Thursday, December 18, 2008 5:42 AM EST
By Abbe Smith, Register Staff
WEST HAVEN — Allingtown Fire Chief Peter Massaro was basking in relief the day following the narrow victory Tuesday night of the fire district budget and accompanying tax increase.
“Now we can get back to doing our business,” he said, adding that the department still faces difficult economic times and a tight budget.
But some residents Wednesday were questioning whether the Fire Department went too far to convince people — especially senior citizens — to vote for the budget or face dire repercussions.
Firefighters sponsored two pancake breakfasts for residents of the John Prete senior housing complex on Campbell Avenue in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s vote. During the events, they did blood pressure screenings, and off-duty firefighters educated the residents about the budget and the department’s financial crisis. They even provided a bus to transport seniors to Forest School for the budget hearing and vote Tuesday.
A senior named John, a resident of Prete who declined to give his last name, said the residents were duped.
“If you give them a free breakfast, they will come,” he said Wednesday, while standing in the community room of the senior center. “They sold the boat to them for pancakes and eggs.”
John did not attend the budget meeting, but said he would have voted against the budget. He is one of a number of Allingtown residents who believe firefighters and fire commissioners used “scare tactics” to exaggerate the financial situation.
Peggy Gottshall lives at the Prete complex and says she was persuaded by firefighters to support the budget or risk losing fire and paramedic service that could mean the difference between life and death. “This is what we were all told by the firemen themselves,” she said.
The warning hit home for Gottshall, who said firefighters saved her husband’s life four times in recent years. So, she voted for the budget. But, on Wednesday, she learned that her sister’s taxes are going way up due to the increase, and she is hearing different stories about how real the warnings were about cessation of fire and paramedic services.
Gottshall said she is grateful to the firefighters for saving her husband’s life, but she thinks there are major savings to be had in fire district consolidation.
Massaro stands by his warnings about the crisis the department was facing. Fire Commission Chairman Louis P. Esposito Jr. said as recently as Tuesday night that the department would have to shut down and firefighters would lose their jobs if the tax increase was not approved.
Center District Fire Chief James P. O’Brien had been working on a contingency plan in case the Allingtown department was forced to close in the near future. Even if the Center District and West Shore departments agreed to cover fire and medical calls in Allingtown, which they are not legally obligated to do, fire officials warned response times would suffer greatly and lives would be at risk.
Massaro Wednesday praised his firefighters for doing a good job in getting the word out about the need to pass the budget. He said firefighters paid out of their own pockets to print and distribute fliers educating residents about the situation. The flyers warned of several possible consequences for not passing a budget, including the state taking over and raising taxes, the elimination of paramedic service and closure of the department.
Residents turned out in droves Tuesday night and ultimately approved the $4.6 million budget, which includes a tax increase of 1.25 mills, by a vote of 207-190.
Even if the budget failed and the department closed, the district would still be strapped with a $16 million unfunded pension liability and an obligation to make pension payments for retired firefighters.
Abbe Smith can be reached at asmith@nhregister.com or 789-5615.
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