DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710020024

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Opinion 

SOURCE: By Danny K. Thomas 

                                            LENGTH:   59 lines

THE BLACK EYE OF WAKE-UP CALL

After reading Commentary editor Dave Addis' Sept. 28 column, I am compelled to take issue with several of his statements.

Delinquent taxes are inexcusable. As a longtime city employee and resident, I feel that we should be held to a higher standard; after all, these monies are used to pay our salaries and benefits. However, we objected to the heavy hand that was used to collect these taxes. Employees were given only three days' notice of the attachment of their paychecks.

The Employee Relation Committees were unanimous that the taxes should have been paid ON TIME! They asked only that the city should have given these employees two weeks' notice (one pay period) of the impending garnishment to allow them to get loans or make arrangements for payment. Ordinary residents would have had to be taken to court to have their wages so garnished and thus would have been afforded such a warning. Thus city employees are being held to a different standard when it comes to paying their taxes.

More troubling to city taxpayers should be the city's willingness to forgive millions of dollars in commercial indebtedness, write off hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility bills reportedly due to accounting errors, pump millions into an apparently failing tourist attraction and give away high-priced real estate in the downtown area.

Mr. Addis' statement about shiny new batteries in smoke detectors in the city fire stations should be a wake-up call to city administration that there are serious deficiencies in our 13 older firehouses that need attention. Year after year the department has submitted budget requests to repair these problems, and they have been denied. None of these are luxury items but are ordinary maintenance issues that relate to the health and safety of our members and the citizens who use our buildings.

Historically, firefighters took care of the painting, plumbing and general upkeep of the stations. They lived there and wanted to have a functional place to work. But with reduced staffing levels, the increased call loads, mandatory training requirements and an unrealistic attitude by city bean counters in the area of funding, few resources are available for building maintenance.

The inspection of Station 7 was done as per protocol, not as an ax to grind. A private company did the required six-month hood inspection at the station and found discrepancies. This report was sent to the fire marshal's office, as are all others. As would happen with any business in the city, an inspector was sent out and, as is policy, an inspection was done and a citation written noting all violations found.

I must agree that dead batteries in smoke detectors seem petty, but I feel that this a symptom of a much deeper problem.

The city administration must provide enough funding and resources to do ordinary station maintenance. It is not petty to expect your employer to provide you with a safe and healthy workplace. The city should now begin to bring the department into the 21st century with respect to National Fire Protection Association standards and Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines. MEMO: Danny K. Thomas is vice president of the Norfolk Professional

Firefighters, Local 68. KEYWORDS: ANOTHER VIEW

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