Mischaracterizing The MVFD Ambulance Fund

“The Ambulance service is Middlebury's own "bail out"--public money finances them and they keep the profit. We can get it for free”

Mr. DeAngelis continues to mischaracterize how the MVFD Ambulance is funded and operated. He would like you to believe that the MVFD Ambulance is 100% funded by Taxpayer money. Incorrect. The truth is, that the Town’s contribution, when looking at all the costs and expenses in running such an operation, is a relatively small investment, that reaps great benefits for the community.

What the Town contributes:

1) Fuel.

2) Insurance on the vehicles and for the few members who are not cross-trained as firefighters.

What the MVFD contributes:

1) All equipment and supplies.

2) Oxygen for the police officer’s vehicles.

3) Call Alerting Pagers for volunteers.

4) The MVFD pays $80,000 per year for ALS (Advance Life Support) services from Campion Ambulance.  This is a cost normally picked up by the Taxpayers.  The MVFD pays the bill.

This also guarantees that Middlebury has available a Paramedic car that will respond to Town 24 hours a day. There is a medic always on call.  No hour waits for an ambulance, which has happened to others who have no such arrangement.

5) Training. The ambulance will not roll unless we have MRTs and EMTs to staff it.  The MVFD will be launching a campaign this fall to attract new MRTs and EMTs.  These new members will have to be trained, and this is where the money will come from.

Recertification expenses for existing MRTs and EMTs are also paid from this account,

6) Most importantly, the fund pays 100% for any new ambulance.  Currently, Middlebury has a new ambulance on order.  The price tag is rapidly approaching $190,000.00.  Not one penny of the cost of this new ambulance will come from taxpayer funds.

All remaining funds that are left at the end of the year go back into an account to start saving up for the next ambulance, and for any other equipment the Department deems necessary for the continual successful operation of EMS in Middlebury.  

This is an extraordinary deal for Middlebury Taxpayers. 

To suggest that this fund be used to quote “bailout” the Town is ridiculous and would be foolish. It would be the equivalent of killing the “goose that laid the golden egg.” The Ambulance Fund is not a bottomless pit.  It’s continual success hinges on two key elements.

1) Keeping government interference out of what is now working successfully privately.

If the Town starts to tap from this fund, there will not be the funds in the account the next time a new ambulance needs to be purchased. The Town will be faced with the same apparatus replacement woes they are realizing now. 

2) Staffing the ambulance with MRTs and EMTs.  If these dedicated individuals stop responding, the fund will simply disappear.  The MVFD is only collecting funds if our ambulance is transporting the patient.

What needs to be done in this community, is to motivate more residents to help out and to volunteer.  The MVFD needs MRTs and EMTs. Our ambulance will not roll at all unless people volunteer.

The Department will train you.  Day and evening classes will be available this fall. Call Fire HQ for more details.

This Is What Happens When You Lose Your Volunteer Fire Department

 BY PAUL SINGLEY 
 REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN 
  NAUGATUCK — The Board of Finance has suggested bring ing in volunteer firemen to cut back on firefighter overtime costs.
  However, plans to bring back volunteers, who haven’t had a presence in borough firefight ing since the 1980s, have failed several times for many reasons, not the least of which is volun­teers just aren’t coming for ward, according to borough officials and firefighters.
  “The days when the whistle blows and 50 people leave the rubber shop to go fight a fire are gone in this community,” Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Hanks said. “We’re not anti-vol unteer; it’s just not going to work.”
  The latest push to bring back volunteers was in 2006, when former Mayor Ronald S. San Angelo and firefighters tried to recruit volunteers to help, but not replace, the borough’s 38 paid firefighters.
  Officials advertised the plans in local newspapers, spread the word throughout the community for several weeks and only a couple volunteers showed up to meetings, San Angelo said. The volunteers who originally showed interest never followed through, and San Angelo even tually scrapped the idea.
  While bringing back volun teers seems like it could help Naugatuck cut back on fire fighter overtime — which cost the borough $746,313 last year — it likely would not, Hanks said. He said the borough must have eight paid firefighters on duty at all times. If someone calls in sick, a volunteer cannot fill that person’s shift. To change that, the borough must negotiate the terms in a con tract with the local firefighter’s union, Hanks said.
  Paid Naugatuck firefighters also won an arbitration hearing several years ago when the state’s Department of Labor ruled that volunteer firefighters could not be used in place of ca reer firefighters unless the career firemen are called first and fail to respond to a call.
  Firefighters say that over the years, several volunteers have received training that the borough paid for, and then left to become career firefighters in other communities.
  Today’s volunteer firefight ers need many hours of train ing. Basic training required by state law, plus equipment, costs between $2,000 and $2,500 per firefighter. Hanks noted those are one-time costs, but said they add up because there is so much turnover in volunteer de partments.
  He said other local communi ties are able to make their all volunteer departments work because they have a long histo ry of volunteer firefighting. “Their fathers, brothers, grand fathers, cousins all volunteered,” he said. “That type of tradition hasn’t existed in Naugatuck in 20 years.”
  Still, Hanks was excited about bringing back a volunteer base in 2006, until the volunteers never showed up.
  Fire Chief Charles Doback Jr. said it was easy to get volunteers when Uniroyal Chemical and Risdon manufacturing were major employers in town.
  “Once those companies faced difficult times, it became an economic hardship on businesses to let employees out,” he said.

