MUTUAL AID - as published in WB BANNER
Issues are complete, missing issues coming soon
WB Banner Issue Date TIME To Town Reason
February 28th, 2008 Feb 21 6:23 AM Sterling Request by Fire Dept
Feb 21 10:54 AM Clinton Ladder Truck sent
Feb 22 6:41 PM Sterling Ambulance
Feb 23 2:13 AM Sterling Fire Aid requested
March 6th, 2008 Feb 25 9:27 AM Sterling Ambulance
Feb 25 1:17 PM Boylston Ambulance
Feb 27 11:54 AM Clinton Ladder Truck
Feb 28 2:09 PM Sterling Ambulance
Feb 29 10:57 AM Sterling Ambulance
April 3rd, 2008 March 26 5:27 PM Boylston Ambulance
March 27 8:30 AM Sterling Fire Equipment sent
April 24th, 2008 April 16 6:59 PM Clinton Ladder Truck
May 1st, 2008 April 19 1:58 PM Holden Tanker Truck
May 8th, 2008 May 1 8:05 PM Sterling Ambulance
May 1 8:42 PM Sterling Ambulance
May 15th, 2008 NO MUTUAL AID CALLS LOGGED
May 22nd, 2008 NO MUTUAL AID CALLS LOGGED
Chief Pauley to Taxpayers: WB Needs 3 Times More Than Milford NH
Update: May 21st: Click Here for West Boylston Fire EMT Roster.
Listed are 23 people (part time included) that are EMTs. If this list is not updated and current, it is therefore misleading and misrepresents the town (which begs the question who has the computer contract in town and why don't they do their job?)
Even if Fire and EMT service are separate in Milford than West Boylston, consider the number of actual people and figure the per capita coverage.
As Chief Pauley stated (answering one question this site posed) there have been NO deaths as a result of current staffing needs, which, statistically speaking, proves there is no problem with current staffing. In fact, with the number of 40B units scheduled for construction this year, it could be easily argued that the increased number of full time staff is to just maintain our per capita figures, not for the Mutual Aid as Chief Pauley claims. COMING SOON - a week by week police log report on all Mutual Aid calls.
May 8th, 2008: It is fair to use and compare Chief Pauley's own words and logic when he was fire chief in Milford NH before being hired in West Boylston in January 2007.
Town Population Full Time On Call Per Capita
Milford 14,000 3 45 1 FT per 4,667
1 additonal 1 FT per 3,500
WB 8,000 4 30 1 FT per 2,000
2 additonal 1 FT per 1,333
Information from Ed Cairns, acting WB chief from Nashua Telegraph report
According to the Nashua Telegraph, while as chief in Milford NH, Chief Pauley wanted 1 additional fire department employee, for a per capita coverage of 1 employee per 3,500 people.
In West Boylston, he wants to hire 2 full time employees, for a per capita coverage of 1,333 - three times the coverage as Milford NH. Based on population, does WB have three times the calls as Milford?
Aside from the post office fire that broke out just as Chief Pauley was sitting down with selectmen to discuss the need for more fire dept employees in February 2008, how many fires has West Boylston actually had in the past several years? As an aside, what is the protocall for a fire chief to leave a fire scene just to attend a selectman's meeting? If he does not live in West Boylston, and is home when a fire does happen, how long will it take for him to arrive on the scene?
Chief Pauley has repeatedly told selectmen that the need for these 2 additional full time employees are due to the high number of Mutual Aid calls - as he reported about three per day (90 to a 110 a month). However, WBA has randomly picked two Police & Fire Logs, and the facts disprove Pauley's claims. The Log for the dates between April 19th and April 27th, there was 1 Mutual Aid call. Between February 25th and March 2nd, there were 6 Mutual Aid calls. That is 7 calls in 16 days - a far cry from the 3 per day as he claims.
Selectman Chris Rucho correctly pointed out that despite the approximate $210,000 4 year grant the town has received to help fund the 2 new employeees, it will still cost WB taxpayers $425,000 in new additional taxation, and after the grant expires, the cost will be roughly $140,000 per year in excess taxation. Pauley and selectman Kevin McCormick claim ambulance receipts will cover those costs, and that the grant money means a $210,000 savings - not the $425,000 additional cost as Mr. Rucho aptly pointed out. How does more full time employees equal more people needing ambulance service?
