Crime & Safety
Firefighters Begging On Duty Doesn't Work
Sometimes it is hard to tell where the fire district stops and the union begins.
Government meeting or Union Hall?
The last Monarch Fire Protection District meeting that was open to the public, and a very short meeting, included introducing new Fire Chief Tom Vineyard.
But I was not sure if I was at a meeting of elected officials or a meeting at the Union Hall.
Halfway through the 30-minute meeting, Fire District Board President Kim Evans introduced firefighter/paramedic and Shop Steward Bob Wilhelm. He was going to present funds (a check) to someone from a breast cancer organization.
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Evans then praised on- and off-duty firefighters for collecting donations at Chesterfield Mall, and thanked the “entire shop.”
Wilhelm then presented a check for $981.
The first thing I thought about was, 'Why was Evans identifying Wilhelm as the shop steward?'
Wilhelm's union role should be separate from his employee role—unless he was there in reference to a contract negotiation or a discipline issue.
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It seemed to me Evans should have been thanking fire district employees, instead of the "entire shop."
The second thing I found odd was that Evans is still allowing on duty firefighters to go out and beg for money from the public for their favorite charity.
How does a government body decide what charity is going to have uniformed public safety officers collect for?
Firefighter/paramedics' job descriptions do not include collecting charity donations at shopping malls, as far as I can tell.
Now, the Union can send any of their off duty members out to collect for whatever charity they like?
The third thing that bothered me was the amount of the check. It was $981.
Monarch firefighters are some of the highest paid around. If the Union decided this was the charity they wanted to collect for, it seems each of the 120 members could have written a $10 check and raised $1,200.
Chesterfield's Monarch Fire Protection District three-member board meets Wednesday at 7 p.m., 13725 Olive Blvd., Chesterfield, 63017.
In other business, the Monarch FPD announced these promotions on their website:
- Engineer Glen Hornbuckle
- Captain Matt Lawler
- Engineer Craig Shormas
- Captain Chris Overy
- Captain Brent Coleman
- Captain Andy Stecko