----------------------------------------

The total budget for the MVFD is $214,000.00. Naugatuck paid $746,313.00 last year in just overtime costs alone.

73% of all firefighters in the United States are volunteer, a tradition that dates back to 1736 when Ben Franklin organized the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia.  

It is increasingly difficult today to attract and retain volunteer firefighters. Every community in the United States that host volunteer departments has the same problem. People just do not have time to make such a commitment.

Since 9-1-1 many aspects of the fire service have changed. Volunteer firefighters now face Fire Fighter I courses that are approaching 200 classroom hours, up from 160 hours a year ago.  There is NIMS training, OSHA training, EMS training, HazMat training and drills firefighters must complete.

In 1983 the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) published their second edition of Essentials of Fire Fighting.  This text is widely considered the “bible” of fire service education.  IFSTA’s second edition was 410 pages.  Essentials 3rd edition was published in November of 1992, and the text grew to 590 pages. The 4th edition was published in 1998 and grew again to 712 pages. The current version of Essentials was published in January of 2008.  This current version, in a post 9-1-1 world, is now an astounding 1407 pages long.

Volunteer fire fighting is no longer just showing up and jumping on the engines.  The training is demanding, yet the MVFD is fortunate that there are still men and women in Town that are dedicated to their community and step forward to undertake this incredible challenge.

Softening this massive training blow, is Chief Perrotti who is certified as an instructor (among holding numerous other certifications), who teaches a variety of fire fighter courses in-house.  This saves the Town thousands of dollars that they would have had to spend sending prospective firefighter candidates to area fire schools.

The MVFD is one of Middlebury’s most precious assets. The volunteers save the taxpayers millions of dollars. Paid departments such as Naugatuck are looking for ways to cut their costs.  Volunteers may be an option.

 

Who Is Telling The Lie? You Be The Judge.

Latest Perrotti lie 

“At the last budget meeting Paul Perrotti went up to an individual and 

told another lie about Pat DeAngelis... that St. John gave DeAngelis the 

decision of the judge. Not true at all. 

Paul is no genius but even HE must know there is such a thing as the CT Judicial Website. If one has even half a brain one can access almost any public legal information.”

It is true that the Judicial Branch website is full of information, but none about the Perrotti \ St. John case.  It is not there and never was there, and will never be there.

If you do some research you will find out the following? 

“The Judicial Branch website has Superior Court data only. This includes motions and party data. Data is provided for civil/family, criminal/motor vehicle and housing matters. For the actual court files and written opinions, are available by contacting the clerk's office at the court.

A couple of Superior Court decisions (ex. Wendt v. Wendt) have been published due to their highly controversial nature. However, this is rare.

Supreme and Appellate Court decisions are published when released at http://www.jud.state.ct.us/external/supapp/aro.htm#supreme  and http://www.jud.state.ct.us/external/supapp/aro.htm#Appellate  They are in PDF format. These files are generated on the typesetting system as part of the printing process for the weekly Connecticut Law Journal.”

