City Leaders Failed to Advocate for More Fire Resources
The same firefighter said one of the most glaring examples of poor planning and bad management has to do with OFD’s academies. Reed doesn’t actually write a budget for fire academies. Rather, the academies are paid for using overtime, an expense the department has been criticized for. According to several firefighters with direct knowledge of the department’s training academies, current firefighters are taken out of their jobs to fill instructor positions. Off-duty firefighters are then called in to fill in for the absent instructors at stations. This “backfill” process results in large and growing overtime expenses.Reed did not respond to these specific criticisms.
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