Westfield Police Chief Lawrence Valliere
WESTFIELD – Police Chief Lawrence Valliere and Capt. Michael McCabe and Fire Chief Patrick Egloff came before the Finance subcommittee of the whole on June 17 to speak to their budget requests for fiscal year 2020.
Both departments were reduced by Mayor Donald F. Humason Jr., but with different impacts, as the Fire Department was able to transfer its budget hits to be covered by the Ambulance Fund.
The Police Department had originally requested $8.4 million, which was reduced to $8.05 million. Valliere said two officers announced retirement over the past two months, which increased the retirement line item, but reduced salaries with one new officer coming in. A clerk who left has not been replaced.
Valliere said the department asked for $300,000 for overtime, which was reduced by $50,000. He said the historic number has been $350,000, but they may be able to get by with $250,000, as all but one officer out on long-term injuries has returned, and the last one will be returning.
Due to the retirements, the education budget was cut by $17,000, and court costs by $10,000. Valliere said jury trials may begin again in September, but that is uncertain. He said a $20,000 cut from gas for vehicles may also suffice if gas prices remain low. The vehicle account was also cut, but Valliere said two are in production that were in the 2020 budget.
At-large Councilor James R. Adams remarked that the Police Department used to go through six vehicles a year. McCabe said that the cars on order will be ready in September and November, and then getting three in January would wipe out the entire budget. He said historically, the mayor has allowed the department to pool free cash at the end of the year for vehicles, if there was any left. “We’re hopeful that happens again so we’ll have our six cars, so we’re able to protect the community as we’re supposed to,” McCabe said.
“It’s a problem for residents if those cars are not where they should be, and I’d hate to have you cut back on that, Adams said, adding, “We still are going to have to address that police station.That’s going to be a major concern. I’m not sure how much longer that building is going to last.”
Valliere thanked Adams for bringing up the new building. “We had some good momentum going, we had a lot of great support from everybody. It was a little deflating with COVID. We don’t know how this financial picture affects the department with the new building.”
At-large Councilor Dave Flaherty thanked the Police Department for everything they’ve been doing during the COVID emergency and recent protests. “I feel bad for the police at protests, they were really picked on, not deserved in Westfield. Was there a cost to the protest for letting that happen in Westfield,” Flaherty asked, adding that the public deserves to know the cost.
At-large Councilor Kristen Mello concurred with Flaherty in thanking the department, saying she also attended the protest, and the police handled it professionally. “We were so proud of you,” she said. Mello also asked a question that she heard at the protest, how many uniform officers are female and people of color in Westfield. This question was not answered at the Finance meeting.
A motion was made to approve the budget as submitted, with Councilors Flaherty and Nicholas J. Morganelli voting no. “I want more,” Flaherty said when he voted.
Westfield Fire Chief Patrick Egloff speaks March 16, 2020 during a city update on COVID-19 as Police Chief Lawrence Valliere looks on. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
Fire Chief Patrick Egloff began his presentation with a statement that the Westfield Fire Department has been and continues to be on the front lines of the pandemic, and has been striving to keep Westfield as healthy and safe as possible.
“As Chief, I couldn’t be more proud of the self-sacrifice of the members of the department,” Egloff said.
Egloff said the Fire Department has been by far the most affected department in the city in this pandemic, having gone into affected households and nursing homes, and if needed transported people to the appropriate medical facilities.
“So far, I have lost 19 individuals to symptoms of COVID-19, with eight testing positive, and eight negative. I currently have one out, who continues to improve after being admitted to the hospital for 10 days,” Egloff said.
Egloff said the department’s plan is to move six personnel from the Fire Department to the Ambulance Service for one year, and then move them back to the Fire Department for the 2022 cycle. “In 1918, it was not the first round that killed the most people in the Spanish flu, it was the second round. Allowing the people to be moved into the ambulance fund is the best way,” the chief said..
Egloff said the Ambulance Service is one of the industries that actually brought in more money during the pandemic, and as an enterprise fund it gets paid from insurance companies and end users, taking the burden off taxpayers, and allowing the Fire Department to do its job as well as meet the $350,000 cut requested by the mayor after three meetings.
“I would concur with your analysis that this is why the ambulance fund was created. If my math is correct, adding the two departments, you are level funded as to what your budget was last year,” said At-large Councilor Richard K. Sullivan Jr. Egloff said the cut is only about $10,000 to the Fire Department as a whole.
“I’m definitely concerned about adding more positions into that ambulance account, you had 20 in there last year. I am very cautious about it. Can you speak to the trend of the overtime,” asked Council President Brent B. Bean, II.
Egloff said every 10-12 years there are a lot of retirements, with eight or nine this past year. He said it takes time to fill the positions, and they can’t do it until the person is gone and retired, so he had to use overtime to fill them.
“Then we had COVID-19,” Egloff said, adding that minimum manning comes into play, which is contractual and the right thing to do to make sure the citizens are protected. He said if the minimum manning were lowered, they might have to drop an ambulance, which would by statute have to come from Little River. He said that station did the most transfers from Noble to Baystate, and the department would stand to lose 25% of its revenue.
“If you brought down minimum manning, you would have less people doing more work, in turn getting burnt out, in turn getting hurt more,” Egloff said. He said he did increase overtime by $50,000 in the budget because he will be hiring, and if he hires a Basic firefighter, he now needs to send him or her to Paramedic school.
Bean asked about putting the salaries into the ambulance fund, and then bringing them back to the tax side the following year.
“This is a one-year thing,” Egloff said, adding that next year in the spring, they’ll have to hash it out. “If the economy’s not bounced back by next year, maybe we’ll put back three into the Fire Department. No way am I saying I want to put six into the Ambulance Department permanently. We’re going to need an engine in two years; if we don’t put these six people back on the fire budget, we’re not going to be able to do that,” he said.
Egloff said they currently have 3.6 million in the ambulance fund; his budget is $3.3 million, and he still has two more deposits to make before the end of the fiscal year.
“I understand your concerns. I have to run a department in the middle of a pandemic. I’m wishing I never had to ask you to do this,” Egloff said
Flaherty said he shared Egloff’s concerns about next year. “It’s not looking pretty. I appreciate that you have the ambulance fund to use, a lot of departments don’t have that.” Flaherty also asked about the possibility of having reserve officers for the Fire Department.
Egloff said up until the early 90’s, they did have a reserve force, which he is open to.”The next time contract negotiations come up, if the mayor is interested, I don’ t see why we couldn’t do that. It would probably shorten the amount of time it takes to hire people,” he said.
The budget for Fire and Ambulance were approved as presented, with Flaherty and Morganelli voting no.
