...cont'd from page 14

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) periodically puts out Grading Schedules for Municipal Fire Protection. An older report recommends upgrading Station 9 with an additional ladder truck! That was before we had all the infill building, before we had historic status. I have asked Chief Warren repeatedly for a copy of the most recent ISO Report. He promised it, but I have yet to be able to obtain a copy; what is he hiding?

Now to the easy part, where do we find the money? The last time we were threatened with the closing of Station 9, I looked at the Fire Department Administration staff and found that it had doubled within two years prior. Showing the list of newly hired administrative staff to the City Council convinced them that cuts should be made at the upper administrative level, not at the level of life saving services. I again looked at the administrative bloat, where NO cuts are scheduled. Over the last years there have been huge increases of very well paid Assistant Chiefs. Here's the comparison:

1981	1987	2003
1	1	1	Chief
1	2	5	Assistant Chief(s)
2	2	4	Division Chiefs
2	6	11	Battalion Chiefs

The salary of any one of these chiefs would pay for two firefighters! But this it not all; just recently a huge recruiting staff was created, never needed before. It consists of 13 employees tasked with recruiting an average of about 36 cadets for the once a year training class. None of these are reduced to save money, only our safety.

Years ago the Fire Department was funded through higher electric rates. This is no longer feasible -- because of deregulation, our Electric Department has to stay competitive. We protect federal and state buildings, churches and schools without compensation from either entity. Maybe it is time for the City to ask for a fire protection fee, so everybody contributes their share. It is not fair to pay higher and higher taxes each year, only to have life saving services taken away from us.

P.S. Neighbors who want to make their feelings on this issue known to city officials can contact them as follows:

Raul Alvarez	raul.alvarez@ci.austin.tx.us
Betty Dunkerley	betty.dunkerley@ci.austin.tx.us
Jackie Goodman	Jackie.Goodman@ci.austin.tx.us
Daryl Slusher	Daryl.Slusher@ci.austin.tx.us
Danny Thomas	danny.thomas@ci.austin.tx.us
Will Wynn	will.wynn@ci.austin.tx.us

Also, here's the City website asking for input on how to save money: www.cityofaustin.org.