Supporting Green Bay’s firefighters and emergency services

Balancing a city budget means making difficult choices about services people depend on. Every department has needs, and the money available in any given year has limits. A mayor has to weigh those needs and make decisions that people will sometimes disagree with.

Sometimes a difficult budget decision gets taken as evidence that you don’t support a department or the people who work there. I believe support should be judged over time, including the investments you recommend, the improvements you pursue and the work you help get done.

I support Green Bay’s firefighters, EMTs and paramedics. During my sixteen years as mayor, that support included additional ambulance staffing, better protective equipment, pay increases and proposals for improved facilities.

The record includes work accomplished with the City Council, department leadership and our firefighters, along with proposals I publicly backed. The record has many, but here are just a few examples, with links to the sources.

1. Additional paramedics for Station 7, 2017 and 2018.
   The department added two paramedics in each year, four altogether, to staff two of the ambulance’s three shifts. Its annual report documented improving response times, and the city’s financial report specifically credited support from the mayor. My 2018 budget letter also identified adding two firefighters to the east side as a priority.

   Sources: City financial report, PDF page 182; Fire Department annual report, page 2; 2018 budget letter, PDF page 3.

2. Additional pay funding for fire personnel in the proposed 2017 budget.
   My proposal included a $452,000 increase for fire-department staff pay. I supported ways to help attract and retain city employees, including our police and fire personnel.

   Sources: WTAQ reporting, October 19, 2016; follow-up reporting, October 20, 2016.

3. Backing the full fire equipment request in my 2015 recommendation.
   I recommended the department’s full $392,840 request. It included forty sets of protective clothing, fourteen breathing-apparatus and rescue packs, two cardiac monitors/defibrillators, a powered ambulance cot, and equipment to wash and dry firefighters’ protective gear.

   Source: 2015 City budget, printed pages 103–104.

4. Protective and emergency medical equipment in 2016.
   My administration’s $307,890 fire equipment recommendation was adopted. It included $66,360 for protective clothing, $72,800 for breathing equipment, $65,895 for a cardiac monitor, $11,000 for thermal-imaging cameras and $18,000 toward the fireboat.

   Source: 2016 City budget, printed pages 122–124.

5. Protective clothing and ambulance-loading equipment in 2017.
   The adopted budget included my administration’s $124,180 fire equipment recommendation. That provided $75,440 for protective clothing, $12,600 for ambulance ramps for bariatric patients, $10,000 for fitness equipment and maintenance, and $18,000 toward the fireboat.

   Source: 2017 City budget, printed pages 109–110.

6. Another fire equipment proposal in 2018.
   My administration proposed $151,820 for fire equipment: $103,220 for replacements and $48,600 for new equipment. Those amounts appear in the department/mayor recommendation column of the city budget.

   Source: 2018 City budget, printed page 110.

7. A proposed new public-safety building.
   In 2016, I supported a proposed $34.4 million to $38 million facility for police headquarters and fire administration. I publicly backed financing it over twenty years because it would serve the city for decades.

   Source: WTAQ/WLUK reporting, December 14, 2016.

8. Financing a fire truck in 2004.
   Early in my first term, I asked the Finance Committee to consider financing a fire truck purchase of approximately $530,000. The committee supported that approach. The minutes document my request and the discussion about paying for equipment that would serve residents for many years.

   Source: August 10, 2004 Finance Committee minutes, item 8.

9. The Green Bay and Allouez fire-service merger.
   I supported the agreement that created the Green Bay Metro Fire Department in 2012. The department’s history describes the merger as an operational success that provided budget relief and brought an additional ambulance into Green Bay’s department, raising its on-duty advanced-life-support ambulances to five. This took cooperation between both municipalities, department staff and bargaining units.

   Sources: Wisconsin Public Radio, November 21, 2012; official department yearbook, printed pages 74–75.

10. Training that would keep firefighters at their stations.
    I announced a department-wide videoconferencing system. Firefighters would be able to take live, interactive training at their assigned stations, keeping them available to respond to calls while improving communication among officers.

    Source: 2006 State of the City address.

11. A recurring neighborhood smoke-alarm campaign.
    That same year, I announced a program for firefighters to check smoke alarms, replace batteries and install missing alarms using community donations. The plan called for visits in a neighborhood each spring and fall, beginning in an area with a high number of residential fires.

    Source: 2006 State of the City address, smoke-alarm campaign.

12. Fire-prevention education in our schools.
    I also announced a partnership between the Fire Department, Green Bay schools and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to deliver fire and injury-prevention education in elementary schools. The plan included department personnel and educational resources supporting the instruction.

    Source: 2006 State of the City address, school partnership.

13. Wisconsin’s first ISO Class 1 fire-protection rating.
    During my administration, Green Bay became the first city in Wisconsin to achieve this rating in 2015. The evaluation covered staffing, training, prevention, water supply and communications. The department’s professionals and the people supporting that work earned the recognition, and they deserve the credit.

    Source: City financial report, Fire Department narrative, PDF page 182.

These examples give residents something concrete to examine when considering my support for the men and women who provide fire protection and emergency medical care in Green Bay.

For more of the work completed during my time as mayor, visit The Green Bay Record. You can search by project, year or area of city work and follow the links to the public sources behind each entry.