Spencer Short VS Lincoln FD – Pay Close Attention

When I first heard that Spencer Short was at odds with the firefighter’s union, I thought he had seen the face of Jesus and become a Conservative.

Spencer is a member of the Placer GOP Central Committee and is a huge fan of Beth Gaines over some sort of billboard bill she got passed (that may have been written by staff so that is wasn’t a repeat of Friday’s floor debaucle)…

Mr. Short also got $1,000 as part of the nearly $35,000 he had to spend to defend his infestation of the Lincoln City Council from the Firefighter’s Union.

I think the Union is regretting that decision.

Spencer Short has been the poster child for the shuttered fire station in Lincoln. He has been there the longest on the council and the Station sits idle with a ladder truck worth nearly $1.5 million in it.

Spencer wants it open.

So – he tried to jam a proposal through the council to open said fire station with 2 Firefighters per truck, not three. This would take the already minimal staff and spread them across more trucks. Imagine a three-man defensive line without a Nose Tackle.

It gets better – apparently, there is actually money to hire more fire fighters. The proposal is to hire two firefighters or a battallion commander. The two are similar in cost.

Logic says, if your fire service is on a skeleton crew – hire two dudes, and fast. Short wants a Batallion Commander so that fire station three can be re-opened with the two-men-per-truck option.

The Union Posted this on their facebook wall:

Dear followers of Lincoln Professional Firefighters. We are here to let the people of Lincoln know that your Firefighters want only the best for you. There was a decision made by city council last night on changing our ways of staffing. They decided to go from 3 person engine companies to 2 person engine companies. They did this to open the McBean station. This idea was not brought to our attention to be discussed as a department and implemented without input from the people that are actually on the engines running the calls. We do not support this plan and do not support how this was brought upon us. This plan can compromise our safety and quality of service and care for you. We agree that the 3rd station needs to open, but it needs to be done right with staffing of 3 personnel. Our stance is two engines with 3 would be more effective than 3 stations with 2. We know this posting might create discussion, some agreeing, some not. Feel free to ask questions. If this turns into a heavy topic of discussion, we are willing to set a date to meet and greet our citizens to inform you facts and stats to educate you on how exactly an engine company works. Thank you for your time.

Wow, Spencer Short can’t win for losing, he’s wrong again.