first on decorahnews.com: Discussion of fire department staffing levels was "spirited"

(Background: In January decorahnews.com reported (http://www.decorahnews.com/archived-stories/2017/01/15531.html) that the City's Personnel Committee held a meeting to discuss whether to keep the number of full-time Decorah Fire Department employees at three or to not fill one of those positions when a full-time firefighter retires in July.

The only notice given of the meeting was a sheet of paper posted 24 hours in advance at the entrance to City Hall.  decorahnews.com filed an official State Open Meetings Law complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board about the lack of notice to local news media.  But we have also been working to find out more about what happened at the meeting, requesting--and receiving--a copy of the minutes of the meeting, as well as talking with several sources)

It was not a laid-back meeting of the City's Personnel Committee at 7:00 on a Friday morning at City Hall.  The meeting had been scheduled to discuss "Personnel staffing needs--Fire Dept.," but that actually meant Decorah City Council members--five of them--were there to discuss cutting the number of paid staff on the fire department.

Notice of the meeting had not been e-mailed to local news reporters, which was the standard practice.  Notice of the meeting also had not been given to the Decorah Fire Department--despite the fact that the meeting would be discussing fire department staffing.

Local news reporters did not learn about the meeting before it happened.  Local firefighters did.

Fire Chief Mike Ashbacher attended, as did firefighters Jeff Ode, Jeff Clement and Eric Sovern.

Personnel Committee chair Kirk Johnson started the meeting by saying that when one full-time fire department employee retires in July, one option would be to not hire a replacement, but to look at options to reorganize scheduling.

City Administrator Chad Bird handed out notes which showed comparable Iowa communities and their fire department staffing levels.  A copy of those notes is linked at the bottom of this story.

City council members Andy Carlson and Dan Bellrichard could not attend the meeting.  The five city council members who could attend were sharply divided in their opinions.

While Johnson was raising the possibility of reducing fire department staffing to two full-timers, fellow city council members Gary Rustad and Chuck Lore said they would not go along with such a move and supported hiring a replacement for the retiring fire department employee.

The minutes from the meeting said a "general discussion" followed, but several sources have told decorahnews.com that discussion got heated.

The meeting ended with no agreement, but with Johnson stating that further discussion is warranted.