So the truth is,  

1) Superior Court decisions can only be obtained through the clerk’s office and are not published on the website.

2) Any decisions that are published are generated via the court’s typesetting system.  A typesetter is not a xerox machine, but part of the printing process for the Connecticut Law Journal.  This information, by the way, is copyrighted.  Mr. DeAngelis would have had to seek written permission to post it on his website if it actually ever existed, which it did not.

Where Did The St. John / Perrotti Decision Originate?

“... and that St. John gave DeAngelis the decision of the judge. Not true at all.

Paul is no genius but even HE must know there is such a thing as the  Judicial Website.  If one has even half a brain one can access almost any public legal information.”

Which half of the brain do you need to use to find what Mr. DeAngelis says he found? He actually does not state that he obtained the Perrotti VS St. John Decision from the CT Judicial Website.  You know why? Because it is not there!  If it was there Mr. DeAngelis would have provided the link to bolster his argument.

But just for fun, I engaged half my brain and visited the CT Judicial Website;

http://www.jud.ct.gov/index.html

I could not find it, even using both halves of my brain.  You can search the entire site and nothing about the case comes up.

But, there is more.  Court decisions are typed up on computers, they are then made into PDF files and published on the Judicial Website.  They are in essence, originals.

Mr. DeAngelis published a PDF that was a xeroxed copy.  Why would the state of Connecticut take a decision that was prepared using a computer, print it out on paper, then scan each page back into a computer, use desktop software to arrange each page and create a PDF? Even for the State, with all it’s inefficiency would not do that. They would do what everyone else does who creates PDFs.  They could create their document, and with one click of the mouse it is made into a PDF file.  

All the decisions posted on the CT Judicial Website I found are clean PDFs.  They are not xeroxed copies, scanned and then made into PDFs.

What also is curious is that Mr. DeAngelis’s copy is indeed marked as “COPY.” No other decision on the website is marked in such a manner.  Who would get copies marked as “COPY”; plaintiffs and defendants.

How was it that Mr. DeAngelis was able to find this decision on the CT website and publish it on his website even before Neil Perrotti was aware of the decision?  

It seems obvious that Mr. DeAngelis and Mr. St. John now enjoy a close working relationship.

Freedom Of Speech Can Be Loud

Tom Gormley doesn't understand the first thing about courtesy and 

democracy. If someone, in this case, Mike McCormack of the Finance 

Committee disagrees with him, Gormley screams and makes wild 

accusations.

            Gormley's behavior only encourages goon squad...Tom Gormley's behavior at meetings encourages boorish behavior by others. The behavior of the First Selectman and others in this town is just downright embarrassing. It's bad enough to be dumb, but to be dumb and 

malicious, well that's a bad combination. Even Tom would have to admit 

to that.

 

Town Hall meetings can get emotional.  That actually is democracy and freedom of speech in action.  It is what built this country, as illustrated during the little meeting they held in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1776. It was 72.5 degrees when Thomas Jefferson arrived at the statehouse. All the doors were shut and locked. The tall windows were also shut, so that the loud quarreling voices inside could not be heard by passersby. The voices that helped shape this country were not quiet.  They were loud, they were decisive and they were strong.

Tom Gormley does not give up his right to freedom of speech when he took his oath as First Selectman. It is his job to protect the interests of the community, and that is what he is doing. Tom Gormley spoke his mind and directed his comments to the person he was disagreeing with. Mr. DeAngelis chooses to attack people from his computer.

But, lets talk for a moment about Mr. McCormick.  He sits on the Board of Finance, yet he is chairman of the Public Works Commission.  Why?  Doesn’t anyone see the conflict of interest?  

Mr. McCormick, if I have my facts correct, has suggested that Middlebury dispatch be closed and have all communications moved to Northwest C-Med.  This would severely diminish the effectiveness of the Police Department.  Our dispatchers know the Town, they know the residents, and they help make our Police Department second to none. 

Moving police dispatch out of Middlebury would be foolish, and the community would suffer.

Firefighters Are Stupid.

