When performed by a well-practiced magician, a sleight-of-hand trick serves as an amazing piece of entertainment, wowing young and old alike. The foundation, of course, is pure deception- tricking your eyes and ears and brain into believing something which truly isn’t.
You may recall last week a post from FireDaily called “Didn’t See This Coming…” in which we focused the light of day on the amazing turn of events in Milwaukee, WI.
In an effort to close a budget deficit, the City scrambled to slice and dice their public safety budgets by eliminating truck companies and instituting a daily plan of rolling brown-out closure of fire stations.
Amazingly within weeks, reports of the City scrambling once again- this time to hire new firefighters and paramedics as quickly as possible addressing the –wait for it- SURPRISING need for manpower required to fulfill their mission.
While there at least two or three sides to every story, we seem to have graduated into a culture of spin- in which an audience (the public, the taxpayer, you, me) is ripe for entertainment and easily fooled by anything said. After all, if you heard it on the news, it must be true, right?
We have progressed into a society that no longer calls the truth the truth, or a lie a lie. We are a people who have grown accustomed to “grey areas” in which one plus one can actually equal a submarine- if it can be expertly explained away before the next episode of Jersey Shore is on.
Remember when then-President Bill Clinton explained to us that what really mattered was what “the definition of the word is… is?”
Huh?
How about when Alaska’s investigation of “Trooper Gate” found that Sarah Palin had abused her powers as their Governor? Out came the cape and wand, then the abracadabra: “”Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.”
Huh?
Are we so numbed to the bull that we have come to accept whatever we hear?
Or worse- are we too lazy to demand accountability of those who tell us mistruths, misspeaks, ahem… lies?
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain!
Last night, a report on my local TV news station aired regarding the potential layoff of six firefighters from Franklin Park, IL, a community adjacent to the City of Chicago, O’Hare Airport, and an incredible amount of rail traffic carrying tons of hazardous materials daily throughout the village.
Now Franklin Park is not immune to the financial cesspool found all across the country. Tough decisions have to be made, many unpopular. It’s tough to be the guys who have to find a way through these difficult times.
But as we find ourselves increasingly amenable to having our budgets slashed in all areas- including public safety- we should not be led astray by the mal-truths, the mischaracterizations, the sleight-of-hand which is becoming the norm lately as well.
We need to throw the flag on the bull when we hear it.
In Franklin Park’s case, the plan is to eliminate six firefighter positions (on top of the five they had already lost) as well as dumping one of its two ambulances providing EMS coverage for a population of 19,000.
Get your flag-thowing hand ready…
Read this gem as reported by Paul Meincke of ABC7 News as published here. It’s from Franklin Park Mayor Barrett Pedersen who, when asked about the risk to public safety, offered up this little gem:
“I spoke with my chief and three commanders, and they indicate there’ll be the same response time. Every single one of the firemen are EMT qualified. So, they’ll be responding just as they are now with trucks and ambulances,” the mayor said.”
FLAG!
But wait.
Better pick up that flag and stuff it right back into your ass pocket. Why?
Aha, didn’t catch it, did you?
Read it again.
Can what he is saying can be the full truth even when interpreted in each of these ways?
Without the layoffs, here’s the response scenario:
911 call comes in, ambo is dispatched, crew responds. No delay in response time.
With the layoffs, here’s the response scenario:
911 call comes in, ambo is dispatched, crew responds. No delay in response time.
In fact, if Franklin Park had only one firefighter/EMT, the response scenario still does not change!
911 call comes in, ambo is dispatched, crew responds. No delay in response time.
What is your definition of “response time?” See?
Abracadabra, Alacazam! Now you see it, now you don’t!
So How Do We Get Real Answers?
By asking real questions:
“If I dial 911, when will the first paramedic arrive at my door?”
“If I dial 911, will that paramedic have an ambulance with equipment? If not, when will an ambulance arrive?”
“If I dial 911 and your ambulance is out on another call, when can I expect another ambulance to arrive at my door, you know, to replace Franklin Park’s second ambulance?”
“If my home catches fire and I need to be rescued in the middle of the night, will my chances be greater or lesser of making it out alive if you cut your manpower down by almost 25%?”
“If a train carrying six carloads of methylethylbadsnot derails in our gem of a city, or a tornado hop-scotches across our community this spring, is our emergency preparedness plan current and viable despite the changes in manpower levels you want to institute?”
“Am I more safe or less safe with less firefighters on duty?”
and an obvious question to see just how fast that whizzer can get spinning:
“How come I’m getting less but my taxes keep going up?”
Sleight of hand is more difficult to get by if you are paying attention.
This is what you’re up against, folks:
People who know they can spin their message to suit their needs
vs.
a public that won’t take the time to press the issue and get the hard truth.
Still itchin’ to throw that flag?
OK, me too. Here’s a few opportunities:
In this, the second decade of the new millennium, we have video to capture what is said so we may compare it later to what is done. Here are some of the examples from then-Mayoral Candidate Barrett Pedersen on March 2009 at a Special Meeting of the Franklin Park Firefighters Local 1526.
“…When you make that emergency preparedness plan, you’re going to put a formula in there for a minimum number of people to be available to handle that emergency. And if you don’t have that number in the contract, that there’s going to be a specific number of people, than the formula you’ve set up for your emergency preparedness plan isn’t worth very much money….I think we can do a better job, and I think with that emergency preparedness plan, you’d have to take a look at putting into the contract a specific number of people guaranteed.”
-Mayoral Candidate Barrett Pedersen, March 2009
YouTube video
“…One of the things that I think is important for the fire department is to bring it back up to full staffing. I know you’re short three people right now and I think that you deserve a full accompaniment on each one of your staffs. I think that we can do that by cutting down on litigation, I think we can cut down on the wasteful spending- 800 thousand dollars on ornamental concrete on Grand Avenue…”
-Mayoral Candidate Barrett Pedersen, March 2009
YouTube video
“…I don’t think we should reduce the number of stations we have… Should there be a contract that has a specific number of firefighters that are guaranteed and if the number goes below that min number should they be replenished? I think it’s important to maintain that minimum number with regard to the emergency preparedness issue…”
-Mayoral Candidate Barrett Pedersen, March 2009
YouTube video
* * * * *
If you want more information the current issue in Franklin Park, IL, you can find it at the Franklin Park Local 1526 website, including info on a rally scheduled for January 23. The Village also has a website, but I couldn’t find anything on it about the upcoming vote, and the major changes that face the Village today.
Share on Facebook
What You’ve Said