This Friday, the St. Louis County Circuit Court could approve a “cost-saving” plan for the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection district, saving the district $1.1 million.
Last week, the board approved the plan that cuts $308,000 from personnel costs.
If the Circuit Court Judge John Ross approves the plan and new budget, the district will downsize its number of district officers.
“The restructuring of the district has led to the elimination of some positions,” said Derek Mays, chairman of the district’s board of directors. “We have more chiefs than we probably should have. We have too much compensation at the top.”
Currently, there is one assistant fire chief, five deputy chiefs, 1 battalion chief (which is the chief medical officer), and four captains. There are 15 firefighters/paramedic/EMTs.
The plan will eliminate the assistant fire chief position completely, cut down to one deputy chief (the fire marshal), one battalion chief (the chief medical officer), and four captains. One of the captains will be a “swing” person that only works with overtime crews.
On Tuesday, the board of directors for the district decided that all the officers must reapply for their positions by April 30. The application process is open to all the current members of the district, “to allow an equitable and fair determination of hiring in the department,” Mays said.
Fire Chief Angelia Elgin will make her recommendations for these positions, but the ultimate decisions for hiring will be made by the three board members: Mays, Bridget Quinlisk-Dailey and Rhea Willis.