the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, despite what Ridgewood Mayor Paul Vagianos said during Wednesday’s Village Council meeting, the paid fire department EMT contingent was not created in Ridgewood due to a “volunteer crisis.”
Village officials disbanded the previously deployed per diem/volunteer EMT staffing arrangement to improve overall response times, and to address several personnel related issues involving a number of per diem employees.
At no time was there ever a shortage of volunteer EMTs members of Ridgewood Emergency Services.
You can keep saying “volunteer crisis,” but it won’t make it true Mr. Mayor.
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It’s bone-chilling how this mayor and council get away with taking pages right out of Orwell as they literally rip the pages from the history books to cover their misdeeds. Wake up people!
How can this council and manager be getting away with so much crap if indeed it is all true! This does not sound right. I believe it because I have seen it with my own eyes but the fact that they are getting away with it makes us tax payers seem stupid. What can we do?
Be voice, go to a meeting or dial in via zoom and speak up. Writing it on the blog lets these idiots get away with their smoke show. Let’s make it stop. take one step in front of the other. every bit counts.
Vagianos is the biggest Pinocchio in Ridgewood.
The daughter in law of a frequent Knudsen administration critic was a per diem employee. This may also have been cause for the housecleaning.
This Mayor and his puppets are classic definition of corruption.
Spending tax payer money to increase his property investments
I’m so tired of there smoke and mirrors philosophy and actions.
Listen, the bottom line is I don’t trust anyone in the village hall, they are a bunch of bullshit artist. I was tallest 40 years ago and I experienced it times. I’m telling you it doesn’t matter, you can change the mayor of the council the manager a few top management positions. They have a playbook that they use and they’re not sharing it with anyone.
Frank is as dumb as a stump, I mean Cmon people! WTF is this guy doing on the council. While I don’t agree with some of Evan Weetz comments, or that wing nut Winograd, I cannot believe the brain trust that we have on the Ridgewood Village Council and that Mayor. help us all, Yikes.
That’s because the body department is totally against volunteers. It’s all part of the plan. The only time they want volunteers is to do cover them. The mayor, the council and a village manager are totally scared of police and fire unions so go after the blue collar unit. That’s why they treat them like whale shit.
The Fire Department ran the volunteers out after promising they could do it better. The former EMS members are volunteering but for other towns now. The lie that having paid firefighters be more cost efficient was the most egregious as that may have been the case year one but those firefighters make $170,000+ each. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
A little late to the conversation, but this really comes down to the fire department. Putting an ambulance in the firehouse isn’t about improving service, it’s about increasing staffing levels for the paid firefighters. It’s a union issue that plays out time and time again with the IAFF.
You literally had volunteers willing to step up and help their community during a time of need, along with per diem staff who filled the gaps, exactly what countless towns, villages, and communities across the country are doing. But certain politicians choose to side with unions like the Fire and Police, leaving the unpaid volunteers on the sidelines.
The reality is, there are volunteer fire departments across the U.S. that handle far more calls, 1,000 to 4,500 a year — with no paid staffing at all. Many of these departments serve areas larger and busier than Ridgewood.
For example, a smaller village than Ridgewood, take the Port Chester, NY Fire Department in Westchester County. They cover a population larger than Ridgewood in an area only about 2.5 square miles smaller. They don’t run EMS calls, don’t have an ambulance, and still respond to roughly 1,483 fire calls a year. A few years ago, the city council and mayor even removed their paid IAFF union firefighters and now handle 100% of their calls as volunteers.
Meanwhile, Ridgewood’s Fire Department ran around 770 fire-related calls in 2022 (latest data on website), and that’s without including EMS calls. That’s not a high volume by any measure. Yet, the department remains paid, and the only reason they took over EMS was to artificially boost their call volume, justify more manpower, and secure EMT certifications that lead to higher pay.
It’s unnecessary and misguided. The mayor’s decision clearly serves to satisfy the Fire Union, not the community.
For instance check out Port Chester, NY Fire Department in Westchester, NY, they have more population than Ridgewood, they are like 2.5 or so square miles less than the 5.8 square miles of Ridgewood, they don’t run EMS assist or run actual EMS calls nor do they have an ambulance, do about 1,483 and they recently a few years ago threw out the Paid IAFF Union Firefighters they have and have made coverage to 100% of their calls.
Now lets compare, the Fire Department in 2022 ran 770 or so calls that were fire related with no EMS calls added in. That is absolutely nothing and yet, you have a paid department and the only reason they took over EMS was to be able to increase their so called call volume and on top of that increase manpower, get their EMT certification to increase their pay.
It’s stupid and reckless, there is no need for any of it. The mayor did what he did to satisfy the Fire Union, basically bottom line!
Well have fun with those checkbooks at the end of the year!