What Do Fire Commissioners Really Do? and why should I care?

Eleven districts in Manatee County
not counting the city & volunteer departments

Fire Departments are organized in different ways from one municipality to another. Traditionally, Manatee County has consisted of multiple districts, eleven to be exact at the moment in just the county, not counting what's the city and some miscellaneous volunteer departments. Some are small and some are mega-million dollar budgeted districts managed by fire commissions. In Manatee County this has worked very well for a long time, quite efficiently with very few hiccups in the system. Those ten districts are: Cedar Hammock, West Manatee, Southern Manatee, East Manatee, Braden River, North River, Parrish (volunteer), Longboat Key, and Myaaka City. Fire Commissions were originally appointed by the Governor many years ago and then about sixteen years ago, they became elected officials- which meant they had to "earn" the people's vote.



Commissioner Ranney enjoys delivering a new
peice of equipment!

 Now, most people in Southern Manatee Fire District haven't got a clue what a Fire Commissioner does. Even more importantly, most people don't even know Fire Commissioners exist and actually manage their Fire Departments. Let me tell you what a Fire Commissioner in our district does. They get paid $500/month and it's taxed like any regular paycheck. They reside over a monthly board meeting the third thursday of every month, that is open to the public anytime, but usually doesn't get attended except when a controversy is brewing. Commissioners regularly take turns attending the Volunteer Firefighters Meetings on the first Monday's of the month. They volunteer their time to all the charity events the district may be involved in, help deliver new equipment, make themselves available for training exercises, and often oversee various events their firefighters may be involved in. Many commissioners have scanners at home or in their vehicles so they can monitor calls to be sure response times and responses are proper and accurate. And many commissioners spend time at the various stations with the firefighters, visiting during the holidays, delivering meals to those shifts who have to be away from families during holiday times, or donating stuffed animals for the trucks for children in crisis situations.

The Commissioners of Southern Manatee oversee a $12 million budget that they have managed at a reduced rate due to all the foreclosures [less houses and homeowners reduces the fire tax income to the district]. All the while under this reduced income, they've managed to REPLACE every fire station with a new thirty (30) year state-of-the-art building that sits within a three (3) square mile radiius of every resident in our district for the quickest response time in the county, if not state. While managing that same low budget, they've provided the best equipment for the fire fighters, best training, cooperated with other districts in training events, managed to build up to four men per truck (instead of the standard two - which in essence employs more firefighters) and makes our district a higher ISO rating for insurance purposes. Our firefighters enjoy the best equipment to do their jobs with. Even administratively, equipment is top notch.

One example is our stations and administration have a new phone system that has been PLANNED for growth so that in the future the VOIP system can be grown into in such a way that shifts on duty in their own stations will be able to do live video feed into the administration building for board meetings, conferences, and training. What may appear as a foolish investment of a large sum of money now is a very wise investment of a very small amount of money for the future of the entire district in efficiency and provision of safety to the residents. As it is now, if a shift of firefighters visits the administration building, then if a call commes in, they are answering that call from the Administration building, whereas if they are able to patch into a live feed directly to the Administration Building, then in the future, they are not off the premise for any meetings, the object of the meetings are accomplished and the residents services are not compromised. The commissioners think ahead on things like this.

In my opinion, the Commissioners are responsible to the homeowners of their district for keeping our property taxes low. Otherwise, why would the taxpayers (homeowners) of the district keep voting in anyone who would keep costing them more and more money? Everyone pays taxes on their property. All homeowners have a tax bill, not that we like these bills by any means but they exist and they have a lot of categories to them. Checking your tax bill will tell you what fire district you're in and how much fire taxes you pay. In Southern Manatee, we enjoy very low fire taxes and have for many years specifically because our commissioners, the current board of Kulchar, Ranney, Anderson and Barry make it a point of not raising taxes. They work diligently within the means available to the district. If one were to compare Cedar Hammock (who boasts a very, very plush firehouse for their main station) to Southern Manatee, the difference is significant.

Along with all this, the firefighters enjoy some of the best benefits AND pension plans among fire districts. Remember the Union got in on promises of "protecting" all that. Again, I have to ask, why would the very persons who provided those benefits take them away? Why would a brotherhood that has enjoyed a very friendly, very family-like atmosphere in it's district for many years destroy that by threatening those benefits? They wouldn't. It was a scare tactic that worked for the time being. But more about the Union later, this about the Commissioners.

So, is it clear what a Commissioner does? Is it obvious that a Fire Commissioners heart must be in the Fire District's best interest? There have been many Commissioners who have come and gone who have used the Fire District as their political stepping stone. Some are quite famous at the moment, others have fallen by the wayside. But those who are "incumbents" truly care about the firefighters and fire district they serve. Their positions aren't about the money, the prestige or the power. It's all about the service and public duty. That's the kind of heart we as responsible voters should care about voting for. That's the kind of heart that will look after our best interests in the long run and see to it we get the service we pay for and deserve. That's the kind of heart that will look after our firefighters without legal mumbojumbo and Union rights.

Vote responsibly on November 2nd for Anderson, Solomon and Ranney. Keep the heart in our Commission and not a Union.