          “At the last FOI meeting we think the only person from the Fire 

Dept who actually understood what was said was the attorney, Mary 

Alice. We don't think that Paul, etc. even began to understand the words 

that meant they will soon be handing over to us all the financial records to 

which we are  entitled, which is just about all their records. We will post 

all the records for all the years we will soon have here on this site.”

I think everyone who attended the FOI hearing understood what was transpiring.  Mr. DeAngelis enjoys trying to belittle other’s intelligence. For someone who spelled his very own name incorrectly yesterday, I find this humorous.

 

What actually happened at the FOI hearing was underwhelming.  It was a waste of taxpayer money to have subpoenaed Mike Belden. What testimony did he offer?  He basically said that the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department is listed in the budget.  He was barraged with and unending string of questions about the MVFD line items that could have been easily answered by Chief Perrotti. It was not fair to Mr. Belden and a waste of taxpayer money.

The hearing, that according to the FOI hearing officer, was only suppose to last 1 1/2 hours, was abruptly cut short by the officer herself. It appeared that if allowed to continue, the hearing would have lasted several weeks.

To avoid another hearing for all parties, the MVFD attorney offered to fill in the gaps on any missing Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department, taxpayer funded information.  This did not include MVFD Inc. information.  The MVFD Inc. is a private organization that raises its own money, and is not funded by the taxpayers.

More Distortions

“Tom Gormley is spending like crazy trying to withhold fiscal 

information about the Fire Dept. Treasury. Gormley is withholding fiscal 

information while trying to raise our taxes.”

Incorrect.  Town Hall turned over a boat-load of information regarding various Town departments including the MVFD budget information to Mr. DeAngelis. This information was in regard to funds that are derived from taxpayer money.  The Town of Middlebury, nor the MVFD has an obligation to hand over information regarding the private funds of the MVFD INC.  These are funds that are not derived from taxpayer money.

Mr. DeAngelis’s statement serves only to attack the present administration for the benefit of Mr. St. John, who appears to be using Mr. DeAngelis as his attack dog.

          “On Sept. 4, two attorneys spent at least 10 hours of your taxpayers 

money  trying to find ways to NOT give information fiscal information to a 

Middlebury taxpayer. The Chief Financial Officer of the town also had to 

waste a day in order to appear at the hearing. “

Incorrect again.  Middlebury taxpayers paid for one lawyer to show up and protect the Town’s interests at the FOI hearing in Hartford.  The second lawyer was hired by the MVFD and is being paid from MVFD INC. funds, and not from taxpayer money.  This was a hearing which Mr. DeAngelis requested not the MVFD, nor the Town.  Mr. DeAngelis pontificates how much money is being spent, yet he remains oblivious that he is the one who is the cause of this waste of taxpayer and MVFD INC. money. 

The only reason why the Chief Financial Officer and the Town Attorney appeared at the FOI hearing was that Mr. DeAngelis subpoenaed Mr. Belden.  The Town attorney was not going to allow Mr. Belden to attend such an event without legal representation.  What was Mr. Belden asked? He was questioned by Mr. DeAngelis's lawyer about elements in the MVFD budget - something that could have easily been answered by the Fire Chief who was sitting steps away. It put Mr. Belden through undue stress and served absolutely no purpose. Another example of wasting taxpayer money without a single appreciable benefit.

As of early this year, Town Hall reported that they had already spent over $20,000.00 to fulfill Mr. DeAngelis’s frivolous FOIs. Can anyone name one concrete piece of information that justifies the $20,000.00?  What benefit has the community realized from any of these FOIs?  Not one thing.  They are purely an instrument of harassment. 

Mr. DeAngelis criticizes Tom Gormley and Bob Desmarais for excessive spending even though they have cut the Town budget by 2.38%.  Yet, he has no problem asking taxpayers to fund his FOI requests. 

      “ If you look at Middlebury you will see that we are rapidly approaching 

the spending of $ 50,000.00 for no other reason than to withhold fiscal 

information from a taxpayer. “

Again, incorrect statement.  Mr. DeAngelis has no knowledge of the actual amount.  It is a made up number.  

