Southfield turning down millions from FEMA that would add firefighter jobs

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., (WXYZ) - Why is the city of Southfield balking at millions of dollars from the federal government to help keep the city safe? Leaving all that grant money on the table raises a lot of questions – at a time when so many communities are strapped for cash.

The voters in Southfield just recently decided to dig a little deeper in their pockets to pass a millage so they could avoid laying off firefighters.
Action News has learned – layoffs could still be on the horizon. So why is the city saying “no thanks” to a $2 Million federal grant for the fire dept?

Trouble is smoldering in Southfield.

Firefighters say they’re on track to respond to a record number of calls for help this year… more than 12,000 in this city of 71,000 residents.

“Just because the economy’s bad, our numbers still increase,” said Southfield Firefighters Union President Tom Colombo.

While the fire and medical runs are on the rise –Colombo says staff numbers are so low, they’re calling in firefighters on overtime almost daily to cover shifts.

“My biggest concern is that we’ll be further reduced in numbers over the next few years, and already we are stretched beyond the point of where we can safely do our job,” said Colombo.

Hoping to beef up their ranks, the Southfield firefighters applied for something called a SAFFER grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Back in February, FEMA awarded Southfield the $2 Million grant which would pay the wages and benefits of 11 full-time firefighters for 2 years.

“For two years, this would enhance both the firefighter and citizen safety, it would reduce overtime, and it would give these people 2 years of employment, 2 years of experience, for their resume, for their future,” said Colombo.

David Bobcean is a rookie firefighter who would jump at 2 year job.

“Right now I would take anything that was offered to me, if it was offered to me, because it is such a hard field to get into,” said Bobcean.

Seems like a no-brainer: Millions from the feds – hire 11 people – everyone’s happy. Right? Wrong. It’s more than 5 months later – and Southfield still hasn’t collected the free FEMA cash.

“Other municipalities would grab the money and run,” said long-time Southfield resident Pam Gerald.

Gerald prides herself on being an outspoken regular at city council meetings. She wants to know why the grant still hasn’t been accepted.

“I think the residents were duped and bamboozled,” said Gerald.

City leaders say the economic crisis that has reduced their tax base by a billion dollars.. nearly forced them to lay off 49 firefighters. Before they could accept the grant – a millage had to be passed. So in May, voters overwhelmingly agreed to pay more taxes to save those jobs.

But Deputy City Administrator Fred Zorn says even with the millage – they don’t want to be in the position of having to let firefighters go when the grant ends.

“It really doesn’t make sense for good fiscally prudent managed communities to accept money knowing that in 2 years, they’re going to have to lay those folks off,” said Zorn.

“That sounds like politicians who just don’t want that on their watch. I mean, if you tell the people up front, it’s a 2 year gig – it’s a 2 year gig,” questioned Catallo.

“I think that’s a simplistic approach – it’s a 2 year gig, with a whole lot of restrictions,” claimed Zorn.

Those restrictions he’s talking about: federal rules would prohibit Southfield from laying off any firefighters during the 2 year period – even firefighters NOT covered by the grant.

While Zorn says on one hand, they don’t want the grant because they don’t want layoffs in 2013 – the economic crisis may send that no lay off goal up in flames much sooner.

“So even though your voters just passed a millage, you cannot guarantee there won’t be more layoffs in the Fire Dept,” asked Catallo.

“There are no guarantees relative to what’s going to continue to happen to our tax base,” said Zorn.

That’s not sitting well with taxpayers.

“We can’t afford to cut more people, we need those services, that’s why we voted for the millage,” said Lynda Beauregard.

“They need to do what they said they were going to do. Take the money use it, and put the people to work,” said Arnel Moore.

Southfield officials say when they gave the Fire Department the go-ahead to apply for this grant – the economic outlook was not nearly as dire as it is now for them. They’ve already missed one deadline for FEMA – it’s not clear when Southfield leaders will let the feds know what they’re going to do. If Southfield doesn’t accept the grant, FEMA can give the money to another city.