With all the talk about Mayor Jim Ireton NOT hiring a new Fire Chief, let this Post serve as an open forum for Salisbury Firefighters to speak their peace anonymously.
Let the Citizens know how you feel. Many are clueless to the multiple interviews and expenses of such. Many are not aware of just how low morale is within the Fire department, or is it?
Fire away Ladies & Gentlemen. Who do YOU want to be your next Fire Chief?
60 comments:
Instead of having positions like this appointed how about we have an election. It has always worked for the position of sheriff. Are there many people disappointed with Mike Lewis? No!
chief webster would bring whats needed to the fire dept.
What a slap in the face it is to the current acting chief. Your ok to be the deputy chief but not good enough to be the chief. So much for your bull shit paramilitary organazation you claim to have.
Elections are coming, maybe the next mayor will have the balls to pick a fire chief.
When Drew Bragg is Fire Chief he will set you all straight.
Whats the point? Leadership within the department is a joke. On an emergency scene a fire fighter cusses his Lt, the Lt writes the ff up and the AC wont allow the ff to be wrote up because the ffs father may get upset. Do what you want to do.
Have to assume this is not a news item but just more whining on behalf of the few over paid, under worked, cry baby career guys. They get so much press here I wonder if someone is a fireman wanna be?
John Tull for Fire Chief!!!!
1:47 YES there are !
Bring Higgins back.
Salisbury needs a new mayor and all new administration at the fire dept.What is there now is taking the city down a dark,oneway alley with no return.Larry Dodd would be the man for fire chief and I think he would clean house and put the right people in place!
Mayor Ireton needs to appoint a fire chief that shares his vision for a six month period like he has done in the police department.In addition the chief should not speak to the media unless Boss Ireton appoves it.
Dodd's not popular enough. Ireton is doing selection by poplarity contest.
Ireton was endorsed by the local but he puts forward Bernie Becker twice! Becker sued his local and lost!!!! And now Becker's been crowing in the Daily Times how much he wants the job.
WTF? Becker got turned down by other places but Ireton keeps bringing him here on our dime? What a slap in the face to the local what supported him.
Look deep enough and you'll find Becker connected to See and Gordy. What went on at those trips to Ohio, Bill? A crowning in the making?
Ireton has screwed this department. Dodd isn't ideal, but he would clean house and that alone would help morale a lot rather than getting screwed on shifts by Rick Hopeless and keeping the Gordy BrownNosers blowing the vollies money and treating everybody like servants.
Until Volunteer Deputy Chief Gordy is gone...the fire dept. will not be ran correctly.
1:56 not only that but the city is advertising for a Police Chief. I saw the announcement outside the city's human resource office this morning. so now we also have a "acting" police chief that isn't good enough for our girlyboy mayor and we STILL don't have a dam fire chief. But not to worry, afterall - we are an "all american city". that is the biggest joke since Tilghman was elected.
Anonymous said...
What a slap in the face it is to the current acting chief. Your ok to be the deputy chief but not good enough to be the chief. So much for your bull shit paramilitary organazation you claim to have.
Elections are coming, maybe the next mayor will have the balls to pick a fire chief.
1:56 PM
It is not a slap in the face to the current acting fire chief. He was put in that position based on a recommendation from John Pick. Pick doesn't know anything about running a city much less a fire department. It didn't take Ireton long to realize Hoppes isn't the many for the position but he doesn't have the nads to make a change. He is scared to death of Bill Gordy and Rick Hoppes. For your information Rick Hoppes is not even qualified to be a Lieutenant. He is the laziest person the fire department has ever employed and found his way to the top by kissing a$$. Hoppes should take it like a man and step down. He wants to be the chief so bad because he has Little D&*K Syndrome and gets off on writing people up and firing them. That punk should have become a cop so he could have that authority, but he was to obese to pass the written exam. Hoppes needs to go.
If larry Dodd is made chief it will be a disaster!!!!! Instead of talking to the firefighters about him ask other agencies he has had to work with. State fire marshalls office thinks he is a joke, staff at the hospital can't stand him, he was even suspended of his teaching duties. This man has 0 leadership qualities and is 100% politician.
