This town has no idea what it's doing!!!!!

A failed levy MEANS that your bosses the people (mmm imagine that) dont want the levy passed???????? whats not to understand BUT because you who are the politicos and think you know better than the people will continue to spend our money until you get the result you want ???? elected to represent the people not to LORD OVER !!!! look one household can always be run cheaper and better than two - We are Ravenna --- the big egos are long gone (or are they?) Gordo and Paulie are long gone - get together - get it together, and iron out a fair solution for the betterment of THE RAVENNA COMMUNITY and just quit playing politics , ego games and what ever else anyone wants to call it --- this is so old and WE DESERVE BETTER AND I FOR ONE HAVE BELIEVED THAT EACH OF YOU ARE CAPABLE OF TRANSCENDING SELF to Make our COMMUNITY THE GREAT PLACE TO LIVE WE BELIEVE IT CAN BE _ thats why we are still here and why we voted for each of you! just get 'er done - and quit wasting money and time !!!!!!!!!

Ok my turn. I lived in Ravenna Twp most of my life, I too worked for the fire dept as both an officer and an emergency dispatcher. For those of you old enough, you remember when the Twp trustees told us we could run the fire dept for less than the 350,000.00 the city was gonna charge? And they said "As good or better" Now it is almost 800,000.00 to run the fire dept where most firefighters are part time? Hmmmm somebody lied! I was there up until 2002, I worked when we got paid less than 2.50 an hour! When Jim DiPaola was chief he knew full well that dispatch was going to cost the twp money and not make any money, he brought in his boys to run the place, then went to Ravenna City as chief and ran it into the ground! Along come Chief Beckett, brings his yes boys in, got rid of a bunch of DiPaola's boys and girls, tries to run the dept like a big city dept, gets into a heated battle with the trustees and quits! Along comes Chief Bosso, further cleans house, brings in his yes boys, makes some much needed improvements, but still costs the twp even more money! When does it stop? Time for the trustees, city officials to cut through the BS and get a fire district up and running! But they are too busy fighting over who will be in charge! Why do you think Bosso and his asst. are going to this fancy officers school? To help out Twinsburg FD? I think not!
I will be voting NO!

My standard is usually not to respond to anonymous complaints or blogs, but since this one has taken on a life of it's own, I have decided to go against my own advise and offer the facts:

Record Courier Article:
Colin McEwen didn't have the right numbers for his story, not even close! Instead of calling me to check his facts, he ran with it and as a result, it set off a firestorm of opinions around Ravenna Township and Portage County. As I cannot find any entry of $400,000 anywhere in my budget, I must assume that this was an arbitrary amount made up by the reporter and this after I saw our Fiscal Officer personally hand him the entire budget at an earlier trustee meeting. The Ravenna Township Fire Department (RTFD) brings in close to $692,000 alone in taxes each year and also receives another $170,000 from EMS contracts and EMS billing and another $64,619.00 annually for dispatching contracts. This is a far cry from the estimated "$400,000" that the Courier claims is our budget.

Payroll:
It did cost Ravenna Township $790,000 to pay our Fire/EMS and Dispatch staff, including myself. But to address comments regarding the overtime and wages, I offer this explanation: the RTFD staffs the fire division and dispatch center 24 hours per day, seven days per week and responds to over 1,200 calls annually with over 800 being EMS responses while the dispatch center handled over 5,000 fire/EMS calls for our 10 client fire department. Overtime can be earned from calling members in while the on duty shift is overwhelmed with calls and the station is empty (95 times in 2007) and it can also be earned when someone from the next shift calls off and nobody can be found to fill the slot. This means a member from the off-going shift is mandated to hold over and is compensated for those hours. Overtime is also earned when firefighters and dispatchers work predetermined holidays and to fill any open shifts that are below staffing minimums. Overtime was a problem last year. The majority was due to four of our part time members who consistently worked 48 hours per week taking fulltime jobs at other fire departments, which left nearly 10,000 of shifts hours to fill. As the four left, we aggressively recruited qualified firefighter/paramedics from throughout Portage County to fill the voids and relied on other part time members and part time staff to keep the staffing levels acceptable to providing the prompt and professional responses that all Township residents deserve. A shift with two or three members is unacceptable to me and should be for all of taxpayers as well.

Budgeting:
I have been working aggressively with the fiscal officer and board of trustees to address the staffing issue since the early spring of 2007. As part of my strategic plan, I have recently asked for, and been give permission to convene, a fire department finance committee to help oversee the current and future budgets of the RTFD and FireCom Center and I welcome any Township resident with fiscal officer or township governing experience to join us. We will be reducing the payroll and benefits by over $127,000 this year alone with a daily staffing reduction of one 24-hour shift and a more cost effective health benefits plan for our fulltime members. This savings also includes the promotions of two of our current part time members to full time after a two-part exam this month. By locking up two of our well-qualified part time members to a fulltime career with RTFD, we reduce the available part time hours and also add a sense of staffing security.