Its not cheap to have the Town Attorney travel to Hartford and spend almost four hours at an FOI hearing.  But, certainly Mr. DeAngelis is spending quite a bit of money himself paying his attorney as well.  Funny, he seems to be more concerned about taxpayer money being wasted on a lawyer than he is about wasting his own money on his lawyer.   That is never even mentioned. Perhaps Mr. Buckley is doing the work free of charge.  Perhaps, someone else is paying for Mr. DeAngelis’s lawyer. The big question; is all this worth it to Mr. DeAngelis?  Does the payout justify the results? In the end who will benefit?

The taxpayers are not lining up in front of Town Hall with torches, demanding to know how the MVFD Inc. spends their private funds that are not derived from taxpayer money.  Only Mr. DeAngelis is doing so. In the public eye he stands alone and by himself.  Is Mr. DeAngelis really a mean guy, or is he just being set up? 

Middlebury residents are quite aware of what the Fire Department does for this community.  They know the MVFD will be there to help them, when there is just no one else to call. From something as serious as a fully-involved structure fire,  to rescuing a kitten from a tree.  The MVFD will always be there.  Middlebury is blessed with wonderful Police and Fire Departments. The organizations are one of integrity and honor.

This is a bitter, hateful vendetta that exists and is perpetuated by Mr. DeAngelis. 

The Master Manipulator VS The Puppet

                As it is our wont to tape meetings we were amused to hear 

talk at Monday night's Fire Dept meeting of DeAgelis being "St. John's 

puppet"

                 Anybody that thinks DeAngelis is a puppet shouldn't be trusted 

to  drive a fire truck, or a car with chrome wheels.

Who was it who posted the Neil Perrotti VS St. John decision on his website even before Neil Perrotti had learn of the decision and read it? The only one who had it in his possession was Mr. St. John.  The document was not available from any other source.

Why does Mr. DeAngelis attack the MVFD on a daily basis?  Is it because he has a personal vendetta against the organization, or perhaps he is just helping someone else in town continue his personal vendetta against the Perrotti family and the MVFD?

Mr. St. John is a master at manipulation.  Mr. DeAngelis acts as the attack dog, while Mr. St. John stays above the fray.  However, carpooling to FOI hearings to testify that he was indeed once the First Selectman, with sidekick Ken Heidkamp in-tow, is publicly illustrating the connection and apparent close relationship between Mr. St. John and Mr. DeAngelis. Is that good for Mr. St. John’s future “pie-in-the sky” political aspirations? 

In the end, who will be left by himself, alone, and alienated from the community for his attacks on good and decent people, who seek public office, volunteer for boards and commissions, and risk their lives as volunteer firemen?  Will it be the master manipulator or the puppet?

Never Forget!

Missing $950,000.00 No Laughing Matter

 “Remember when the gang that can't shoot straight said "Washingtron 

Drive", Washington Drive! We need to audit the audit. on Washington Drive? 

There's about a million dollars missing", they said.

 So what happened to the audit of the audit? They have been looking for 

months to find the "missing" one million dollars. Anybody happen to see 

that million? Maybe it is in the closet, or how about checking in the 

cardboard boxes in the basement. That million has GOT TO BE 

SOMEWHERE. Excuse us, it is now one million plus $ 13,000,00 ( price of 

audit ).

  Now, you know this was just another expensive, dumb move. The audit 

of the audit will cost us about $ 12.000.00  and of course it will divulge 

nothing.

It's another Gormley/Dayton/Perrotti/Savarese mess.”

Mr. DeAngelis mischaracterizes the Town budget while he ignores the Region 15 budget.  He ignores the fact that the Town budget was actually reduced by 2.36% from Mr. St. John's budget of the previous year. Now he makes light of the fact that Middlebury is in the hole for $950,000.00 from Mr. St John’s Washington Dr. deal.

Where is the humor there? 

This illustrates that Mr. DeAngelis’s agenda is to attack every public servant in Town, create the illusion of chaos, and somehow prop-up Mr. St. John as some sort of savior who will ride back into Town after not disappearing in the not so distant sunset.  Its not going to work.

The missing $950,000.00 is not a laughing matter and something that Mr. Gormley inherited from his predecessor. Any new First Selectmen would want an audit to ascertain how the Town was put in such a position.

