Time has come for Danbury to recognize volunteer firefighters
As a freshman city councilman, I have a clear understanding of what my role is and am dedicated to serving my constituents in the best way possible. After my first City Council meeting, I spoke with then Council President Joe Cavo and explained that I it would be a good idea to introduce an ordinance increasing the volunteer firefighter tax abatement. He told me to speak to the mayor who advised that I hold off until January 2021 and do my homework in the meantime. I did my homework and found that City Council Democrats requested an ad-hoc committee regarding this issue in 2007. I spoke to council members involved in that initiative reviewed the agendas and minutes of the meetings. What I found was that an ad hoc committee was appointed and met. The Republican chair did not call a follow-up committee meeting for many months and it may have been sunset/terminated by the former mayor without presenting a recommendation to the bouncil.
As this issue remains important, in February 2021, I drafted a request for an ad-hoc committee to review the issues and sought bipartisan support by sharing the idea with Mayor Cavo and council leadership and told them all 10 council Democrats were ready to sign onto a new request for an ad-hoc committee. However, Mayor Cavo and council Democrats leadership asked me to hold off and give the mayor time to review the status of council committees and sunset or reappoint members and the volunteer tax abatement is one of them. This approach seems fundamentally flawed as 13 years has passed since the original ad-hoc met and may have been sunset/terminated and the state statute has been revised since that time meaning that a new ad hoc committee must be appointed.
It is time for Danbury to catch up and implement an ordinance that recognizes the contributions of our volunteer firefighters pursuant to a state law that has been on the books since 1999. To be fully transparent, I have been a volunteer firefighter at Water Witch Hose Co. No. 7 in Danbury for more than 35 years. However, I seek no personal benefit and support an ordinance that exempts elected officials from eligibility for the abatement.
Danbury’s volunteer firefighters commit hundreds of hours each year to complete initial training and maintain annual training standards. They provide crucial firefighting assets, rescue capabilities and support services in a great partnership with the full-time personnel of the Danbury Fire Department. In addition to responding to fire and emergency calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Danbury volunteer firefighters have also answered the call throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to afford a level of normality to the community at large by conducting birthday, anniversary and holiday drive by events to lift spirits in the community.
For nearly a century and a half, volunteer firefighters have served our city and although the fire companies receive annual grants from the city for operations, the volunteer firefighters raise the bulk of the funds to maintain their operations and equipment. They are not paid, they volunteer their time, they raise funds to support their operations and at times put themselves at risk. It seems only fair to recognize this great community asset though the creation of a tax abatement. I hope Mayor Cavo and my colleagues on the City Council recognize this asset and support appointment of a new ad hoc committee with the goal of passing an ordinance recognizing the commitment and sacrifice of our volunteer firefighters.