False Information on N.C. Fire, EMS Cuts say Officials

March 09--CAPE CARTERET -- No staffing cuts are included in the proposed budget for the Western Carteret Fire & EMS Department but rampant speculation about another reduction in force has concerned citizens speaking out against any cuts and officials in Cape Carteret refuting accusations against the town.

Cape Carteret Mayor Dave Fowler said false information has been widely circulated around the community through fliers to businesses and residents and posts on various Facebook pages that indicates town officials want to cut six positions from the department.

Fowler said the town board has not discussed additional staffing cuts or made any recommendation to the Western Carteret Interlocal Agency board of directors, the governing board for the department, to do so.

The information being distributed encouraged residents of the fire department's district to attend Wednesday night's meeting of the ILA board.

"It's upsetting to us that letters are being initiated by people accusing us of discussing (future) cuts for the ILA. Those accusations are absolutely false," Fowler said.

Fowler said that in looking into the matter it appears the unknown source of the information may have incorrectly used information from a retreat of the Cape Carteret Board of Commissioners.

Fowler said Commissioner Richard Hunt, who is a town representative on the ILA board gave a brief presentation on the ILA during the retreat. That presentation referenced staffing cuts made last year.

Five full-time positions were cut in December in a budget-cutting move that has helped to keep two paramedics on each shift, one full-time and one part-time.

The speculation over further cuts has residents upset over the possibility of having only three people per shift, with only one of them being a paramedic.

Several spoke during the public comment period at the ILA meeting to express their opposition to any further cuts and show their support for department members.

Reducing staff would increase response time and leave just one medic per shift to answer calls in a fire district that includes the four western towns and some unincorporated area. "I encourage you to be thankful for the people you have and to take that to heart," said Peletier resident Richard Kisner.

Diane Browning said the fire department members work hard for the community and are there to help when needed.

"I tell you right now you should go home and feel very fortunate," she said.

Cutting staff too much, they said, puts the community in jeopardy in case of fire or medical emergency.

"What if it's your family" Scotty Hill, a former department member, asked the board. Western Carteret Fire & EMS Chief Kevin Hunter presented the department's proposed budget for the next fiscal year during the meeting.

The proposal does not include any staffing changes and Hunter told the ILA board after the presentation that he had gotten phone calls from people asking if more cuts were planned and was as surprised as others to hear about the talk going around.

"I told them I didn't know anything of it and hadn't been told anything," he said.

On Thursday, Hunter said that as chief he has not recommended and would not support any further reduction in the department's staff. Nor has the ILA board proposed more cuts. "The majority of that (ILA) board does not want to see staffing cut any lower," he said.

Hunter said the cuts made last year were a recommendation of the Carteret County Fire & EMS Commission. He said he had hoped to reduce the staff through attrition but had to make the five cuts in December when that didn't occur.

The department now has a full-time paid staff of 12, plus the chief and an administrative assistant.

Five people are on duty each shift. Two are paramedics, with one being full time and the other part time.

Fowler said the town is trying to determine the original source of the false information being circulated about the town.

"The reason we're trying to find the original genesis of this misinformation is that if it was generated by people associated with the ILA or the fire department, that's problematic," he said.

The Western Carteret Interlocal Agency board will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget for 2012-2013 on March 20 at 6 p.m. at the Western Carteret Fire & EMS station.

Copyright 2012 - The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.