Much of the July 8 council meeting dealt with the departure of 24 career firefighters from the Greenbelt Volunteer Fire Department on June 30.
“[W]e’re doing our best to re-engage the county, change their decision on this, and we welcome citizen participation and writing letters, calling county council, calling [the] executive, calling Prince George’s County Fire Chief Tiffany D. Green. We welcome all those activities,” said City Manager Josué Salmerón.
Though the temporary restraining order was denied, “it’s not the end of the road for us,” assured Salmerón. “We’ll continue to work on our strategy – well we can’t disclose all of that – but we want the residents to know we’re committed to finding the best solutions to serving the interest and the public well-being of our residents.”
Mayor Emmett Jordan said council hadn’t wanted to file legal action “but we felt that we did not have any other choice.”
Salmerón put forward a proposal to reallocate $100,000 of the lost revenue category of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to go toward retention and recruitment incentives for volunteer firefighters. Previously $800,000 of this ARPA money was allocated for the pool deck renovations that the city now believes will be covered under Program Open Space funding, explained Salmerón. “A basis of the county’s summer staffing program is on the reliance of volunteer firefighters at our station,” said Salmerón who said he’d heard from the chiefs at Greenbelt and Berwyn Heights that they do not have the volunteers to cover the gap. “Our proposal for $100,000 cannot under any stretch of the imagination cover the gap that is being left by the county but it goes a long way to helping support the volunteer firefighters, that in addition to their full-time obligations and other obligations have given up their free time to support our communities and our neighbors in Berwyn Heights and College Park,” explained Salmerón. He wanted to leave the incentives open-ended to work out with Greenbelt Fire Chief Thomas Ray, but they might include gift cards for transportation, for example, as well as performance-based rewards for staff. The city suggested stipends for volunteers but the county was in opposition to that, said Salmerón, thus the city is leaving the language open to figure out with the chief “so that we don’t further antagonize the county on this matter.”
Ray could not attend the meeting, but later suggested that council look into a city tax break program like that in neighboring Laurel.
Jordan stressed the lack of time the city was given to plan for this situation and advocated for discretionary funding, especially since council would not meet again until the second week of August. Salmerón added that he would keep council informed.
Slow Onboarding
Councilmember Kristen Weaver called the measure a stopgap, expressed hope that the summer staffing would be temporary and some firefighters would be returned in October, and also suggested some of the funding could be used for the required training and certification for volunteers. Salmerón concurred that the county’s training involved bureaucracy and an excessive amount of time for onboarding. Councilmember Silke Pope noted the police department had been able to give signing bonuses to new officers. She also suggested asking the county to hold a training in Greenbelt. Jordan recommended an intensive training course. After the meeting, Ray clarified that firefighter training is available for free through the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute at seven locations in Maryland, but paramedic programs are only available through colleges for a fee.
Pope cautioned that they must be prepared in case it is not temporary and that career staff may not return. Councilmember Jenni Pompi noted the county was clear that what they would do in October was reassess, not necessarily return the firefighters.
Pompi made the motion that the city allocate up to $100,000 from ARPA funds to provide stipends and incentives to fire protection staff.
Resident and former mayor Judith Davis noted that the city owns the fire department building, and if the city cannot fill it with volunteer firefighters, neither will it be possible to get county support for building a new fire department at the armory as hoped.
Calls for Public Pressure
Resident Theresa Hornung argued that there needed to be resident involvement. “You’re not involving the community, so no noise is being made, so why should Green do anything?” asked Hornung. Jordan noted that the city had filed legal measures and advertised a list of people to contact in the July 11 News Review. Yet there was no online push, argued Hornung.
“I certainly would love our residents to write to everybody,” said Salmerón, who suggested the call could go in the city newsletter. “We’ve been trying to manage the relationship. I think with the lawsuit … it would be fair to say we can ask our residents to just jump onboard,” Salmerón said. Hornung said it seemed the city was accepting the situation and waiting until October. “I think you’re not seeing a lot of what is happening,” argued Weaver. “That doesn’t mean it’s not happening and sometimes it’s more effective to have some of the conversations behind the scenes,” Weaver told Hornung. “I know you guys can’t say the real reason it’s going on. I get it. I understand that,” replied Hornung.
Political Impetus
“The person who is mostly responsible for this, I believe, is running for the United States Senate … so this is the perfect time to say, hey, why are you doing this to us? This should be a part of the debate about who we want to represent us in the United States Senate,” said Councilmember Rodney Roberts. “That’s the only way we’re going to resolve it, really, is through public pressure. Public pressure is number one,” Roberts said, as Hornung concurred.
Resident Bill Orleans wanted to invite the county executive and fire chief to a public meeting in Greenbelt, rather than working behind the scenes or privately, so they could be asked questions directly. Orleans also called for professional firefighters throughout the county rather than a reliance on volunteers.
Legal action is still on the table, noted Salmerón, though discussion of that strategy needs to happen in closed session, he said.
Councilmember Amy Knesel said they were relying on the voices of community members as they figure out legal options. “I would also like to point out that if the person does not get elected to the Senate, she is our county executive for another two years so these are all things that we need to keep in mind as we figure out the best way to support our fire station.”
Resident Bob Rudd asked council to look at calling back funds from every department and service in order to implement whatever is needed to make Greenbelt safe. He also called for council to show “political courage … Whatever you’re doing behind the scenes … it is now time to do it in front of the scenes, in front of the cameras,” said Rudd, who called on council to censure County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
Knesel offered an amendment to reduce the proposed amount of discretionary funds from $100,000 to $54,200 (the amount cited by Ray as the cost to fully staff an ambulance with basic life support for overnight shifts through October). Knesel’s motion was rejected as a friendly amendment by Pope, who had seconded the original motion. Pope argued they wouldn’t be meeting for over a month so the city manager should have authority to use the funds because “time is of the essence … I’ll pull my amendment but I just want it noted that the expense makes me uncomfortable given that we don’t even know how much more we’re up against,” said Knesel.
The motion to allocate $100,000 then passed unanimously.
According to the proposal, “stipends and incentives” will go into effect as soon as possible, likely from mid-July until October, to be adjusted if some or all career firefighters are returned.
A closed executive session followed the council meeting.