Staff:
While we recruit heavily for local residents to join the RTFD, it is difficult to hire the well-intended people who lack the required training. We will always hire the most qualified individual who already have their 240-hour firefighting and paramedic certificates over those who don't. During the past five years we went from nine paramedics on staff to 27. We received grants to pay for paramedic school for members who were already in the department for several years and also upgraded their firefighting certificates to 240-hour professional. We have a very qualified staff at RTFD, but we also pay by far, the lowest fulltime and part time wages for firefighters and dispatchers compared to other Portage County fire department with our size and call volume.

Firing/Hiring:
To date, I've only recommended the firing of one person and it wasn't even a firefighter. Other personnel have voluntarily resigned. Good people have come and gone due to fulltime job offers elsewhere and some have left because they couldn't let go of the past or just didn't do their job to our satisfaction and refused to be coached into doing so. Thanks for your years of service, and I mean that!

EEOC Complaint:
Yes. There were two duplicate ones filed by two different former members during my first six months on the job and the commission dismissed them both rather quickly. Where's the rest of the link?

That Other Job:
Yes. I work in Twinsburg and have for the past 18 years as a career firefighter/paramedic. I'm the senior shift captain there and have benefited from working in a busy and fast growing environment. Experience gained and lessons learned have been applied to my Chief position in the Township and no, the RTFD is not run like Twinsburg. We have adapted many of the gold standards and best practices from that organization and it's been reciprocal. Some RTFD standards and tactics have even made it to larger firefighting organizations. All told, I give between 80 and 90 hours per week to the fire and emergency medical services of two communities.

Chief's Car:
I personally do not take benefits or pension from Ravenna Township in my "part time" role, but I can assure you that the residents are getting their money's worth out of the Chief's position and probably save another $75,0000 per year in the extra wages and benefits that is commensurate with an administrator responsible for our run volume, a dispatch center and 40 personnel. I work 30-50 hours per week in the RTFD office alone and this doesn't include my work from home. I do have a Chief's vehicle provided to me and it is outfitted with all of my fire gear, two powerful mobile radios, tactical worksheets, pre-plans, a medical bag and other items needed to run an incident or to provide initial medical care. I am required to take the vehicle home in Bath Township (33 miles) and to my job in Twinsburg (only when I am going to RTFD the next day). It wasn't always required, but when I arrived at a scene without it once and didn't have the proper tools for the job, it's now not an option. The vehicle is clearly and proudly marked "Ravenna Township" and you can best believe that it's at work, at some meeting, conference or emergency scene. I get no extra pay for being called in during the middle of the night for emergency runs or personnel problems. In fact, I dip into my own pockets many times each year by buying my own gas and paying for food while at conferences, or flowers for sick/deceased family members of our members. Last year it was over $1,800. As for the comment about burning things down before I get there, nopedoesn't happen. The RTFD now has capable officers who make the correct decisions when it comes to aggressive firefighting and the saving of property, even before I get there and I'm extremely proud of all of our officers and firefighters for their firefighting and medic prowess.

Ohio Fire Executive (from the other blog):
I graduate in June after receiving the education of my life. Didn't cost the Township anything either. The $9,500 came from two grants and a scholarship that I received. In fact, with the scholarship, the Township is UP $1,500. Assistant Chief Morgan is going this year, on Twinsburg's dime, as he is a captain there like me. No cost to the Township, but big, big value. All of my applied research projects, papers and strategic plans were based solely on Ravenna Township and it has all been beneficial and put to use. After this year, there will be only two fire chiefs in all of Portage with OFE honorific and with Chief Paulus attending the current class; it'll make three in 2009. It's a difficult but satisfying executive program and I wish the next three fire officers attending from Portage County all of the knowledge and confidence it's given me (I know you're reading thisget back to your assignments!)

FireCom Center:
Well, Chief Miles had it right so just page down to his entry. I will add that I have ALWAYS been and still remain in support of a regional dispatch center (fire/EMS only) and that's on record with the Portage County Chief's Association, EMA and the Commissioners. When the radio and dispatching equipment is old and in need of replacement, and the other fire departments in Portage County can't hear the dispatchers, you find a way to make it happen. We did and we're good to go until that 40-year-old regional dispatch project finally arrives. I always said that I'd personally rent the truck and provide to any chief who wants the responsibility of running FireCom Center. It's important, but it's not easy and NO, it never has made money since before I even got there.

More Money for RTFD:
During the past five years I have personally authored Fire Act (FEMA) and Ohio EMS grants for RTFD and FireCom Center and we have been fortunate to receive awards totaling over $750,000 to replace aging and dangerous firefighting equipment, gear and an entire communications center and radio system. We have refurbished fire response vehicles to prolong their useful life instead of buying new and have saved the Taxpayers over $250,000 in the process. I am still awaiting word of the federal SAFER grant, which would pay the wage and benefits of the above-mentioned two new fulltime members, at a declining scale over five years. The savings alone would be another $114,866 for the first year.

