BY MICHAEL P. DALLESSANDRO
I recently worked with a small volunteer fire department that had problems with member relations. Over a period of about 12 months, several situations began to build, much like a cigarette that smolders in a sofa before bursting into flame. A number of members stopped responding to calls, and a handful completely resigned. In any small town, people talk, and it didn’t take much time for the bad feelings to spread around the community and spill into the local media. The members involved, despite their differences, should be credited for recognizing that a volunteer fire company could not function in that situation and securing outside help. This course of action was a huge step for that department; most volunteer fire departments are quick to request mutual aid for large emergencies but are reluctant to ask for outside guidance when they are faced with a personnel emergency.
When I arrived in town, most of the members were tired of being dogged by the media and ready to work out their concerns. They loved the fire service and their department and wanted a chance for their concerns to be heard and evaluated. During the next two days, we mixed individual conversations, training sessions, and roundtable discussions to get people back on track. While there is no magic potion for repairing months of damage, there does seem to be a common theme among fire departments. The information below represents some key areas that we must watch for in our fire departments, big or small. People are people, and most of us share the same concerns when it comes to fire relations in our departments. Keep in mind these are only professional suggestions and in many ways my personal opinion. I believe in home rule regarding the management of local volunteer fire departments. Your organization has served your community for many years and has navigated the waters, calm and rough. Take a carefully planned and open-minded look at the past, present, and future if your fire department is facing similar relations issues.
COMMUNICATION
In most cases of strife, you can avoid negative feelings with calm and open communication. When some members’ feelings are raw in your organization over one or multiple issues, each member, especially those in leadership and management positions, will have to keep an open mind and listen to people’s concerns. Officers handling disciplinary matters during and after calls or doing critiques and staff evaluations must mix corrective information regarding any member’s personal performance with positives. When discussing general issues facing the department (such as at a company meeting), people must remain calm and allow other parties to communicate their thoughts without being interrupted. In any situation where an issue could escalate tensions, attention should immediately focus on the chalkboard (or dry-erase board) and changing the tone of the conversation. Make every effort to move from a possible shouting match to a discussion that uses data and facts or pros and cons. This allows members to carefully and methodically resolve each part of the issue in a classroom environment, keeping it from becoming personal.
During times of sensitive member relations, social events should be a time for having fun and not simply an extension of firehouse “hot topic” discussions. Conversations at social events can center on historic fires, past apparatus, deceased members, and department history. Members should also work to keep family and community members out of company politics. Spouses and significant others tend to live the fire service in their home with their member partners. They can become as equally hurt or angry as their partner in times of firehouse disagreements and should be reminded that firehouse business is that of the adult member, who will have to resolve it on his own.
UP-TO-DATE BYLAWS OR POLICIES
In my experiences, departmental strife could have been avoided if the company had up-to-date bylaws; companies should ensure they follow bylaws whenever possible. In one recent experience, a chief officer resigned his position for personal reasons. Although the handling of resignations was clearly spelled out in the company bylaws, the organization had an assistant chief dangling in an acting capacity. Had this replacement mechanism been immediately followed when the chief resigned, questions surrounding “who was chief” or “who was moving up” would have been handled more smoothly.
The constitution and bylaws of any organization are always a work in progress. Establish and maintain a bylaw committee to keep the bylaws a living document. Avoid knee-jerk bylaw amendments or any bylaw amendment arising from the actions of an individual. When an organization reviews its bylaws, it must focus on what is good for the entire company and the community served. We must think about the five- and 10-year impact of any changes we make to our document.
ELECTIONS
You can easily tell when it is election time around a volunteer fire company. Member groups become more easily defined; people say things about people they might not normally say; and, in many places, you can feel the uncomfortable vibes. Elections can cause or aggravate bad feelings that already exist. Volunteer fire departments should make sure they have an open and democratic election process for their members.
In today’s world, well-written bylaws should require elections for as many positions in the department as possible to keep things fair and give as many people as possible an opportunity to serve. At the very least, the chief, deputy chief, assistant chief, and captain should be elected by the members, with terms to be decided by the bylaws committee and members.