Chief Pauley should answer the following questions:
> Why do you think, based on your own logic, that West Boylston needs three times the per capita coverage than your former town of Milford NH?
> Name one person that has died due to a lack of Mutual Aid? Name one person whose life has suffered due to a lack of Mutual Aid?
> Why did you claim that there are roughly 3 Mutual Aid calls per day when the Police & Fire Logs prove otherwise?
> Are you going to file ethics charges against Chris Rucho for questioning the need for these employees the way you filed ethics charges against Milford selectmen Larry Pickett for basically doing the same thing?
And a general question - why was the selectmen's meeting edited (censored) when Chief Pauley and Kevin McCormick were talking - as the meeting suddenly came back on again when those two were finished? As a reminder, Kevin McCormick was caught illegally removing asbestos from his Keepers Pub, is the only selectman to vote for an override last year, and supports spending an additonal $425,000 for more full time employees.
Should West Boylston increase taxes to hire more full time employees to cover the supposed shortfall of other towns staffing needs?
Fire Strikes 'Post Office" Strip Mall as Chief Pauley Meets with Selectmen about Hiring More Full Time Firemen
Click Here for Selectmen's Meeting Click here for Fire
Related Article on Chief Pauley - Milford NH Selectmen Larry Picket
Click here for Chief Pauley and Larry Picket Hiring Dispute
Why Did Leon Gaumond Put East Longmeadow MA Person On Hiring Committee for New Chief (Pauley)?
Gaumond refers to East Longmeadow as "Neighboring Town"
A New Fire Chief from Milford NH
Click for a Union Leader Story about Richard Pauley - our new fire chief. Here is another article from the Nashua Telegraph regarding Mr. Pauley's attack and ethics complaint on a Milford Selectman.
Interesting point - the Nashua Telegraph article states that Milford has 14,000 people and 3 full time fire fighters. West Boylston has 8,000 people and 4 full time fire fighters.
Why does West Boylston need more full time fire fighters than Milford NH when West Boylston is about half the population?
Searching for a New Fire Chief
12/12/06: Finally, West Boylston has replaced the building inspector, and now seeks to hire a new Fire Chief. Both people who held these positions resigned on the same day - Sept 6, 2006.
Earlier this year I called town hall requesting to be placed on the Scholarship Committee. Town administrator Leon Gaumond said he would call each person applying for an interview. He never called me, as I was passed over, and never notified that people had been chosen.
I would hate to see Mr. Gaumond continue this policy of not giving equal due to all Fire Chief applicants when the interview process begins. Throwing aside applicants he does not like in favor of people he prefers is unfair and not right - neither to the applicant nor the town. It doesn't matter if there are 15 applications or 20 or 25 or a hundred.
If Mr. Gaumond can be deceitful with scholarship committee applicants, he can be deceitful with Fire Chief applicants.
1/12/07
WB Celebrates Diversity - Drug Dealing Illegal Alien Caught in Drug Sting
An Illegal alien with a long criminal record was caught in an undercover drug deal on Bowen St. Click here for the Worcester T&G story.
Who would have thought that a drug dealing illegal alien with a long criminal record would have a Worcester address (13.5% 40B). It is no surprise he is NOT from from Oakham (0%), or Sterling (2.0%), or Sutton (1.5%). Yet, the Planning Board and Selectmen think it's a good idea to increase 40B in West Boylston.
It's a good thing that the sewer project allows lot sizes to be reduced so we can build more 40B. We already know sex offenders are in town (oakdale rail trail), now we have illegal alien drug dealers in town. Taxes have gone up every year since 2001. The town administrator is really starting to have West Boylston look like Springfield - where he was Chairman of his political party for several years - the city that was voted most dangerous in Massachusetts in 2006.
Just think what will happen if all the 40B Mr. Gaumond and his two minions want (Mr. McCormick and Mr. Phillips). if they get what they want - everday will be a Celebration of Diversity.
40B - Community Examples of What 40B Brings to a Locale
(What better place than the Fire & Police page)
The crime stories from these three 10% 40B communities alone is near endless. Just wait until the 40B projects are built on Shrewsbury St, Franklin St, Oakdale and elsewhere - the links below are just a sample of what the Planning Board wants to bring to West Boylston.
