Mar. 27—OGDENSBURG — City Manager Mohideen F. Buharie has authorized the city’s fire chief to hire two firefighters to improve morale and to save in overtime and other costs.
Mr. Buharie made the announcement during the new business portion of Monday night’s City Council meeting.
“There has been an ongoing debate surrounding the hiring of firefighters since I took office,” Mr. Buharie said. “After carefully considering the fiscal impact, both short- and long-term, I have realized the morale of staff. I have decided to direct Fire Chief Ken Stull to hire two firefighters immediately.”
The decision by the new city manager, who began on March 1, comes after much debate over the hiring of more firefighters between members of City Council and the union representing the city’s firefighters, Ogdensburg Professional Firefighters Local 1799.
The two firefighters would give the fire department a chief, four captains and 14 firefighters. The two new members will have to be trained before they could begin to take some of the overtime burden from the current staff.
Mr. Buharie said that he knows his decision may be controversial, but he firmly believes that the move is “necessary to improve the staff morale, enhance fire safety and ultimately save overtime and minimum staffing costs.”
“I humbly request that the Ogdensburg Fire Department union consider this decision as a good-will gesture and take it into account during the future negotiations with the city. I am committed to working together with all stakeholders to build a better future for the city of Ogdensburg,” Mr. Buharie said.
The announcement is positive news, Local 1799 President Jason T. Bouchard said.
“It is truly refreshing to see an Ogdensburg City Manager seize the opportunity to provide the citizens with increased fire protection at a lesser cost to taxpayers. While Mr. Buharie’s decision was a no-brainer on its surface, Local 1799 realizes that his decision may not be popular with some members of city council,” Mr. Bouchard said. “Our overworked members, however, will accept the additional help with open arms.”
The union president said that the hires will help “reduce firefighter fatigue” and “allow Ogdensburg Firefighters to honor the oath we pledged to protect the city.”
The hires come after Comptroller Angela M. Gray and Chief Stull presented a 10-year staffing analysis to council on March 20 that showed hiring four more firefighters would save the city more than $227,000 due to decreases in overtime and hazard pay.
A vote to hire the four positions failed following that presentation. It needed five votes because it was brought from the floor and councilors voted not to bring it up at a future meeting.