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Wyoming Fire Chief Berry has city backing |
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Monday, 24 December 2007 |
Alice Pickering
Wyoming Reporter
Wyoming City Council and members of the Wyoming Fire Department want Dennis Berry to remain in his position as fire chief. The fire chief was given a nod of support from most officials at last week’s council meeting.
As a result of a recent personnel policy work session the question of command back-up in the event of an injury or incapacity of fire chief came up.
Council member Gary Menne asked that an item addressing the tenure and rotation policy of the fire chief be placed on the Dec. 18 council agenda. Menne asked: “Is there a policy?”
Nearly the entire Wyoming Fire Department were on hand in uniform in support of Berry and to encourage the pattern of leadership he demonstrates.
The fire department’s policy is that every year members of the department vote for the chief, who then appoints assistants and other officers. The department makes the decision.
Berry explained that he is concerned with protecting life, limb, and property in the city. He is concerned for the safety of the firefighters.
Due to the consistent training the city’s ISO rating has dropped from a 6 to a 4. A measure of the quality of fire protection for a community, this improvement also has the effect of reducing homeowner insurance premiums.
The improvement is similar for Wyoming Township for which the department provides some fire protection. In the township this has resulted in an ISO drop from 9 to 5.
Berry suggested that if there were questions about the command structure it would have been simpler to ask members of the department and its leadership than first raising the question at a council meeting.
Assistant Fire Chief Dan Dahlager told the audience that every year the entire department votes on who they want to be chief. He works side by side with the other fire fighters.
They vote for Berry because he “has earned that vote,” Dahlager said. The information is included in the departmental by-laws.
Dahlager’s wife Sandy said she has observed “stability, continuity, consistency” in administration with Berry at the helm. She said firefighters and officers are involved in cross-training. The expectations of response to fire calls and training sessions are high. “Dennis is modeling that,” she said.
Council members added their thoughts.
Council member Joe Zerwas said having the item on the agenda is an insult to Berry. “Why fix something that is not busted?” he said.
The show of support in the audience is a reflection on the support the chief has within the department, Zerwas said.
Council member Blake Tiedeman thanked Berry and the fire fighters for their sacrifice of their time for training and response to emergency calls, and a desire “to make the city a better place.”
Council member Tom LaBarre reported a letter in support of Berry from Fire Chief Gary Sigfrinius in Forest Lake.
Mayor Sheldon Anderson also spoke in strong support of Berry.
A conflict
Later Tiedeman said part of the discussion he had with City Administrator Craig Mattson and Menne focused on the question of members of the same family being employed by the city and if it would constitute a conflict of interest, unless care is taken in drafting the policy.
Dennis Berry’s sister-in-law is Wyoming’s deputy clerk in Mattson’s department
Tiedeman said it is a question of whether there are checks-and-balances being in place to insure that one family member is not answerable to another in the same department. In the case of Wyoming, members of one family are employed by the city now, but none in a direct supervisory capacity to another.
Tiedeman said this discussion somehow morphed into an issue of related to continuity of leadership within the fire department or chain-of-command with regard to leadership in the fire department.
Levy approved
The city council on Dec. 18 also certified the 2008 property tax levy in the amount of $1,866,074.
The general operating fund portion of the levy is $1,478,333. Mattson summarized the levy information and told the audience that the levy represents a 1.49 percent (.0149) increase over 2007.
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