Elect Andy LeCates!!!
I hope you guy's enjoy your new toy thats coming next year.AC Records and Gordy manhandled the volunteers the other night and got them to pay for a 350,000.00 dollar tanker.Becker for chief
4:01, you got one thing VERY right. Dodd is 100% politician. When the County Council didn't work out for him he now has his nose stuck into the WCBOE. He talks a big game, but if you REALLY knew him you would know that most of what he tells you about himself is all lies or gross exagerations. If you think he would be a good choice people you either 1) just don't know him very well or 2) believe the politician bull crap he spews. Beware Fire Dept. Dodd could be your downfall.
I Vote for "David Merritt" he wouldnt be pushed around by NOBODY!
I heard he has gotten alot of money for PAVFC...he knows how to build ambulances and firetrucks.
He was the IT man, an awesome MFRI instructor, (anal) sometimes...great paramedic!! And does not take any BS from anyone..He would stand by career/volunteers whether they are right or wrong and wont hang them out to dry!
3:38 You are right when you say Hoppes is lazy-----always has been!!! I can't believe he is in this position----there are no leadership qualities there. I hope who ever gets in there "Cleans Up" the mess that's been created. This Entire Town Is in Shambles when it comes to our leaders!!!!!
Somehow some way the city must convince Gordo to stop volunteering his services! The city simply cannot afford to have his free labor around any longer.
Please please please stop volunteering your services.
Joe why don't you run a poll on who wishes Gordo would stop volunteering? That poll would tell the story
C. Roberts for da chief! oh wait he got fired too..
To the few individuals that have nothing nice to say about Mr. Dodd why don't you sign your name and state the facts! Because you are a coward and you are a typical back stabbing good ole boy. Don't be a coward all your life. And while you are signing your name please state your qualifications and cite your sources for your lies.
Looks to me that 4:01 PM and 4:29 PM is running scared for some reason. What do you have to hide? What are you worried about. LMAO at the anonymous miscreants who doesn't have the courage to say something to someones face or identify themselves.
Speaking of poor leadership Rick Hoppes' choice as Acting Deputy Fire Chief was at his favorite local watering hole looking for a fight with some of the city's employees. I was there and saw it happen. Acting Chief John "Dru" Bragg told a firefighter that he was paying his bill and if he had something to say to him to meet him in the parking lot. This is a true story and everyone knows it. Barney Bad A$$ was picking a fight with one of the employees at the "Turtle." This is the kind of Hostile Work Environment that many of the good employees of the Salisbury Fire Department has to deal with because of Hoppes, Gordy and Bragg.
Mayor Ireton you need to replace these clowns now. If you don't believe this happened then ask the City Clerk!
3:28 pm- as the spouse of a firefighter that works hard, long, and exhausting hours, I'm offended.
Having EMS and fire services readily available is similar to insurance in that, you hope that you never need it, but if you do need it, you want it readily available. I don't see fire fighters constantly complaining- personally, I think they've done pretty well with such a lack of leadership.
I don't know who would be the best chief. What I can say is that until you have a long-term chief, not just an acting chief, in the position, there isn't going to be change. That old phrase "the fish rots from the head" rings true here. People are spending so much time criticizing the paid firefighters and the vollies- but it seems that there is a lack of leadership in the fire department. You can't blame that on anyone but the Mayor.
People say that Hoppes isn't qualified to be chief- I don't know if he is or isn't. But if he isn't, then what do you really expect when you allow someone to have an acting position this long???
I'm completely underwhelmed by our Mayor- I don't see anything that he's managed to do to improve this area. For all of her faults, Tilghman did at least get things done. If this were a private sector job, Mayor Ireton would have been fired a LONG time ago- or at least substantially demoted...
I would love to see Bobby or Wayne become chief.They could clean house and then the three at the top of the ladder could come down as fast as they went up.Maybe bring See back and let him take the dept on down the tube.Joe Public get involved here and see what a disaster this fire dept.is in
I will take Larry Dodd over Hoppes or any of the other candidates any day. The few negative comments people are saying on here about him is nothing more than fabricated lies. This is not an election where the opposition has to spew dirty politics to get their person in office. The good ole boy system is still at work in that department which is obvious.
