Danbury Mayoral Candidates Discuss Firefighter Issues

DANBURY, CT —Mayoral candidates Republican Mayor Mark Boughton and Democratic challenger Chris Setaro answered questions posed by the Danbury Volunteer Firemen's Council at a forum held Monday evening in the cozy Germantown Hose Company #10 station.

The gathering was not a debate, as the five questions were made available to the candidates in advance, and they never shared the stage. There were still opportunities for surprises, as when Boughton teased the construction of a new firehouse for the city's paid firefighters.

"Why is that relevant to the volunteers? It's relevant because that building will then be freed up, and there may be a way we can use that building for the volunteers, particularly the bays and the training room," Boughton said.

Danbury utilizes a mix of career firefighters and volunteers, with five professional and 12 volunteer stations. Seven of those 12 buildings are owned by the city. Both the mayor and Setaro said they were in favor of consolidating the volunteer fire companies, in the wake of diminishing volunteer membership.

Setaro, former president of the City Council, said he was in favor of giving tax credits to volunteer firefighters, and points to volunteers who take the exam to become professional firefighter's examination.

The Volunteer Firemen's Council, which has hosted the mayoral candidate forum each election cycle for over 20 years, wants its membership to be able to take more courses, within a more open schedule, at the City's firefighter training facility. Both candidates were on board with the idea.

"We don't want to put any more roadblocks (in the way of) people becoming volunteers, we want to make it easier, not harder," the mayor said, suggesting he would be open to modifying the training schedule to accommodate the schedules of the volunteers with day jobs.

"A training facility that does not offer training when people are available doesn't really serve the purpose it was intended for," Setaro said. Both candidates said the City's training facility should be made available for use by neighboring fire companies, if proper deals were struck.

The Council is critical of a rule, mirroring that in the professional company for mandatory retirement, which forces their membership to quit once they reach 65. Boughton said he wanted to "leave the door open" for firefighters to contribute post-65, if they had the desire and were physically fit.

"It seems to me that if someone can pass the physical, I think they ought to be able to continue," Setaro said.

Boughton was also open to the idea of the City supporting a grant that would be made available to the volunteer companies on a rotating basis, but said all involved needed to get the consolidation completed before any new discussions on funding could be entertained.

Setaro viewed the Council's rotating grants suggestion as a means to leveling the playing field among volunteer fire companies whose overhead varied widely. "There are companies that own their houses, and there are city houses," Setaro said. "And there are expenses associated with that, some more than others."

Setaro, an attorney, said that if a company had a need for new equipment, it should not have to wait until a grant was cycled through all the other companies before the need was addressed. He foresaw the volunteers, chief and mayor having a "focused conversation" to determine critical shortcomings of individual companies.

"If we need the equipment, then we need it," Setaro said.

"The key thing is we want to make it easier not harder, to participate in the volunteer fire departments." Boughton said.

The Council's non-debate was one of the very few dates both candidates share on the calendar in the final week before the election. Boughton, seeking his 10th term as mayor, has positioned himself as a "cheerleader" for the city, touting its low crime rate and booming business environment. Setaro believes that not enough is being done to develop downtown, maintain the road, and faults Boughton's approach to education.