Gloria Ferris

It was standing room only at Corpus Christi Hall Tuesday night. Councilman Kevin Kelley Ward 16 and our councilman Brian Cummins from Ward 15 led the meeting. Fire Chief Stubbs was there with three assistant chiefs; Interim Safety Marty Flask attended; former fire chief Kevin Garrity flew in for the meeting; State of Ohio Representatives Shirley Smith and Annie Keys were there. Over three hundred neighbors, businesspeople, firefighters, policemen, and EMS workers came. Mayor Frank Jackson was unable to attend due to another engagement. All of them were there to engage in a dialogue
on the safety of our neighborhoods and the city.

Folks, if I know one thing now that I didn’t know then, it is this–this issue is BIG! The Ladder 42 “brown out” is only the tip of the iceberg. (Really, folks, I think they need to find an alternative terminology for what it is they’re doing here, at Ladder Company 42.) Questions were asked and answers were given, but the answers given only gave rise to more questions. And on and on it went until 9 p.m. The two-thirds of the iceberg under water is the SAFETY of the WHOLE CITY.

Before we discuss the browning out of Ladder Company 42, we need to know this fact: Safety Director Marty Flask stated that Mayor Jackson wanted us to know that the “browning out” of Ladder 42 is not imminent. A full review will be conducted before the final decision is made in mid-April.

I wanted to paraphrase former Fire Chief Garrity’s remarks as well because his comments frame the issue facing Fire Chief Stubbs and his seven assistant fire chiefs. Essentially, Garrity said that the national response time standard for an engine company is FOUR minutes, and SIX minutes for a ladder company. The city is not providing the dollars that the fire chief needs to do his job.
When Chief Stubbs spoke, he first wanted everyone to know that no firefighter, including himself, wants to see a company “brown out” and that any plan that came out of his office would adhere to “1710.” (I learned later that this is how the national fire-safety standards are referred to in firefighter circles).

There are huge traffic issues that do not appear to have been taken into consideration when making the decision to “brown out” Ladder 42—the closing of the Fulton Road Bridge for two years, the resurfacing of Denison Avenue, the Jennings Road reconstruction, the impending ODOT project on I-71, and the opening of Steelyard Commons in 2007.

Since our Ladder Company 20 will be the next in line to back up Engine 42, I asked these questions: “ It is my understanding that our Ladder Company is known as a first responder what does that mean? And when ladder #20 is responding to an Old Brooklyn call, who is my backup?” No one sitting around me thought that my questions were answered adequately because our Ladder #20 covers I-71 and I-490 as well as Metro Hospital and some of downtown, so it often is out on a call and wouldn’t even be available for Old Brooklyn. The answer was a vague, noncommital “the next available ladder.” I learned later that there is NO strategic plan in place for the city of Cleveland for the deployment of fire equipment.

An Old Brooklyn resident, Norm Ezzie (www.storminnorm.com), asked what plans are in place for preventing fires, given the aging housing stock in the Old Brooklyn neighborhoods. I loved this comment of Norm’s: “I refuse to be disposable!” When you stop and think about it, his question and comment pertain to the city as a whole.

Another Old Brooklyn resident who is also a Cleveland firefighter stated that he agrees with Mayor Jackson’s vision of wanting to make Cleveland great again, but he had a few suggestions for Mayor Jackson to help him find his way. One suggestion was to focus on the established middle-class neighborhoods in the city, to enhance the services to these neighborhoods, to support the efforts of these residents of Cleveland, and to promote these neighborhoods to the outlying suburbs as good places to live, and then to build out from there rather than trying to build new neighborhoods in downtown Cleveland and ignoring the foundation of the city already in place. I have not done this man’s suggestions justice, but I agree with him wholeheartedly. I may be a bit biased because this firefighter is not bound by residency laws but CHOOSES to remain in the city. He is not alone; there are a lot of us here, and we want to stay.

It appears that the main reason for suggesting the “brown out” of Ladder 42 is a 2004 consultant’s report requested by the Cleveland Public Safety Director. I certainly don’t know much about this report because even Councilman Kelley is still waiting for a copy of it through the Freedom of Information Act. Word has it that there is a clandestine copy out on the street, but here is what I have been able to find out about the study. The consultants are from Phoenix— Kevin Roche, the assistant to the Phoenix fire chief and Charles N. Hood, deputy fire chief. They visited Cleveland for two days. During that time, they talked to the fire chief, the safety director, members of city council, and the president of city council, The Vanguards, Local 93, and all in all visited four fire stations in the city of Cleveland. One of those stations was Station 42. I understand that someone is presently working on dissecting that study. Consultant studies usually reflect the conclusion that the person or entity paying for the study wants. I am not sure that the safety of our residents should rely on such a study when there are self-studies that can be utilized by municipalities to make sure that their citizens are safe.

The way I see it the safety and welfare of Clevelanders should be the number one consideration when our mayor and our city council members sit down to make decisions. There should be 44 fire companies in the city of Cleveland. Four are already “browned out”–
Ladder 42 would be the fifth. How many of the men assigned to that “browned out” equipment have been reassigned? How many will be reassigned? The population of Cleveland has dwindled, but the geographic area of the city has not. Therefore, it still takes time to get to a fire from other stations still open in other parts of the city. Oh–and the response times I mentioned earlier those are based on 20 mi./hr on any city street chosen as a route to a fire. As I said earlier, this issue is huge, and we need to stay on top of it and get involved.

The following comes from the Audobon Society:

I do not believe that it is prudent for the state to create a marina project that may jeopardize the natural habitats on Middle Bass Island. I believe that a marina servicing several hundred boats promotes the overuse of a natural island resource which is rare in the state and easily subject to abuse. Creating a large marina invites overuse and congestion which then promotes additional development which cannot be easily projected or controlled. The original statements by the Taft administration during the purchasing of the Middle Bass Island acreage indicated a concern for a natural gem that would be protected by the state.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is a public agency entrusted with protecting wetlands and should not destroy them in the name of progress for active recreation such as the development of this marina and campground. The proposed project involves impacts to Category 3 wetlands, Category 2 wetlands, and Category 1 wetlands. Middle Bass Island is within the Audubon-designated Lake Erie Western Basin Important Bird Area and provides important habitat for migrating birds. Furthermore, proposed mitigation for the wetlands includes a project at East Harbor State Park which is not on the island. The project also affects the Lake Erie Water Snake, a federally-listed threatened species found only on the Lake Erie islands.
There are real concerns over the destruction of rare wetland habitat on a rare Lake Erie island, and there is not a demonstrated need for hundreds of boats at Middle Bass Island which would override ODNRs charge to protect wetlands. I am advocating that ODNR select its Non-Degradation alternative that would have no impacts on the waters and wetlands of the state. The existing marina would continue to operate as is in the southern basin and the seasonal docks and Middle Bass Yacht Club as is in the north basin. As such I urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny authorization for a permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

Thank you for this opportunity to comment.