The city of Brainerd must come up with a method to prevent re-election of council member if they do not pass a balanced budget. They should not be permitted to spend more than the income is. All bond issues should be allowed only if approved by the voters.
The crash of our fire service is caused by the city of Brainerd and their unwillingness to negotiate the contract with participating units of government. The city must reduce the cost of operating the fire department without cutting the services for fire protection, they must eliminate the cost of training the department to respond to medical calls, this is excessive and unnecessary.
The fire department must be reduced to four full-time equipment operators and one inspector, they must work only 40 hour weeks with three shifts of eight hours there-by eliminating the built in overtime with the current 24-hour shifts. If the city cannot put this into effect I can provide them with a schedule that will do it. Full-time personnel are needed to maintain the current insurance classification, to deviate from this will increase the cost of insurance for large exposure companies.
Someone must take the initive and research all of this. We must stop the breakup of the current contract. The city must reduce costs or we will all suffer the results. We may have to hire an outside consultant to find a way to reduce these costs.
We may need a new fire chief from outside the department with new ideas to operate the department. Sometimes leaders from inside the organization can be blinded and not have new ideas.
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Daryl Bahma
Brainerd