The position of lieutenant is generally appointed in many departments and is a great stepping stone/training ground for young officers hoping to “wet their feet” in the officer arena. For that reason, I see no need to make them elected if your organization prefers not to. To ensure that future officers are properly trained for the job they seek, your bylaws committee should develop some basic training and education standards for future firematic officers. The bylaws committee should work with the district officers, board members, and general members to develop education standards. Your organization should make sure that training and education requirements are achievable for a cross section of your active members.
Training and education requirements and the availability of classes should never block a whole group of viable future officers from ever moving through the line. Also, any rollout of new requirements should take place with your 2009 or 2010 elections to ensure nobody is surprised by changes and that members who desire to be future officers have time to take classes and fulfill education requirements.
Another sure way to reduce poor member relations during the election process is to fully disclose results to all who attend the election meeting.
Last, the question of life or inactive members casting votes for officers, especially firematic officers, is always difficult. Life and inactive members who have served their communities have earned their status in the department and in many ways helped build the department; unfortunately, training, education, and competent skills are the standard by which we must judge firematic officers. Although each individual department should determine what works best for it, I believe that only active, responding members should vote for firematic positions in elections.
Unfortunately, people who have served their time and can now sit on the couch while volunteers are fighting fires and rendering EMS may not have all of the data needed to make a fully informed decision on who should be a firematic officer. No disrespect is meant to life or inactive members for their years of service, so please do not hammer me with e-mails claiming I am taking away your voting rights. Once again, home rule is important, and your organization must decide what is right for it.
CLEAR DELINEATION OF DUTIES
Small departments usually consist of more offices or positions than members; this can leave departments with few options. Some departments have to eliminate or merge positions through their bylaws. For example, one department from the 1950s to the 1980s had a corresponding secretary, a recording secretary, and a line secretary. As member numbers dropped, these three positions were merged to create a new position called “company secretary.”
If this scenario is not an option, small departments may allow members to hold multiple positions. However, this can lead to strife if people are not always clear on which hat they wear at any given time. Members of the board or fire commissioners may also be members of a fire company and may hold certain offices in a fire company and vice versa (with the exception, in most cases, of chiefs’ ranks).
All members who hold multiple officer positions in any capacity must make sure they function only in the role that is appropriate for the setting they are in; if they have to switch gears, they should clearly state from which position they are speaking. Members who may hold a firematic and an administrative or civil officer position must be careful not to make firematic statements while serving as a civil officer.
Members of a board should do their best to represent the board only in a regular or special meeting of the board. Individual members should also avoid speaking on behalf of the board and should clearly state they are speaking their opinion when discussing matters with other general members. It is not certain that blending duties is a problem linked to department size; I caution all departments to be conscious of this to keep good relations among members.
COMMITMENT TO SERVE
Volunteer firefighters and officers serve at will and have every right to join and participate by responding, fund-raising, and serving. Otherwise, they can resign and return to civilian life. It is their personal choice, based on many different forces at different stages of a firefighter’s personal and work life. However, when firefighters join, they do make some reasonable commitment to their department and their communities, often providing some level of facilities, apparatus, training, and equipment through tax dollars or donations.
In a health and safety issue, the firefighter should discuss the matter with a firematic officer, starting with the chief and the board of fire commissioners for resolution. If a bona fide concern goes unheeded, individual firefighters can decide against putting themselves in harm’s way. If the concern is of a personal, personality, or political nature, failure to respond is an unacceptable way to resolve those issues. Community members and guests should receive the best fire and EMS services regardless of whether people are getting along inside the firehouse walls. Members and officers must work to keep the lines of communication open.
It is my sincere hope that if your department is faced with internal issues, your organization will keep a cool head and work out the issues like a family. Coming from a large family, I know that families don’t always get along. However, when push comes to shove, they should always have each other’s back. Hopefully, your organization can get over this temporary bump in the road. Cooler heads must always prevail.
MICHAEL P. DALLESSANDRO is a 24-year volunteer firefighter and chairman of the Grand Island (NY) Fire Company board of directors. He has appeared at FDIC and is a trainer for the fire service and public transportation industry and for certified commercial vehicle drivers.
