Nothing Can Destroy Our Pride in Serving You

By Andrew T. Stecko

3rd District Vice President, Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri, Local 2665

As a Boy Scout at age 14 I joined the Fire & Emergency Service Career Exploring Program. At college later I earned Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic licenses, plus a degree in Fire Science.

Today, I am a proud member of the Monarch Fire Protection District. Most of my colleagues in the district began their careers in similar ways. We serve 63 square miles, the largest fire protection district in St. Louis County. We chose our profession because we want to serve the public and make a positive difference.

No matter what the call, day or night, weekend or holiday, Monarch firefighters and paramedics do make a positive difference in our community. We respond to 6,600 emergencies a year -- about 18 every day. We save lives and property and help people experiencing some of the worse times of their lives. We are proud of the jobs we are highly trained to do.

We care about the people we serve as we respond to every call that we receive. No, not every call is for a dire emergency. Yes, we do rescue trapped pets and diagnose faulty smoke alarms that don’t stop beeping in the middle of the night. No call is ignored. Every time we are called, we are responding to someone’s call for help!

And, we love our jobs. We admire many of the organizations in our community. Some people call us “heroes” yet in fact we are not. We are hard-working men and women who happen to work in a dangerous, high-risk occupation with families and responsibilities outside the workplace. Each member of our team chose to be here so we can help people as dedicated first responders.

Those are among the reasons why our team wants positive, productive relations between management and labor, yet the Monarch Board of Directors has started many fights with us. We are not proud of the Monarch Board of Directors.

The board has become a magnet for public criticism, negative media reports and taxpayer requests that its members serve with more integrity. Often in the last 16 months Monarch board leaders have attacked our team and tried to make us look like culprits when we are not the instigators. For example:

· When board leaders recently tried to void our Collective Bargaining agreement and we objected, a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge ruled NOT to void the agreement.

· When board leaders made deprecating remarks about our team that are simply wrong, we tried to set the record straight by telling the truth.

· When media reporters ask our team about activities in our district, we answer within the scope of our First Amendment rights and job responsibilities.

Yet board leaders keep trying to make our team look like the bad guys.

Board Exceeds District Budget by Spending on Lawyers and Lobbyists

Citizens need to know that the Monarch board exceeded its 2013 budget by $725,000, including legal fees of about $230,000 paid to two attorneys who contributed to the election campaigns of Board President Robin Harris and Secretary Jane Cunningham. This occurred at a time when the board vowed to cut costs.

Unlike the board, our team does not use taxpayer money from the Monarch district budget to pay for lawyers or lobbyists to represent our interests. In addition, Monarch firefighters and paramedics agreed to salary freezes in 2009 and we have not had a pay increase in nearly seven years.

In a recent letter to media, board secretary Jane Cunningham complained that Monarch firefighters and paramedics are individuals with “a high school education, paramedic’s and driver’s licenses (who) earn a compensation package of close to $130,000 for working 2.25 (24-hour) days per week…”

That deprecating statement is wrong. Jane Cunningham’s contempt for our first response services is an insult to our community and our first response team.

The Truth: Well Educated First Responders

Our team members are each on duty 56 hours/week or 224 hours/month or 2,912 hours annually compared to the standard 40-hour work week of 2,080 hours annually. We work 44 percent more hours than the average American employee. We work 24 hour shifts and do not get holidays or weekends off.

Despite Cunningham’s claim, Monarch firefighter/paramedics are well educated and highly trained. Uniformed personnel at Monarch have earned more than 80 different degrees, including Masters Degrees. Our earned certifications include expertise in 15 disciplines that include:

• Hazmat ( Terrorism )
• Technical Rescue ( Collapse, Swift Water, High/Low Angle,& Confined Space )
• Missouri License Paramedics
• Critical Care Medicine
• Advanced cardiovascular life support
• Pediatric advanced life support
• Pre hospital trauma life support
• Community CPR Instructors
• Fire & EMS Service Instructors

Monarch firefighters and paramedics are not the highest paid in St. Louis County. Each member of our team began their job earning Monarch’s starting annual salary of $16.74/hour. By year five we average $27.90/hour. We agreed to accept multiple concessions to our compensation package in recent years, and we strive to control costs every day.