I'd take Merritt. Has he got a degree? Has he ever applied?
Anybody but Hoppes or any of his Ass.... buddies.
I dont think he has a degree but he has common sense & everything else possible. I heard a rumor he was going to put in but can not confirm...That would be sweet...he always kept the morning meetings interesting...he would do anything for you...he could get this place back in shape. I think the Career & Vollies could agree on him..
What do you think Joe? About Merritt? You always have something to say about it?
You want to know what I think. OK, here's what I think. If there's ANY man/woman in the SFD that could turn that place around, inclusing morale, it's Bryan Records.
Dave is a great man but I highly doubt he'd come back to the SFD. That would be kind of like asking my Wife to come back to the Zoo, not a chance.
Once you break away from the City and realize you can actually be truly appreciated, there's no turning back.
Records is an honorable man. Unfortunately, Bryan can't stand the politics of it all and is smart enough to stay away. He serves the City with honor and dignity, yet See & Gordy treat hime like crap, IMHO.
I already said, IF the City really wanted to clean house and do things right they'd hire Larry Dodd. Ireton feels threatened by him, so that probably won't happen. It's a real shame because the BS artists in the SFD would be gone in a blink of an eye and that's why everyone rallied against Dodd because they knew they'd be gone in an instant.
That's right, some are not willing to WORK for a living and many would like to coast behind the Gordy BS. I've never seen more A$$ kissers in my life in one place. Little men driving big trucks. They'd screw their best friend's wife in a New York second. Some might even get their A$$ kicked and claim they fell over onto a coffee table for doing so. More drama than I'd ever want to be in charge of, that's for sure.
Then again, they could hire a guy with sexual harassment charges against him and keep me busy for the next 10 years. So it really doesn't matter to me. One way or the other the SFD will be in the news for a long time coming.
In the mean time you can all scratch your eyeballs out and fight to the death. No matter who gets in there, none of you will be happy. The first comment to this post has it perfectly correct. It should be a position just like Sheriff Mike Lewis. Every 4 years they go up for election and let the citizens vote for whomever they want. At least that way the Chief would never get too comfortable and will always be on their toes.
You asked, I answered. Don't hate me just because I'm so handsome.
4:29 I just checked the job description from the city and I must have missed something. No where in there did it say you had to be "liked" by anyone. That ignorant comment leads me to believe you are part of the current good ole boy administration. Something they are trying to get rid of now. So who could it be Hoppes, Gordy, Gladwell,etc?? Oh, in case you haven't noticed yet you guys aren't liked by anyone but yourselves. Get over it and quit trying to block a deserving and qualified candidate for fire chief.
First we need to rid Salisbury of the Mayor(the one who promised change)....the only change from him has come out of his pocket. Next we need to rid Salisbury of three city council members....the President, Vice President and the bobblehead lady. When that is accomplished then perhaps we can have a real appointed police chief and fire chief. The police have been fortunate enough to obtain some leadership. The fire department on the other hand is still floundering around. Some have been terminated. Some have retired and some are looking for employment elsewhere. Morale? There isn't any. Morale starting hitting the street when David See sat in the "Hot" seat. Hoppes is sitting there because no one else would take the position. No one else wanted the mess Tilghman, Brezler, Gordy and See created. It's been downhill since their reign of terror. You have to have leadership in the government office building if you are going to have leadership anywhere in the city and we don't have that. Larry has my vote simply because he wouldn't have a bobblehead when it came to standing up to the Mayor and he would rid the department of the current top dogs...Hoppes, Bragg and please, oh please....GORDY, SR. and JR. Let's take back our city, our council, police and fire departments. Thanks Joe for the opportunity to speak.
The city needs someone local and Dodd is the best choice. Not only is he local he lives in the city and started out as a volunteer. I don't know why Ireton or Louise Smith didn't support him for fire chief. He supported them during the elections.
