BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Commissioners allowed Bradford County Fire Rescue Director Allen Parrish to fill three recently vacant positions despite the ongoing hiring freeze.
Parrish told commissioners April 21 that the department had lost three more full-time employees.
This came on the heels of losing six employees who were not replaced. That resulted in the loss of an ambulance crew and became the basis for a $561,000 cut to the proposed fire rescue budget next year.
Parrish said the loss of three more employees left the commission with three choices. Emergency service levels could continue to be cut, the board could allow him to replace these three employees, or he could pay remaining employees overtime to take on the extra hours.
“We’re down to those choices,” Parrish said. “I’ve heard this board talk about making hard choices, and here we are.”
While he said he was happy to keep the board informed and even make recommendations, this decision is a function of the commission.
At the same time, he apologized to commissioners if any of them have received a phone call about emergency services.
“We’ve been asked by a lot of citizens of this county why it took us so long to get to them in an ambulance or a fire truck, and we’ve told them the truth. We’ve told them that we can’t afford to put any more out there. And so, if you receive those phone calls, I apologize for that. It was in no way intended to be incendiary towards you. It’s just the facts, the truth, and I don’t think we should lie to the citizens,” he said.
According to Parrish, they need to cutback services or fill the positions, because staffing the shifts at time and a half isn’t affordable.
Parrish received the board’s permission and agreed to start interviewing candidates the next day.
“I believe right now the product that we’re putting out there is as good a product as we can put out there with what we have. There are going to be days where we’re caught, and we can’t do anything about it. But you can’t plan for 30 emergencies when you’re normally having 22 to 23 a day, and then all sudden you jump up to 30, 35. We just do the best we can there in those days,” he said.
Commissioner Diane Andrews asked that Parrish not apologize for any contact commissioners have received from the public.
“We put you under this hiring freeze, and when the people call you, have them call us, because we’re the board that did that,” she said.
She further asked that he keep an eye on the numbers and let the board know when the calls for service rise and they can’t respond in a timely manner.
“When it gets out of hand, we need to know.”
