Posted on the Town Facebook page HERE
At the October 7 Town Council meeting, Fire Chief Bo Butler delivered his resignation to the Town Council. In consideration of a number of inaccurate statements made since, we would like to clarify the following:
• Article 15 from the March 2024 warrant has been fulfilled as the voters approved. The Fire Department hired the four additional firefighters and introduced them at the September 23 Town Council meeting. However, the Fire Department has four people out on leave, reducing the total number of firefighters available for each shift without the use of excessive overtime.
• Neither the Town Manager nor the Finance Director told Chief Butler to drop from 13 people per shift to 11. The Fire Department’s overtime line is trending more than $200,000 over their budget just over three months into the fiscal year. The Fire Department and town leadership are working together to develop multiple options for dealing with this issue.
• The Town Manager and Town Council wholeheartedly support the Fire Department and all the town’s first responders. The Town Manager and Town Council have directed more than $5 million in new spending to the Fire Department since February 2022. The Fire Department is not the only organization protecting the health and safety of our community. Londonderry Police and the Department of Public Works are also crucial for our community’s safety, and their departments are also responsible for being mindful with taxpayer money.
For Town Manager Mike Malaguti’s full statement:
Posted on the Town website October 8, 2024 – 5:21pm
Chad Franz and I learned of the Fire Chief’s intention to resign entirely from the fire service ten hours before last night’s Town Council meeting. While the details of that conversation are private, it is important to note that we asked the Chief to reconsider, and for more time. When he indicated his mind was made up, I asked the Chief to remain a full-time member of LFD in some capacity. The Chief shared his love and support for us, and we did the same for him. I made no attempt to discourage the Chief from saying his piece last night in a way that was true to himself, as I have always done with all town employees.
The picture presented last night by the multiple speakers following the Chief’s departure is yet the latest, inaccurate portrayal of what is going on in the town departments, this time featuring a new low: the discussion of a town employee’s personnel material at a Town Council meeting recorded and broadcast across town. Since I appointed him just over a year ago, I have provided the Chief with the highest level of guidance, direction, coaching, and support, and have marshalled other resources to support him. It is noteworthy the Chief did not say otherwise.
The two budgets I have proposed to the Town Council since I became Town Manager include significant increases for LFD, including doubling the training budget which had not been increased since 2017, adding $66,000 for vehicle maintenance, $18,000 for station maintenance, $12,000 for the safety program, and $126,497 for overtime. In my first three years in office, I have proposed and the Town Council has approved $524,798 in budgetary increases for LFD, an increase of 6.5%. When this year’s Article #15 proposing $495,000 to hire additional firefighters is included, the budgetary increases the Town Council and I have supported rises to $1,019,798, or 12.7%.
I am also proud that over the past three years, the Town Council and I have supported other significant LFD requests, including:
- $709,969 in contract increases, which were ratified by the voters in 2022;
- $495,000 in funding (year 1 expense) for additional firefighters to staff each battalion at13, which the voters approved in March;
- $120,000 in funding to equip each riding position with an infrared camera;
- $146,135 in funding to purchase 4 mechanical lifts to move patients in and out of ambulances;
- $44,360 in funding to purchase an additional command car in order to ensure there is a backup when one is out of service;
- The addition of a second deputy fire chief;
- The creation of the assistant fire chief position;
- $2,255,928 in funding to purchase 2 new fire trucks;
- Funding firefighters to obtain paramedic schooling and credentials;
- $173,293.88 in funding to equip each vehicle with a “minimum load out” of gear and equipment; and
- $275,000 in funding for the fire equipment and vehicle purchase capital reserve accounts.
In sum, the residents of Londonderry should know that contrary to what was portrayed last night, the Town Council and I have supported more than $5 million in new funding for the Fire Department since I took office in February 2022 — an average of $163,734 per month.
My staff and I have also worked closely with the Fire Chief to fill staffing vacancies. In the three years I have served as Town Manager, we have hired 22 firefighters. It took 6 years and 2 months to hire the 22 firefighters before that, meaning we have more than doubled the pace of hiring since I took office. While LFD has been plagued by unfilled positions for years, the Town Council and I have supported filling each vacancy and we have retained these new employees. Our support for LFD does not end with funding decisions. The Town Council, my staff, and I have been proud to attend fire academy graduations, pinning and promotion ceremonies, retirements, and other important events that recognize the exceptional men and women of the Londonderry Fire Department.
The Town Council and I will remain committed to supporting our Fire Chief, command staff, and the members of 3160, and I will continue to do my job managing the Fire Chief and his town department. To clear up two inaccuracies that were posted by Local 3160 on social media, and alluded to last night, neither the Finance Director nor I have “mandated that Chief Butler reduce staff from 13 to 11 members per shift.” Instead, we informed the Chief that his overtime budget is trending $200,000 over budget just one quarter into the fiscal year, and we answered the Chief’s questions about possible strategies to address this trend. Similarly, the Chief was not “threatened … with disciplinary action if he does not comply.” This assertion is entirely made up.
We will continue to support LFD as careful stewards of the taxpayers’ money that has been entrusted to our care, as we balance LFD’s needs against the needs of our other vital first responders, the Police Department and DPW Department, whose work is equally important, so that Police and DPW spending and hiring do not need to be frozen for the second year in a row because of an LFD overtime deficit.
Mike Malaguti, Town Manager
October 8, 2024
For inquiries, please contact khildonen@londonderrynh.gov or (603) 432-1100 x153.
Added information posted on the town Facebook page