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Speaker Martinez and members of the
Council. My name is Eric Shultz and I am Vice President of the Patrolmen’s
union.
I am going to attempt in a few short
minutes to try to enlighten you of one of the most devious and underhanded
affairs perpetrated to this city in long time.
The story begins 2 years ago when 2
insurance associations began to question the assessments levied on them by the
board of Underwriters to fund the Patrol. They requested information as to why
they were being charged certain fees on their policies. Their requests were
denied. At this same time we became increasingly aware that an internal squabble
amongst the insurance companies was threatening to cause trouble for the Patrol.
Since that time, we have been crippled in
every way by the Underwriters in our attempt to save this job. When we learned
that an assessment report was being conducted, we immediately contacted
management with our concerns.
We energetically gathered photos of the
job in action for the last 2 years and submitted them to Mr. Serio only to never
see them appear in the report
We have gathered letters of commendation
from scores of business owners whose livelihoods have been saved only to never
see them in the report
We have made innovative suggestions
regarding publicity of our value to this city only to have them totally ignored
We offered to accompany Mr. Serio at
meetings to discuss our merits with potential successor companies only to be
rebuffed
We have been denied simple information
such as who are voting members in an effort to educate them before the vote was
conducted
And members have been threatened with
dismissal if they spoke to the media
It is for the above reasons we believe
that regardless of rhetoric to the contrary, a person or group of people have
been determined from the onset to steer this controversy in a direction
engineered to achieve a negative vote. And the question is why?
Is the board concerned about liability
now that symptoms from 9 11 are starting to show. Or is it just plain old
greed. Who is going to profit from the sale of the buildings and equipment, or
is just sheer incompetence. We have been told time and time again. Don’t
bother to ask questions you don’t need to know and we will handle this ourselves
Well thank you underwriters for this
mess you have made. The lives you have disrupted and ultimate price you
will cost this city. So once again history repeats itself, the people that
are actually performing the work are penalized and the managers whose
disgraceful handling of this whole affair are allowed to remain. The only last
insult left, is for them to be rewarded by their respective companies for
cutting costs. But that small saving will be miniscule compared to the
inevitable rate increases that will follow just as what occurred in any city
that has disbanded a Patrol
The insurance companies that are angry
at the board of underwriters are justified. They have met the same arrogance
and inept behavior as we have. But they are equally at fault, they ask us to
prove our worth and continue to snipe at our efforts to survive. As usual with
their myopic and secretive way of looking at things they were enticed by the
notion that they could reduce costs. They have allowed themselves to be
deceived and have voted on impulse rather than looking at the true facts. They
criticize the Underwriters for outdated figures yet continue to rely on 40 year
old assessment data that predates modern sprinkler systems. They neglect to
tell you that one of the components that a fire departments rating is based on
is the presence of a salvage unit. So how is this going to affect insurance
rates? The rates will rise when the claims increase because one thing is for
sure……. NO INSURANCE COMPANY IS GOING TO LOSE MONEY.
However,
We can meet here all day and hurl insults
and recriminations, and that allows us to vent our frustrations, but the time
has come at this 11th hour to come up with realistic solutions if we
want to provide our citizens with the same amount of protection that they have
enjoyed in the past. We are asking this body to make it known to the insurance
industry and the attorney general that a patrol is a necessary component of the
emergency service family of this city and demand that Elliot Spitzer put a halt
to this travesty and investigate the people involved
We are asking you to join us in crafting
a solution to this problem whether it be to assume the taxing authority of the
board of underwriters, or impose a user fee on the insurance companies to fund
the patrol, or institute a board of directors to run the unit under the auspices
of a city agency, or absorb the patrol into one of the emergency services and
reestablish a salvage corps just as the city had under the model cities program
in the 1980s.
I am confident that we can work together
to keep businesses in business when the water starts flowing. We pledge to
explore any option with you to find a solution and preserve the oldest salvage
corps in the United States.
Throughout our history, one of our
biggest problems has been the lack of publicity of our actions. Time and time
again while all cameras are trained on the flames and smoke and daring rescues
of the fire department, the patrolmen have been doing their job inside on the
floors below the incident and often emerge to an empty street after the
sprinkler system is restored and the building is secured. We look the same
except for the red helmet. Everyone assumes we are the fire department and even
the media is unaware. This has truly been a difficult year for us. We have had
to first educate everyone of our function and then convince them of our worth.
We know we are saving money. Business owners realize how fortunate they are
when we arrive. We knew that the size of this task to save the patrol was
almost inconceivable from the start, but we owe this struggle for existence to
the 67 men we represent and the memories of the 32 brave patrolmen that have
sacrificed their lives for the insurance industry.
In closing lets not have out of state
and global insurance interests tell us what’s best for New York. Let us tell
them we know what’s best for New York and that a viable fire patrol is necessary
for the economic stability of this city. Save the
Fire Patrol
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