Fire District:
I have attended each and every Portage Area Fire & EMS Study Committee (PAFERSC) meeting since it's inception over a year ago. Not only that, I attend a meeting the same morning of PAFERSC with other Chiefs in the organization in an effort to utilize our solidarity in ways to make our responses more efficient, gain group pricing and to research other innovative ways to provide better services. In addition, the Township and City fire department officer staffs meet regularly in joint session to improve joint responses and to best utilize the limited staffing at both departments. Many, many hours of work have gone into the fire district concept and there will be many more to come. We are all trying to come up with more efficient ways of providing services, but without sacrificing the quality. And it may not be cheaper.

Yes, there is more to do. But I want to leave the Township residents with this: You have a dedicated, professional, compassionate and cost-effective staff that is now well equipped and heavily trained and ready for the future, whether it be the sole provider of fire/EMS to Ravenna Township, part of a fire district or a re-blending with the City fire department. We don't live in the lap of luxury here and we do without more that anyone realizes. We have tried to keep costs down, but tell that to the utility companies, gas companies or the nine-year-old rescue squad that needs to be replaced. We can get by with the fiscal changes, but that doesn't get us the badly needed new heart monitors or updated thermal imaging devices.

Many comments on this blog are directed towards the trustees, the former fiscal officer and myself. Some are downright nasty and uncalled for but most are as a result of bad information and lies from bitter and under informed internal sources within the Township itself, and former employees. The entries from the concerned township residents are the ones that I'm really concerned about and this reply is for you alone. My door has always been open to questions and concerns and since I'm a spreadsheet and data base geek, I can provide you with any stat you desire.

Thanks to everyone who offered the positive comments and support.

Respectfully submitted,

Steven Bosso, Fire Chief
Ravenna Township

All of this makes one wonder if this is why one of the Trustees took so much of her time to travel around the township, knock on our doors, to help get the new Fiscal Officer elected. Was this part of a cover up in the finacial dept.? Thank you Record Courier for reporting, otherwise all of this would have went on without the publics knowledge. At least she can afford the luxury vehicals.

First off I think the firefighters are great and are clearly not the problem. The problem lies with Chief Bosso and the Trustees. It is clear that there is a problem. In an earlier comment jjbrown19481 stated that fireone should file an age discrimination compaint. I know for a fact that happened just visit, "www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opionions.pdf/05a0882n-06.pdf" for a court case involving Ravenna Township and a firefighter. Interesting reading.

I just check'd out the website recommended by "nottieu", check out the Levy Center. A fact sheet is post'd there by Trustee Bob Cherry dated 2006. I know that Ravenna Township tax payers passed the General Fund Levy, what I didn't know is that I voted to fund the Constable! Why then did Bob Cherry, Pat Artz and Hank Gibson in turn get rid of the Constable and his position? I am not sure if Hank was part of that, but if not he sure should raise that question to the other two! I think we should get a petition to either oust the Trustees or return the Constable, its what we voted for! I think the firefighters do a great job, its the Trustees who need a tune up.

Heres another slow witted fact. Ravenna to Bath acording to mapquest takes 41 minutes to drive 33 miles ones way. According to others Chief Bosso puts in 30 hrs per week. that would be about 4 days. Which in turn means he drives approx. 12,500 miles per year just to get home. Based on .45 per mile thats $5,700.00 per year. Enough to pay a part time firefighter $10.00 per/hr for 570 hours. Ask for entertainment and you shall recieve!

I like Beverly Hartongs comments in Fridays Record Courier. Since the 1994 inception alot of things have changed. They hired a chief outside the county, he in turn got rid of the local firefighters and hired his buddies from outside the county, and they won't drive that far to be volunteers for a community they don't reside in. One of the two trustees that are responsible for the budget blunder is afaid of the other. And if you speak up about the wrong doing they let you go. You don't have to take my word for it, just ask any of the four or five assistant secretaries that have been dismissed in the past few years. I think the Fiscal Officer that resigned was smart, get out before it all comes crashing down around your ears. My vote is NO!!!!

I no longer live in Ravenna Township, but I still have a lot of family that lives there, including an elderly grandfather. He has never needed the services of the fire department, but he has friends who have been lucky enough to be treated by these caring and professional individuals, and someday he MAY need them. It seems like the same good old boy politics are still in play when the trustees and administrators are unaffected by budget cuts (someone has a brand new Escalade)but are willing to sacrifice not only service to the community by cutting back on staffing but also are willing to take away the livelyhood of their dedicated firefighters.And by the way, does anybody know why there is an Assistant Fire Chief in Ravenna Township? Or what an "Equipment Manager" does? (Check the websight.) What exactly comes out of tax dollars to pay them? My grandfather is retired, and my parents are not far behind.Come on, citizens, let's put the pressure where it needs to be and quit sacrificing service -maybe it's time for the administration to step up and get rid of unecessary expenses and quit putting the residents at risk to look better.