Dissolve? Merge? Fix for Coventry Fire District is Elusive

One day after less than 1,000 Coventry voters chose to dissolve the Coventry Fire District and reject a supplemental tax increase that was proposed to save the district, officials are trying to figure out the next course of action.

Frank Palin, chairman of the Coventry Fire District, said Thursday that the voter refusal of the one-time $600,000 tax that would have saved the 130-year-old fire department is saddening, “it was not unexpected.”

Palin put some of the blame on recent “anti-firefighter” sentiment in recent months, fueled in part by legislation that was filed in the Rhode Island General Assembly that would have stripped municipalities of the ability to negotiate over some working conditions.

“This, added to the bankruptcy of our neighboring Central Coventry Fire District probably doomed us to failure from the beginning,” Palin said.

Though the vote to dissolve is nonbinding, the board will take it under consideration at its next board meeting on Monday, June 22 at 7 p.m. at Club Jogues.

At that meeting, Palin said the board will “review all legal and lawful options, including the Fiscal Stability Act.”

Palin also blasted the Coventry Town Council, saying that its members “abdicated its responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of COventry.”

“Their collective head in the sand approach places not only the citizens of the Coventry Fire District in grave danger, but those of the entire town. There is a precedent for assisting a drowning fire district in Coventry,” Palin said. “ The Town Council loaned the Central Coventry Fire District $300,000 knowing that they would probably never have it repaid. To this day, the Central Coventry Fire District receives extensive office space in the Town Hall Annex free of charge. Why can the Town Council help one district but refuse to help the Coventry Fire District?”

For many, now is the time to begin taking steps for a town-wide fire department — a measure that has the support of many firefighters and the local fire union. A group of residents took that idea into their own hands on Wednesday, setting up a tent outside Club Jogues to collect signatures for a town-wide fire department. Their banner: One Town, One Department. It’s time. It makes sense.

As it stands, the district needs $100,000 each month just to stay open “with the same terms of repayment that was granted to the Central Coventry Fire District.”

“Have some courage and do the right thing,” Palin said. “Otherwise, you won’t be in office for another term when the voters mobilize to replace you with a representative who will protect the people. I will be contacting each member of the Town Council individually before the Board of Directors meeting on Monday. This issue won’t go away, deal with it, it’s your responsibility.”

For what its worth, many residents along with some council members are weary of ongoing fire district financial problems. There is also a widespread notion that the district dug its own grave thanks to years of financial mismanagement. Palin, who has been board chairman for not much time, said the mess in the district’s books will take weeks to clean up. Not too long ago, disgraced former Fire Chief Paul Labbadia was fired for smoking pot and drinking alcohol on the job, as well as golfing for hours and hours as his firefighters raced across town saving lives and putting out fires.

Those issues, for many, are troubling enough that throwing money at the district seems like one more bad idea.

“[They] must clean up their mess by themselves,” said Republican Rep. Patricia Morgan of Coventry. “Two districts are well managed and affordable. Only these two (Central Coventry and Anthony) are in trouble.”

On the other hand, firefighters are facing layoffs and residents are looking at the potential for decreased fire service.

“It’s sad that people do not understand that we all work together and rely on each other,” said David Gorman, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3372, the fire union. “If one fails, the whole system fails.”

Photo courtesy: Coventry Professional Firefighters via Twitter.