Firefighter calls out council members for fire department-related votes

City of Bardstown firefighter Justin Brown was critical of votes by council members Kecia Copeland and Francis Lydian. Brown spoke at Tuesday’s meeting of the Bardstown City Council.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, May 24, 2016, 11:30 p.m. — Tuesday’s Bardstown City Council meeting featured an unusual event — a fulltime city firefighter calling out members of the city council for their votes related to the city fire department budget requests.

Bardstown Firefighter Justin Brown called out Councilman Francis Lydian and Councilwoman Kecia Copeland for actions he said did not show their support for the safety of city firefighters.

Councilman Francis Lydian responded to Brown’s suggestions his actions did not match his words of support for the city’s fire department.

Brown said he was speaking out on behalf of the city fire department’s 14 members of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a labor union that has represented firefighters’ interests since it was founded in 1918. The IAFF represents approximately 85 percent of professional firefighters in the U.S.

Brown asked Lydian why he voted against Fire Chief Randy Walker’s request to solicit bids for a new ladder truck at the council’s Tuesday, April 12 meeting. Brown said that Lydian and Copeland also cast votes against the purchase of the new ladder truck at the May 10 council meeting.

“That gives us great concern from the city firefighters organization,” he said. “You’re saying you’re here for us, but in my opinion, actions speak a lot louder than words.”

Brown was also critical of Lydian’s “no” vote regarding the 2015-16 city budget that included funding for a full-time fire department, as well as Lydian’s comments at Monday’s safety committee meeting that he he was dead-set against the city using the Kentucky State Police for police and fire dispatching.

“In our opinion that’s not the type of mentality we need to have from an elected official,” he said. “You should be able to go to a meeting and have an open mind.”

Lydian restated his support for the fire department, adding that “I am my own person, and no one tells me what my opinion should be. I make my own mind up, and no one tells me how to vote.”

Lydian said he voted against last year’s budget because he supported keeping the city and volunteer fire departments together. His vote against the ladder truck purchase was because he was asked to decide on buying the truck without having sufficient time to review the bid.

When Brown tried to respond to Lydian’s comments, he was gaveled down by Mayor John Royalty.

Later in the meeting, Copeland told Brown the questions she had regarding the recent ladder truck purchase were based on her thoughts that finding a late-model used truck would have saved the fire department money for the next equipment purchase — a pumper truck it has requested for fiscal year 2017.

Councilwoman Kecia Copeland listens as Brown voices criticism of votes cast by she and Lydian.

Copeland said the intent was never to give firefighters less-than-safe equipment, but of finding a less expensive alternative to a brand-new fire truck.

Had the firefighters found a less-expensive ladder truck, the council may have approved the back-to-back purchase of an additional fire truck in the 2017 budget, she said.

Copeland said she was disappointed that Brown chose a council meeting for airing his concerns when he had plenty of opportunities to contact her outside a council meeting.

“If you had a question, you should have come to me, or you should have told the chief and he could have called me,” she said. “And I would have given him the same answer I’m giving you now.”

Copeland told Brown she’s on the record voting in support of the fire department. “Whatever you needed I made sure you had it,” she said.

“We all went out on a limb when you said you needed around-the-clock fire department support, we did that,” she said. “We’re sitting here right now wondering how we’ll get through the next budget to continue to pay for services.”

Copeland reminded Brown that equipment requests from other city departments are frequently denied or delayed for a future budget cycle.

FIRE TRUCK BUDGET HISTORY. This time last year, the council had approved former Bardstown Fire Chief Marlin Howard’s 2015-16 budget request of $650,000 for a new combination tanker/pumper fire truck. The new truck was included in the budget approved by the council in June 2015.

Last November, Howard was fired as fire chief. The department’s new chief, Randy Walker, changed the department’s budget request from a tanker/pumper truck and requested instead a replacement a new ladder truck — a more expensive apparatus.

By re-using serviceable equipment on the old ladder truck and by agreeing to purchase a demonstrator unit, Walker was able to save money on the purchase. The sale of the old ladder truck will help cover the ladder truck’s costs once the new truck arrives, he said.

The fire department’s 2016-17 budget request includes $650,000 for new pumper truck.

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