BROCKTON (12.9% 40B)
> Shooting at 1AM
> Night Club Shooting
> Brockton Connection to Roxbury & Dorchester
> Shooting
LYNN (13.1% 40B)
> Arson
LAWRENCE (14.8% 40B)
> Crime reports to come soon
NOTE:
Since ambulance services and EMTs generally fall under the same category as Fire, I would like to say that the service and professionalism of these two departments is simply outstanding. This is one area that West Boylston can be very proud of, and I would like to thank all of them for the great job they do.
Fire Spending Per Capita for FY 2003
This page, like the study it references, is in regard to Fire calls only, and does not pertain to peripheral services, such as ambulence or paramedic calls.
As reported by Boston.com, West Boylston in FY 2003 spent $43 per capita on Fire spending.
West Boylston spent more than the following towns -
Seven towns in the WB area had a better On-Time Response Ranking, even though they spent less money per capita.
As of February 17th, Boston.com (The Boston Globe) now requires people to register. It's free and it only takes 30 seconds, and then you will be able to view these weblinks. I apologize for any inconvenece this may have caused.
For full information and interactive map of WB Fire Calls - click Here.
For information on how statistics regarding this study were compiled, click Here.
Click here for the National Fire Reporting System.
Click here for the WB Fire Dept web page (you can find a list of incidents for the past several years)
Town Per Capita $ On Time Response Rank
Holden 47 270
Auburn 46 61
West Boylston 43 256
Lunenburg 42 306
Uxbridge 39
Sterling 38 264
Millbury 36 233
Holliston 35 114
Sutton 33 257
Paxton 32 204
Dudley 32 321
Princeton 28 337
Berlin 24 294
Brookfield 20 303
Lancaster 19 176
Grafton 18 186
Leicester 18 169
Boylston 18 348
Spencer 17 291
Bolton 15 275
Oxford 12 255
West Boylston has approved over $400,000 for a new fire truck. West Boylston is already spending more money per capita than many other area towns.
The old truck had less than 8,000 miles on it.
Between 1990 - 2002, West Boylson responded to 30 calls (see interactive map at Boston.com for details). That equates to 2.5 calls a year, or 1 call every 5 months.
How did the fire truck put on so many miles for so few calls?
Or, more importantly, why does WB need to spend over $400,000 on a new fire truck when it has so few miles on it? At $400,000 at 30 calls, that is $13,333 per call, $33,333 per year, or $5,000 per mile.
If West Boylston repaired the old truck at $70,000, the town could have saved a lot of taxpayer money.
West Boylston Police Salaries (from 2003-2004 town report)
Back less than thirty years ago, a man was nearly laughed out of a town meeting when he said "one of these days we'll have a police budget over a $100,000."
Times have changed since Mike Solitro.
According to the 2003-2004 town report, total salary for the 13 Full Time officers (including chief) was $917,954.36, or an average of $70,611.87. This does not include the 2 part time officers, the 28 others who did "private duty" - aka paid detail, or their insurance, retirement, etcetera. Massachusetts is the ONLY state in the country to have 'paid details'.
Compared to Worcester, who did not specify between full time and part time, here are the figures. Worcester information given by city hall.
Worc Population: 175,706 Police (including chief): 458 Per Capita: 384
WB Population: 7,481 Police (including chief): 15 Per Capita: 498
WB Police (total officers w/ paid detail): 42 Per Capita: 178
Until a town official can explain that someone other than a police officer does 'private duty', it should be assumed that West Boylston has 42 officers on the town payroll. Does West Boylston need twice as many officers per capita than Worcester?
Retirement:
80% of current officers average salary is $56,489.50. Eighty percent of salary is what police (and teachers) collect in retirement at age 52.
Assuming each of the 13 officers were 52 and could retire, and lived just 13 years to age 65, the math works out to this:
$56,489.50 X 13 officers = $734,363.50 per year X 13 years = $9,546,725.50
Using the same parameters, dismissing the two lowest paid officers (total $98,724.37 yearly salary), the town of WB would save:
$78,979.50 X 13 years = $1,026,733.50