Lumping Chief Perrotti into the Washington Dr. audit is just plain silly.  The Fire Chief is not a Selectman, nor the Town attorney, and has nothing to do with any audit. The Chief’s only impact on the Town budget was to reduce his own budget by almost 10% over the last two years.

The Town is out $950,000.00, caused by Mr. St. John’s Washington Dr. deal, and Mr. DeAngelis calls it a Gormley/Dayton/Perrotti/Savarese mess. Looks like more of a St. John/Strobel mess to even the casual observer.

No Crisis - No Chaos - No Quagmire

 A crises of leadership

 “I grew up among professional firemen: my father, my uncle, my 

father's cousins, most of my father's friends were professional firemen. I 

saw , first hand, what a toll firefighting took on my father's health.

             I don't dislike, in fact, I respect firemen. I don't like the road the 

present leadership of the Middlebury Volunteer Fire Dept is taking the 

department.

             Take the latest FOI fiasco. My goodness, the Chief should have 

done exactly what the Police Chief did, what the Selectmen did and what 

everybody in the history of this town has done---turn over the material.

            Now the Fire Dept has put itself in the middle of a legal quagmire 

from which they can only escape through the good will of the person who 

asked for the material to begin with.”

It is obvious that Mr. DeAngelis has no respect for firefighters and he proves this almost everyday, by posting the never-ending string of lies and distortions regarding the Department and its leadership. It is very obvious to members of the MVFD that Mr. DeAngelis seems to be acting as an agent for former First Selectman Ed St. John, who appears to continue his assault on the brave men and women of the MVFD.

There is no crisis. There is no chaos.  There is no quagmire.  It is a myth. Mr. DeAngelis is seeking information that he is not legally entitled to.  The information he is entitled to, is stored at the Town Hall, not at the firehouse. 

The reality is that Mr. DeAngelis keeps costing the taxpayers and the MVFD Inc. thousands of dollars by continuing his endless onslaught of frivolous FOIs.  That is money that could have gone to the food bank, to providing a high school senior scholarship, to reopening the library, to managing the Little League, or to funding the DARE program. One FOI request after another without one single appreciable benefit to the community.

Where is the goodwill there? There is none.  Only bitterness and negativity.  Its just plain mean. 

More Incorrect Statements From The MoneyPit

One argument that the Fire Dept was trying to make

at the FOI hearing was that they were not a town dept, AT ALL. 

Well, if that's true, then:

Bull. Mr. DeAngelis better play back his tapes. The point being made at the hearing, was that there are two organizations.  The Town side - Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department and the “Club” side, The Middlebury Volunteer Fire Department INC.  Mr. Buckley was trying to blur the lines and the MVFD lawyer was not allowing him to do that.    

Never did anyone say that the Town side of the organization does not exist.  I think that is pretty obvious since the public side of the organization is listed in the Town budget, and the Fire Department summits this budget each year.

a. why the hell do we give them $ 300,000.00 per year?

That figure is incorrect.  The number is closer to $214,000.00.  I think that is a bargain for what the MVFD delivers to this community. The MVFD also cut its budget by almost 10% over the last two years.

b. if they are nothing more than "vendors" as their arguments 

seem to indicate, then where are the "bids" for this "vendor" 

service and why not see if we can get a cheaper vendor?

That was never the argument.  However, see if you can outsource a fire department for less than $214,000.  Good luck with that.

c. the reason we give them "fire" pay is not for "expenses" . this 

pay was initiated so that they could become eligible for 

workman's comp. if they are a "vendor" why would we pay this 

amount in order to make them eligible for workman's comp...and 

so on, and so on...

Wrong again, and right out of the mouth of Mr. St. John.  The statement is not correct. Apprentice members do not receive Fire Pay.  That is reserved for Active and Veteran members and serves as an incentive to become an Active member.  

If Mr. DeAngelis was correct, then Apprentice members would not be covered by Workman’s Comp, which of course they are.  You do not have to receive any pay as a firefighter to receive Workman’s Comp.

