Community Corner
South Fire Taxpayers Forced to Foot CVH Firefighting Bill
Reader says the onus was on Connecticut Valley Hospital officials years ago to sufficiently manage its own overtime issues and leverage volunteer services.
To the Editor:
The most recent excellent Hartford Courant article, “Middletown Takes Over CVH Firefighting/Emergency Duties,” is a clear example of Connecticut state government recklessly passing its tax burden down to the local level.
, administration overeacted in shifting firefighting duties and expenses on to the backs of the taxpayers of the city of Middletown. With the disappointing support of the SFD Board of Fire Commissioners, long-established firefighter union labor locals have been unprecedentedly pitted against each other while SFD staff and vehicle resources have been directed to OCCUPY the CVH campus.
Such actions have also shifted expenses once shared by millions of state taxpayers to a limited number of local residents and small business of the SFD of the city of Middletown.
It’s unfortunate that the CVH administration did not long ago initiate operational protocol to better manage overtime by working with labor to better utilize its very cost-effective and efficient supplemental fire services volunteer staffing. Certainly CVH clients, employees, labor and neighboring taxpayers of the south fire district deserve such management performance.
In fact, there are significant cost savings synergies that the SFD BOFC and CVH administration could develop working with the city of Middletown and labor for the benefit of all taxpayers.
Daniel J. Penney
MIddletown
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