HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008 05 27 Reports Commissioner MillerDate: May 27, 2008
The following document was mentioned for the
Record by Commissioner Robert S. Miller
during "Reports" held during the May 27, 2008
City Commission Special Meeting.
May 18, 2008
SUBJECT: Fire Department Turnover, What are the facts?
TO: Winter Springs Mayor, Commission, City Manager and Attorney
Some of you may recall I was publicly dressed-down by the City's Fire Department Union leader
Mr. Jeff McCall at the City Commission meeting of Apri128, 2008. Mr. McCall pointed out that
under my tenure the City Fire Department of Winter Springs had suffered high attrition rates
which he attributed to a host of issues I may have created such as poor pay, benefits and such.
Mr. McCall inferred from this that had I (and I suppose others on this Commission) matched
salaries and benefits of Oviedo -that Winter Springs residents would not have incurred a
$750,000 loss in lost training for these people who left.
In the past few weeks I have checked with other cities in Seminole County to learn why our fire
department personnel turnover has been so high. What I learned is that
Why Mr. McCall deliberately chose to use the attrition rate to convince this Commission and the
large audience listening that night, that better pay and benefits would seriously improve the loss
of experienced personnel in Winter Springs, I cannot say. The truth is that his entire argument is
specious and I think Mr. McCall knows this. If not then it should be useful information for his
Union membership. Mr. MrCall did not bother to tell us that Oviedo's turnover in the last decade
has in fact been much higher than ours, only that they have the best pay and benefits in the
county and we should try to match that.
The truth is that Winter Springs loss rate for the last decade based on total attrition, which is the
number Union Leader McCall chose to publicly introduce on April 28, 2008, constitutes a 73
percent rate for the last decade. Oviedo's for the same period was 84 percent and Casselberry's
143 percent. The fact is that both of these departments are good departments, and on a par with
those of Winter Springs regarding level of service.
The fact is that all cities lose firemen and EMS personnel for a wide variety of reasons basically
unrelated to Mr. McCall's challenge April 28, 2008. Following is a loss ranking for Seminole
County cities and the county itself for the past decade:
Casselberry 143 percent
Oviedo 84 percent
Winter Springs 73 percent
Sanford 68 percent
Seminole County 51 percent
Longwood 45 percent
Lake Mary 38 percent
All of the above departments have excellent levels of service equivalent to our, so what is Union
leader McCall's point? In such times as these Mr. McCall needs to be mindful of the manner in
is bandied about in public forums -especially that which serves no useful
other than to mislead everyone.
\~`
L ~~
Robert S.
Commissioner, District One