   If I were those guys, I would drop this argument...no, I never 

would have put it up there to begin with...careful what you call 

yourself...careful, careful..check out what your leadership is doing.

All of Mr. DeAngelis’s characterizations are incorrect, and since they are incorrect, then his entire argument is irrelevant. Thanks for the legal advice.

FOI Hearing Tapes Released - Grab A Blanket And Pillow And Get Comfy!

“Ahhhh, now, remember on the last clip we heard,  the Atty. for Mr. 

Perrotti is "questioning" whether or not Mr. Perrotti received the FOI 

request that Mr. St. John said "followed standard procedures" back in 

2007,  i.e., it was put in inter office mail.

  Hmmm. Now listen to Atty. Buckley question Mr. Perrotti. The tape is a 

bit "noisy" in parts but certain things are very clear"

a. Mr. Perrotti states twice that he received  DeAngelis' request in 

"inter-office mail". We guess his attorney forgot about that.

b .He also states that immediately upon

receiving the request he called his attorney. We guess she forgot about 

that , also.

Lot of forgetting going around

Little by little we will release the whole tape as well as peripheral 

conversations.”

Mr. DeAngelis somehow equates his FOI HEARING as if it was the OJ Simpson Trial.  Anyone who attended would certainly agree that sitting through this hearing was definitely a cure for insomnia. Even the State’s FOI Hearing Officer looked at the clock on the wall no less than 200 times during the course of the morning. 

Why in the world would he want to tape it and share it with the world, when most people in the room had a difficult time sitting through it the first time?  These are not the Watergate tapes, but a painful rehashing of what seemed pretty obvious.

Over the course of over three excruciating hours, this is what was accomplished.

1) Mr. St. John testified that he was indeed the First Selectman in Middlebury at the time Mr. DeAngelis sent his FOI requests to the Town.  Mr. St. John testified that he forwarded the FOIs to the various Town Departments via e-mail.  When asked by the MVFD lawyer whether or not he had any proof they were actually delivered, Mr. St. John responded that he did not.  (By the way Mary Alice is the MVFD lawyer not Paul Perrotti’s lawyer.)

2) The purpose of Mr. Heidkamp’s testimony remains a mystery.  It seemed irrelevant to anything else that was being discussed.  He testified that he was once the chairman of the fire commission, yet when asked, had difficulty explaining what he actually did.  He also testified that he once was given a copy of the MVFD Bylaws, but could not say whether or not it was an up-to-date copy.  Thats it!  Was that worth taking a day off from work Ken?

3) Mike Belden was tortured on the “stand” with question after question after question after question about the MVFD budget, that could have been easily answered by Chief Perrotti who was sitting 15 feet away.

4) Paul Perrotti then took the stand and was questioned whether or not he received the FOI request from Mr. St. John.  He said he did.  Receiving the FOI requests was never the question, so it is curious why Mr. DeAngelis’s lawyer spent so much time on this.

Chief Perrotti also testified that since the FOI requests were pertaining to Town funds, he forwarded the FOI requests back to the Town.  Since the Town pays MVFD bills for line items from the MVFD budget, it would be the Town not the MVFD who would handle the FOI requests.   All those records are stored at Town Hall, not at the Firehouse. Makes sense?

Other FOI requests regarding the funds of the MVFD INC. were not honored, since these funds are not derived from Taxpayer dollars.  

That was the hearing in a nutshell. No surprise testimony, no smoking gun, no earth-shaking outcome.  Just three hours gone - that no one in the room will ever get back.

Gets IT Wrong On Budget Numbers And Mini-Coopers

    “The Middlebury Volunteer Fire Dept is no more or less than

"Dept 35" in the Middlebury budget. It receives more than $ 300,000 of 

taxpayer money per year and is accountable to every single taxpayer in 

this town. There is no "special" status held by the fire dept that makes it 

different from public works, etc. in terms of how it operates as a town 

department.

End of story.”

        

Wrong again.  Since hydrants were taken out of the MVFD budget the actual MVFD budget is about $214,000. Mr. DeAngelis gets it wrong again.

That is $214,000 that is taxpayer’s money.  Mr. DeAngelis has every right to see how that $214,000 is spent.  That would include fire pay and fire incentive pay.  All that information was available at Town Hall.  They are the ones that pay the bills.

