Schneier on Security

Corey • March 3, 2007 9:10 AM

Big Grant is Big Pain for Small Minds

To the editor. I am a firefighter/EMT for the Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department
and a Captain Firefighter/EMT for the Savoy Volunteer Fire Department and I have
been involved in the SAFER grant from the beginning. To start I would like to
share with you my goals when I initiated acquiring this grant. Due to the
problems fire departments face with volunteerism (on-call 24/7, extensive
training,etc. ) without any benefits except the service to the community, we
have a problem recruiting new members. How do we attract new members? How do
we keep the valuable members we have? Answer…SAFER grant. On Feb. 7th you
wrote an article “Big grant is big pain for small town”, I would like to thank
you for your unbiased titling of this article. This is what inspired my
correspondence that I am entitling, “Big grant is big pain for small minds”. I
am in awe that after all the articles and time the Transcript and the Cheshire
Selectman have put into this, they still have failed to capture the truth and
scope of this grant. This grant is not about billboards and coordinators fees,
it is much more than that and it is shameful that both a reputable newspaper and
the representatives of an entire town can not inform the public and explore the
opportunities that this grant holds fully before putting it to biased scrutiny.
On Feb 8th, you published an article, “Cheshire hopes dim for second
firefighting grant”, in which you quoted Selectman Chairwoman Carol Fransesconi
as saying, “At the end of the four years, the firemen are not going to have any
visible equipment. They’re not going to have a truck, they’re not going to have
Scott Air Paks. What they’re going to have is possibly more firefighters and
possible education for people wanting to study fire science in college”. I see
the point, apparently education is not considered an asset or benefit anymore.
Let’s discuss the scope of the Cheshire-Savoy SAFER grant. The grant consists
of 10 categories. 1) Marketing 2) Staffing needs 3) Production & Web Creation 4)
Loss of Wages 5) Travel for training 6) Entry Level Physical Examinations 7)
College Tuition Program 8) Junior in-school Program 9) Uniform Incentive Program
10) Coordinators Fees. The visible equipment the two departments will receive
are as follows: a laptop computer for each department; an LCD projector for each
department both to use for fire prevention and the education programs; a
“Freddie The Fire Truck” robot for each department to assist in a much needed
public safety outreach and fire prevention program; software for training
current members, junior firefighters, our senior citizens, and the children of
the community; Class A, Class B, uniforms (head to toe) and winter jackets for
every member. The grant also allows each town to give a scholarship of
$9,000/year for the next 4 years to a graduating junior firefighter to use in a
study of their choice, not necessarily fire science, like you’ve been told. The
grant also covers loss of wages for any member due to training or continuing
education. With rise in gas prices, mileage is also covered when responding to
community emergencies. So what do we have? A highly trained, highly educated
firefighter involved in public safety and fire prevention, dressed in a nice
uniform and get this, a VOLUNTEER that is supported by its community. These are
the people I want to enter a burning building with, trained and educated. Being
a husband and a father of four, I need to return home from every call, so please
tell me that I and my fellow firefighters deserve this. The current practicing
theory that the Cheshire Selectman have of “sign here, congratulations your a
firefighter” does not work, it is dangerous and should not be permitted or
accepted by the community. In addition, to an educated fire department, the
town has overlooked that we will have a more educated, safer community from the
level of our children to our seniors. It would be naive to continue to think
that because we are a rural area we can ignore the need to develop our skills
and knowledge to meet the possible hazards that face all towns in this day and
age. Last but not least, I would like to address the unprofessional comments of
Selectman Paul Astorino. Throughout this grant process he has been both
pessimistic and condescending toward the fire department, the hired grant
writer, the fire chiefs, and the idea of creating a better department. I do
agree we need to explore completely the demands to the town, if any, and the
benefits to the town and the opportunity it may open for future grants when the
town demonstrates its ability to unify and utilize this grant to its full
potential. Last week he “quoted” words from Senator Kerry’s office that were
inaccurate. If you want to see the town lose its chances for future grants,
allow this continued misinformation and public banter to replace true
cooperation and exploration for a common goal. Mr. Astorino also stated that
“we cannot run fast and loose with a say so” but in his next breath he does so
with his unsubstantiated words regarding Senator Kerry’s office this past week.
Grants are presented to departments that show the need for that grant. In the
Cheshire Fire Deparment our need for air paks is high and our need for an EMS
truck is extremely high but that doesn’t mean our need for firefighters to wear
the air paks or the EMT’s to respond for medical calls isn’t also high. A
department that shows a need for air paks and an EMS truck as its only need, is
a stagnant, short-sighted, and unprepared department. Every department should
be applying for every grant that it is eligible for every year. My goal: A
unified fire department that is highly trained in all aspects of public safety,
(fire prevention,EMS,haz-mat,fire suppression,community service) that is
supported by its town and its officials, as our goals are one in the same the
safety of our community and as we are willing to leave our families and put our
lives on the line for this same community.

Corey McGrath