Dave Sackett vs, Our Fire District

I know that the Patch has and very little coverage of this situation between Dave Sackett and The Oswego Fire District. So I feel that after attending many of these hearings that it is important to comment about it based upon the fact that there will be a huge cost factor to the taxpayers now, and in the future. What happened was when Mr. Sackett was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis he notified the Chief and the Dept. And knowing that his diseases was going to get worse, and that one day he would no longer be able to function as a firefighter paramedic. So they accommodated him by giving him a new job in the inspection dept.  So they acknowledged that he has a debilitating disease that will prevent him from ever going back to being a Firefighter/Paramedic again. He doesn't have a broken arm, or leg, or a pulled muscle which would heal and put him back as a firefighter paramedic. He has a disease, that has no cure and will only get worse.
 
Then they decided that Dave should have taken the Firefighters test that they require Firefighter/Paramedics to perform. Now I don't care if you put the word Firefighter/Paramedic behind his name on paper, he was moved into the inspection Department for a reason. And that reason was because he was never going back to the job of Firefighter/Paramedic. The Fire Marshal, inspectors, and Chiefs are not required to take that test. Here's the smoke and mirror's part. At the hearing it was stated that all members of the Oswego Fire District are Firefighter/Paramedics first. But like I stated earlier not all members are required to take the test or respond to all calls. So after they open this Pandora's box they come back and offer him the same job he was assigned (Fire Inspector) with less pay, and no firefighter pension. And he will be a civilian member of the Dept. Which can be eliminated at any time. After hearing testimony with many I don't knows or we don't keep good records, or reports. which was jaw dropping in the least. I was surprised that the commissioners didn't start dismissal hearings on members of management on the spot.  But that will never happen because of the Structure of the Department. You see the Fire District is it's own taxing body and entity. They are not overseen by the Village elected officials, in fact every member of the Trustees, and Commissioners were hand picked and appointed. There are no elected officials. So where's the accountability for the taxpayers if we can't elect them? simply put there is none, just one big happy family. So you wonder how and why we are in the mess as taxpayers with the Dave Sackett situation. I my opinion what they have done to this man is a travesty. They acknowledge that he has a debilitating disease, they give him an assignment that he can perform, and then they try to say it was only part time we want it back so that we can appoint one of our chiefs boys. And then because he can't perform a test (Which is not required by all members of the Department) he is insubordinate. This case is going to put Oswego on the map nationwide. It's time to clean house and put in elected members to run this Department.

In fact here are some examples to back my statement. The Oswego fire district has a payroll of over 7 million dollars and a budget that is around 18 million. The whole budget for the Oswego police Dept. is around 8 million. Fire Dept. payroll is just short of the whole police budget. In fact our non elected Fire District just gave the members a 3% raise each year for the next 4 years. But it get's even better. "Bargaining unit members assigned to 40 hour positions shall be paid an additional 6% to current wage and salary schedule while active in the 40 hour position. (these are around $90,000 to $100,000) paying jobs. So that would be a 9% pay raise each year for the next 4 years. That's a 36% pay raise over 4 years. Who is getting a 9% pay raise in the public sector or even a 3% raise?  So why is it you don't read about these wages and raises in the local papers. Because no press covers their meetings. You read about the village, and the park district, and the school district, and the county. All separate taxing bodies, all with elected officials to be held accountable. Not our Fire District. So if you ask how did this happen to Mr. Sackett and his family or why are they doing this. Because they can because nobody is watching. Well if you weren't watching before I hope these numbers wake you up because you are paying for them.

Here are some numbers from a couple of surrounding fire districts. Montgomery, Budget around 1.5 million and a payroll of around 500,000. Bristol Kendall(Yorkville) budget of around 3.3 million and a payroll of 1 million.