot of change and doing a lot of complaining about your Fire Departments (Paid and Volunteer). However it seems that nobody is willing to do any thing about it but complain.
You know it is very easy to sit on this Blog and complain about the way a fire dept. is run by the people who are elected or appointed to be in those decision making seats. However if you do not like the decisions made Get out of your chair from behind your computer go out in your community and volunteer in your local fire dept and make a difference and change the way things are done. i.e.. MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Oh yea that’s rite you cant the good ole boy network…right. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. The good ole boy network is the way it is because nothing different is ever taught. There is no leadership-some one to step up to the plate to GET-R-DONE.
But by reading this Blog it seems that there are a lot of people (tax payers) that are doing a lot of talking about change but from reading this Blog I see none of you doing so. So from the outside looking in it just seems to me and i'm sure a lot more people out here doing the same thing (looking in from the outside), that its just a bunch of people looking to blow off steam or stir the pot.
Signed. “Not my money not my problem”
wow my comment made the front page. - Hawns
J Pritchens, SFD 1:
The last thing you do in a situation like this is represent your FD by threatening to assault a blog owner. Not how after you made your threat, not a single poster addressed it. The reason: it is a simple-minded animalistic response to lash out when your rhetorical skills fail you.
And do not threaten people. You never know who they really are until you pick a fight or back them in a corner. This from a three-deployment combat veteran - not a person who will cower from a firefighter.
5:41
Simple, why send theirs when they can spend ours.
7:56 PM
Anonymous J Pritchens, SFD 1 said...
Hey Joe, how about you meet me somewhere in public and I'll readjust that attitude for you? No bullshit like you tricking Wayne Barrall into coming to your house, then you hiding and crying and pressing charges. Just you and me settling some scores? The winner gets this blog, which means your hobby is history.
How about it tough guy? You're so quick to call people pussies, let's see you man up. Not a threat, just an invitation to see how tough you really are. Then you can run to your favorite DWI & Handgun DA and see cry how a Salisbury firefighter beat your ass!
8:33 PM
If this is a real fireman from the Salisbury Fire Department making these threats then his future with the city should be addressed and handled accordingly.
Mr. Ireton, again are you reading this blog??
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