Whats the point? Leadership within the department is a joke. On an emergency scene a fire fighter cusses his Lt, the Lt writes the ff up and the AC wont allow the ff to be wrote up because the ffs father may get upset. Do what you want to do.
1:59 PM
Well this has to be Lt Townsend complaining about something that he made up and tried to put on someone else to get them in trouble because he doesnt like them. Well Lt if admin ever gets the gonads to read your training transcript and find out you aint nothing more than FF1 and EMT you should be the one wrote up and suspended. You dont even have the training to drive the apparatus let alone be a Lt and on top of that be the training officer for Station 1. What a joke do this department a favor and leave.
I dont know why any of the canidates that have applied would want to apply again. If Dodd or Hoppes were not good enough to be selected in the 2 processes already held why then they shouldnt be good enough in the process the mayor is doing now.
The problems start with the city government i.e. the mayor and council. You named several good men but they dont want to deal with the disfunctional government. It says alot about a department and city when your own members aren't interested in applying. John Tull tried it and quickly got out because of the B.S. and Gordy. Brian and John think alike so he darn sure wouldn't take it. I dont know who in their right mind would enter into this mess.
Hoppes could be Chief if he separated himself from Gordy and had never selected a pirate as his Deputy. Gordy runs the department just as he did when See was here. Neither have had the balls to tell him to beat it. He's the one who ran Salisbury into the ground with the wild spending and one way rule book. Look at his kid and his antics. Anyone else would have been tossed out long ago. Dont blame Hoppes for the mess. His only mistake was drinking Gordy's koolaid.
Thats right. A firefighter cursed an officer and the Assistant Chief refused to do anything about it. The firefighter is the same person who was thrown out of the cadets four years ago for cursing two officers and throwing a $ 400 pager. He's on probabtion and dumb as a rock. No wonder Salisbury is a laughing stock.
Bryan Records for Chief.
Ricky Rathel for Deputy Chief.
The best description here is "little men driving big trucks." Those little men post all kinds of crap here because they aren't happy with their position in life. Maybe they should stand up in the public and make their compliants known. If it's that bad for them and they have to leave they win both ways. Spoke their mind and are out of a situation they claim is so terrible. Of course maybe they just like to complain like little bitches? Frankly I think peole are getting tired of reading these made up fire department press releases and the subsquent bitch fest.
post 1:59 why dont u get a life and tell the truth.You tell the best lies that the city could ask for . Why dont you get the qualification to be a LT before you go writeing lies on here. Nobody cused you and your just mad you got caught lieing. Your a joke Acting LT Dan
Lt you need to get lost you have caused so many issue in the salisbury firedepartment and you lie so bad. i couldnt stand you when you were at 16 and even more now since i see what your doing to the vollys at station1. somebody needs to take you down.. hopefully some of the upper officers over there like jones or corron will take you down you need to leave.
Joe,My vote is for Larry Dodd.He knows the system and what it will take to bring the dept back to what it should be.He isn't afraid of standing up for what is right and showing those the door who need to take a hike!It will be difficult for anyone to heal the dept after See and Hoppes have destroyed what was established by so many good people.Take a look around other departments in the county and compare them to Salisbury.First there is no mayor and the chief is elected by the people.Most of these depts.work together and are proud of what they have.Wakeup Salisbury!
Thats right. A firefighter cursed an officer and the Assistant Chief refused to do anything about it. The firefighter is the same person who was thrown out of the cadets four years ago for cursing two officers and throwing a $ 400 pager. He's on probabtion and dumb as a rock. No wonder Salisbury is a laughing stock.
Get your facts rite he is not on probation.. And he didnt cus a sorry lame LT
About a Lieutennant not being qualified to hold that position, What the hell ? What happened to the trainning records, Hey SFD admin wake up, if the person is not qualified than you are liable to litigation if someone under his command is injured or killed. You should know this fact, wake up and get rid of that persons rank. Unless it was a ploy to ruin Station 1 vollies, hope they dont let this happen, they have worked too hard building a family to let one bad apple spoil the bunch. It. is time to put out or get out, prove it.
