City Councilor Belinda Ray
  • About
  • Blog
  • Endorsements
  • Contact

Engine 1 on Munjoy Hill

5/27/2019

 
On Monday, May 20th, the Council approved a budget that included the Fire Chief's plan to decommission Engine 1. In the days leading up to that meeting, I received a slew of emails and phone calls about the Chief's proposal, so first I want to thank everyone for reaching out. It was clear from the communications just how valued the Munjoy Hill Fire Station and the people that operate it are. I am gratified to see the community's passion around ensuring not only that our firefighters are treated fairly, but that the residents of the Hill and beyond are appropriately protected by our local Fire Department. 

It does appear, however, that there was some confusion about the Fire Chief's proposal and about the role the council would play in making this decision. This was evidenced by the number of people who called, wrote, or testified publicly to protest the closing of the Munjoy Hill station, something that was never being considered. To be very clear on that point:

The Munjoy Hill Fire Station is not closing.

I also heard from many people who were concerned that 12 firefighters would be losing their jobs. That is also not accurate.

There will be no reduction in force at the Fire Department, and no one is losing a job. There are 226 full-time employees in the Fire Department now, and there will be 226 on July 1st, when the new fiscal year and the new budget kick in. 

And after the vote, I heard from people who wanted to know which councilors had voted against keeping the engine. It seems that a lot of people were under the impression that the council would be taking a direct vote on Engine 1, which was not the case.

So what exactly was proposed, how did the vote go down, and what does it all mean for Munjoy Hill and the rest of the city? Good questions. Here's the deal.

Read More
    Sign up for my
    quarterly newsletter
    ​to receive regular Council updates. 

    Topics

    All
    Budget
    Cave/Caveat
    COVID 19
    Elections/Campaign Finance
    Housing
    India Street
    Local Business
    Paid Sick Leave
    Public Comment
    Quality Of Life Issues
    School Funding/Renovations
    Shelter/Homelessness
    Transit/Transportation
    Zoning/Land Use

    Archives

    October 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016

    RSS Feed

This website has been paid for and authorized by the candidate.
About         Blog         Endorsements         Contact