Yet Board President Robin Harris and Secretary Cunningham have asserted publicly that Monarch employees will retire with an astounding $6 million dollars. That claim is ridiculous. Currently an employee with 30+ years on the job will retire with no more than $600,000 from the district’s Defined Contribution pension.

The kind of disparaging conduct evidenced by Jane Cunningham may be one reason why an editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on July 28, 2014, referred to her as ‘Calamity Jane,’ charging Cunningham with engaging in petty politics and convoluted logic. It may be one reason why Board President Robin Harris is frequently asked by reporters to explain board management activities that so often criticized by the public.

It is well known that a Monarch fire chief, a battalion chief and an assistant chief all resigned from Monarch in the last eight months. Each later cited “board controversy” as influencing their decision to leave. The department is now under the command of an interim chief.

Firefighters and Paramedics Will Not Compromise Emergency Services

Despite controversy about the Board of Directors, Monarch firefighters and paramedics will maintain emergency services and control costs without impacting the top quality first response services that we provide 24/7. We keep our service levels at peak with constant training and education about emergency equipment and procedures.

In off-duty hours, we often raise money for charitable causes and serve as volunteers. Our recent fund drive for the Muscular Dystrophy Association raised more than $11,000. Our team’s participation in the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb helped raise nearly $55,000 for charity.

On October 1, we began our annual “Pink Heals” breast cancer awareness campaign that last year enabled our team to donate $10,000 to the “Life and Hope Fund” of St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield. This year our team’s “Pink Heals” campaign will support the charity “No Woman Left Behind,” a non-profit group that offers help to uninsured and under-insured women who need mastectomy or prosthetic products.

Yet Monarch Board Secretary Cunningham has compared Monarch firefighters and paramedics to the “mafia” and to a corrupt “cartel” that is abusing the Monarch Fire Protection District. She claims that we operate what she calls a “shadow government” in St. Louis and St. Charles counties, a truly ridiculous statement.

Mrs. Cunningham: Our firefighters and paramedics are too busy saving lives and property and raising money in our off-duty hours to run any “shadow government.” Your claims are destructive and nonproductive.

Many local taxpayers and voters agree that it is time for the Monarch board’s petty political agenda and criticism of firefighters and paramedics to stop. Our team wants cooperation, honesty and fairness -- not conflict.

It is time for Robin Harris and Jane Cunningham to nurture the district’s budget – not spend taxpayer money on lawyers and lobbyists -- and for them to serve our community with a lot less petty politics and mud-slinging.

Our firefighters and paramedics want positive relations between management, labor and our community. But the board’s self-serving political games, destructive commentary and misstatements of facts prevent that.

Our team is gratified by the expressions public support and appreciation that we receive from citizens and businesses. We invite you to contact us with suggestions about how Monarch firefighters and paramedics can serve you better.

On October 24, we distributed our 2014 Monarch Fire Protection District Resident Opinion Survey. We truly want to know local residents’ opinions about fire district matters so we can address any issues and provide the best service possible. Our priorities include ensuring stability of fire suppression and paramedic services. We want to make certain Monarch residents are safe in any emergency or life threatening situation. Our survey is NOT funded by taxpayer dollars. You can see and complete the survey via this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MFPD2014. All survey responses are kept confidential.

As dedicated first responders with unwavering commitments to serve our community, we walk proudly wherever we go. Nothing and nobody can destroy our pride in serving you. Learn more about our team at http://www.monarchfirefighters.org.

Andrew T. Stecko is 3rd District Vice President, Professional Firefighters of Eastern Missouri Local 2665

& Shop Steward for Firefighters/Paramedics in the Monarch Fire Protection District, Chesterfield, Missouri.

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