Its a shame that guy got back in and he is alot better than he was before. Some of you just dont like the fact that he is abck well its time to get over it..And certain people well he will be where your at soon enough and be alot better at it. Everybody needs to see that that boy didnt cuss to officers only one and didnt throw a pager he droped it.. So when you go posting please write the rite stuff.. I happen to be on that committee that terminated him and didnt want to but was forced with no option. And now we get to dan well i dont have all day to write but lets say this if he was still at my station he would be gone or suspened i would have found a way to do so. He is a liar and a theif.. He has stole several things that i couldnt prove but know it was him.. Lets date back when he try to lite a house on fire.. Should i say more hell it was FF Bryan Townsands house..And Acting LT Dan is a officers what a great role model for the city.Folks if we dont do something now and sit back and let people like dan pose as emt-i a instructor and more we are gonna get our selfs hurt cus of people like him. We all need to step up.Get the ones that are doing the bad out.. And for the FF that is back from what i understand your doing a excellent since you been back . Keeo it up..
SFD is currently at the lowest point it's ever been since Hoppes and Bragg took over! Every career member I speak with keeps saying they are sick and tired of all the crap. I was fired over one mistake I made in my 14 years of service with the SFD and am now concerned with the possibility of discrimination against Wayne and I. Jeremy Gordy was charged with theft of a motor vehicle, insubordination and tresspassing on state property (along with all the other things he has done) and he was only suspended???? Wayne and I get fired over one poor judgement call? Sounds like big Gordy had something to do with this since both Wayne and I were on the executive board of the local!! hmmmmmmm.. If a career firefighter did what lil gordy did, they would have been terminated on the spot!! This gooes to show you that there is ABSOLUTELY a difference in the volunteer and career divisions in the SFD. I know lots of other things that I'm not gonna get into...YET!!!
Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors. I'm a bit mad!
Have a fantastick day everyone!
Bobby
Salisbury Fire Department has no current employees that need to be Chief.
AC Corran for chief. He cant pass the written test to be a paid man with the sfd but he is good enoough to be your boss as a vollie.
AC Corron was at the right place at the right time.Big Gordo needed a puppet and bingo Corron won the prize.Corron fits in well with the three stooges.He is loved by all at his place of employment and is really good with leadership.Maybe four stooges!!!
Wow only 54 comments! I guess since the last post about shift change and Joe didn't care or support the paid guy's.Now we know who has been posting on here!Local 4246
Its the same old lines everytime. Dodd and Records for Chief. Dodd will clean house and Records will bring the morale up. Well, Records doesnt want it and never has. If Dodd gets it there wont be anybody left to clean house on and there will be a war. Everyone will be taking shots at him, because he's hated by prcticly everyone in Salisbury. Please spare us and dont mention them again.
The morale cant get any lower thanks to Gordy, See, Hoppes and the pirate. Salisbury is too far gone for Bernie, Tull or JC himself to fix. Gordys kid gets away with murder and laughs at a suspension. A paid man forgets to empty the trash and hes fired. Gordo just ignores his antics and looks the other way. This is how he was raised so nothings changed. A juvenile delinquent with a white front. Salisbury is in hock for the next 20 years because Gordo put'em there with his fire palace and toys. There is no hope for Salisbury until Gordy, Hoppes and Bragg are gone.
The firefighter in question has the mentality of a fourth grader and a hair trigger temper. Typical pick up posie member with a degree in Red Neck.
It's time for the city to hire someone from a real department. The Brezler decision was a good one, he just let those that had worked to run Higgins out of town influence what he did and then when things started going south they bailed on him. The department needs a cleansing from the top down and no one who is there now can do that.
Chief Becker has worked in this environment before and has done an outstanding job gaining FD, political, and citizen support. In fact, he has a number of supporters through-out the United States! Great guy!
So Joe, have you heard about the new hires in SFD? The dept. is down 7 Paramedics and hired "1" Paramedic and "3" EMT-B's. What is going on here? Do some investigating.
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