However, Mr. DeAngelis tries to keep ignoring that there is the MVFD Inc. which does not operate with taxpayer dollars. Not the same animal. End of story.

“Perrotti has 60 passenger school bus bring people to FOI meeting he could have used a Mini-Cooper station wagon..

So this big bus pulls up at FOI headquarters and 9 or ten people, 

including Perrotti  get out. This led some people to observe:

a. big bus for so few people,

b. some of the people were big,

c. why a bus,

d. who paid for this bus? If you really want to know FOI the Fire Dept.”

Can you fit 10 firefighters in a Mini-Cooper?  I doubt it. Yes the bus was big.  The MVFD hoped to get a bigger crowd.  But, the other firefighters were doing something trivial like working for living and could not take the time off. Apparently putting food on their tables is more important than Mr. DeAngelis’s FOIs. 

Yes, the school bus was quite big. Big enough that the MVFD could have also transported Mr. DeAngelis, along with his sidekicks Ed. St. John and Ken Heidkamp.  They were there also, although their purpose at this hearing appeared to be irrelevant. They basically testified that they were indeed who they said they are; Mr. Ed St. John and Mr. Ken Heidkamp. 

But what about that bus!  That is today’s blog question. Who did Mr. DeAngelis want to pay for the firefighters traveling on official MVFD business to Hartford.  I guess he wanted the firefighters to pay for their transportation themselves.  Many of those who did attend took time off from their own work to attend Mr. DeAngelis's hearing.  

Again, this illustrates how little respect Mr. DeAngelis has for the firefighters of the MVFD. He continually mocks those, who dedicate their time to the safety of this community.  Ten firefighters in the room and he never even turned around to thank the firefighters for attending.  

Who paid for the bus?  

A) Was it taxpayer money?  

B) Was it Region 15 money?  

C) Was it MVFD money?

D) Was it donated?

Goons And Loudmouths Rule The World

      Six firemen so far have informed Mr. DeAngelis that at the

"nightly tone test this evening and The Chief announced that there was going 

to be a very important FOI hearing involving the FD in Hartford and he 

encouraged all members to attend.  He is arranging for transportation to take 

everyone to the hearing."  

      Is he using town equipment to take the firemen to Hartford? Is this 

how he spends our money? Given that one of the family members of the 

"Chief" was arrested in conjunction with the screaming and cajoling of a 

resident that disagreed with the "Chief" is this a threat? Is it another 

attempt to hinder free speech?

I guess Mr. DeAngelis thinks free speech is only meant for himself.  When others exert their right to free speech, it becomes a threat.

I think Mr. DeAngelis put it the best when he said.

    ...     “Goons and loudmouths should never be allowed to stifle freedom 

of  speech and assembly. This is America.”

The MVFD will be assembling in Hartford today and exercising their right to free speech.  Lets hope there are no goons and loudmouths there.

No Comment.

         “Jot this date down in your notebook, Paul Perrotti has "no 

comment" on the arrest of a Middlebuy fireman for assault and breach of 

peace. He had no comment when his father in law was arrested as he and 

his father in law followed an elderly man down the stairs at town hall and 

screamed at him.

            They say it flows downhill from the top, maybe we have what is 

called a crises in leadership at the Middlebury Fire Dept.”

Did the arrest of the Middlebury (as it is actually spelled), Firefighter happen in Middlebury? No.  Did the arrest occur while Middlebury Fire Department was operating in Waterbury?  No.  

More important, does Paul Perrotti know exactly what happened that night and all the details of the incident?  No.

Then why would he comment on the matter?  The fire chief comments on matters that involve Fire Department operations, or Town issues that directly involve the MVFD. Commenting on the event in which many the details are not known would not be prudent. Just as issuing a statement proclaiming the cause of a fire, before the actual cause is known would be a poor idea as well. 

Crises in leadership? That’s a new one. Where is the crises?  A firefighter gets involved in a bar fight, and it is now the fault of the MVFD leadership. Paul Perrotti is a fire chief, not a den mother. The fire chief is not responsible for what others do outside MVFD operations or functions.