Northwest Indiana Discussion

Which group is worse, the Hammond FD members who choose not to live in Hammond or those landlords who don't live in Hammond? What if one of those evil landlords was also a Hammond FD member?

Every couple of months, the local courts are a rogue's gallery of local Democratic officials who have concentrated more on lining their pockets than on serving their constituents. The northern cities have been decaying for decades. Why has it taken so long for Hammond's "leaders" to get on the stick and start pretending to do their jobs? What is the city going to do with the derelicts that populate its decrepit buildings once they are torn down?

Where is the concrete evidence that requiring public employees to live in the cities in which they work? Its not a bad idea, but obviously 70% of Hammond's reluctant hero firefighting force is not awed by baseball fields, little league tournaments, College Bound bribe money, a golf course, a casino, and sta-a-a-a-a-y--cations! If you can't attract municipal employees to your city or town, what makes you think better educated, more productive people will give it a second glance?

I recall hearing Lomeli on WJOB, during the fight with Big Mac for the 3% raise, justify/excuse leaving Hammond as a means of improving his situation.

Maybe McDermott is right. Maybe the incentive is needed to induce personnel to remain in Hammond, and continue to fight the good fight. So far Hammond has managed to successfully navigate some very treacherous straits of history and avoid going the way of Gary or Harvey, Ill. Personally, i attribute most of the success to the quality of Hammond's citizenry, true salt of the earth.

It's just...it's just that the additional overtime to be collected looks to be an invitation to abusive practices, and if not checked, will prove to be the beginning of the end, instead of a new beginning or the successful end of a new beginning, consistent with the lifting of the levy and the city's ability to stifle crime under MCDermott and Miller. For me, keeping crime in check is the true legacy of Mac's tenure. Absent this framework everything is futile.

I can see by this guy's picture, the only thing Sparks has wrestled with is a couple dozen doughnuts and maybe the most dangerous activity is lifting a moderately hot cup of coffee, burning his puckered lips with it.

Spark's rhetoric one day is going to be silenced by an 8 year old girl scout giving him the boxing meeting, he has threatened others with @ McDermott's boxing club.

Jesus there are a number of articles on what excessive work hours can cause, then add the complications of the risk in managing the various facets of a fire. Strapping on fire protective gear, SCUBA gear and lugging around a fully charged hose is something Mr. Dought couldn't do on his best day 30 years ago.

Then add the inherent risk, 3 person fire fighting rig are Dave Hamm and his left hand man McDermott Jr legacy, placing fire fighters and the people they are entrusted to save at risk.

http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-160/issue-5/departments/fire-service-ems/the-24-hour-shift-impact-on-health-and-safety.html

http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/summit-2003/3-IWFC/Papers/3-IWFC-035-Mullins.pdf

http://www.proceedings.com.au/tassiefire/papers_pdf/fri_wilson.pdf

Quote:

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments, 2010 edition, and NFPA 1720, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Volunteer Fire Departments, 2010 edition, call for four (persons responding) for engines and four for trucks. They also have provisions for minimum response levels within specific time frames.

In another post, after Marsha died in her fire, I did research on the percentage increase of saving lives and property. If I remember correctly that number on a 3 person fire rig was about 35 to 40% successful. With 4 person rigs it jumped to 67% successful saving lives and property.

Lets hope Mr. Doughnut doesn't suffer a fire at his house, as it would take at least 4 guys to carry him out of the house.

So every poor schmuck in Lake County is supposed to do with less so a handful of prima donna Hammond firemen feel wanted and appreciated by city residents? I thought none of this was about the money.

Most of these guys have few if any job prospects outside the fire department and should consider themselves extremely lucky they get to act like fraternity boys for pretty much as long as they want to hang around the station.

On the radio today, McDermott corrected the reported five grand incentive offer to say that it's actually six grand. He also talked about not being liked by the rank and file in the FD. He got more specific saying 71 percent of the FD is living outside his moat. He also confided that his critics on the FD are the ones who live anywhere but Hammond. See, Tom is proposing to use tax dollars to reward his supporters and punish his detractors. It's got nothing to do with "good public policy" and everything to do with Tom.

well, yes and no. The tax dollars conferred on those to remain in Hammond inherently contain an economic multiplier, in terms of the increased economic dollars to be locally generated. At least that's what econ theorists tell us. Equally, while I too wince at the $6,000 figure, i do so because it is gonna be on top of the overtime. That's where the real money is at. Six grand for the 29 percent of the HFD living in Hammond might be a good investment, though it seems a privileged expenditure. And cops are gonna want it, too. But why stop there? How about some for residents that choose to stay in the city rather than move to Griffith, Highland etc? After all, these represent the tax base.

Also, I wonder what will become of the union, and perhaps Lomeli, assuming he was heading-up HFD union negotiating team? Did Ed grab too much rope?

so it goes...

There should be 4 guys to a rig. Three is not enough.

In the next union election, Ed Lomeli should be voted out because he failed to negotiate a contract and the firefighters his union represents are going to receive less compensation in 2014. I wouldn't be surprised to see the firefighters vote to decertify the union. Why pay dues to a union that is too incompetent to negotiate a contract? As far as overtime pay, as I stated before, it is less expensive to pay overtime to existing employees than to hire and train new employees. I'd like to see firefighters who are Hammond residents have right of first refusal for all overtime pay. Since there is no contract in place to spell out how overtime is allocated, it should be given to employees who chose to make Hammond their home. Make it perfectly clear to the firefighters who choose not to live in Hammond that they will suffer financially for that choice.

Nothing like a ex union member promoting union busting.

Give the poor firefighter's union guys a break. All public sector union officials are used to dog-and-pony show negotiations during which they ask for the stars and settle for the solar system after pretending they and municipal representatives engaged in knock-down, drag-out bargaining. Add to that the hero-worship they have exploited since September 11, 2001 and they are just not used to being told "no".

Are firefighters the only ones to be eligible for a $6,000 bribe to live in Hammond? What about the few remaining productive people who make their paychecks possible? The Mayor is lucky in that he has a fairly captive populace. Most Hammond residents won't be able to sell their shacks and leave. They either have to eat their properties or stay. What percentage of Hammond residents are worth keeping to the point that they too can demand bribe money?