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Hernando Today

Fire Bosses Can Carry Radios, Must Stay Off Street

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: May 29, 2008

SPRING HILL - Fire commissioners may keep their radios and respond to emergency calls.

They simply cannot be on the street or in the way of fire police. They must be off to the side with the public.

That motion was passed unanimously Wednesday night during a Spring Hill Fire Rescue board meeting.

The vote was the result of a controversy involving Fire Commissioner Rob Giammarco's response to an accident scene two months ago.

"Radios should be used by fire police," said George Biro, a retired firefighter who also sits on the board. "Commissioners have no business responding to scenes."

He argued that the district provides a ride-along program for the public. Anyone who wants to see an emergency call up close, he or she must be with a firefighter during a ride along, he said.

Giammarco was given a radio, vest and cap when he was appointed to the board last year. He believes he was given those items because he was permitted to observe fire and rescue scenes.

"A radio was given to me, and I was told I was allowed to have it," he said. "It's just wrong ... I have a right to be there and see whatever I want to see."

After some discussion, Biro voted in favor of a motion that allows commissioners to have radios but restricts the areas where they can observe.

"Any commissioner on the scene will have to remain in the public section," said Chairman Charles Raborn, who passed over his gavel to make the motion.

If that commissioner wanders away from the public and too close to the scene, it would be a violation of the district's bylaws, Raborn said.

Giammarco responded to a motorcycle accident along Spring Hill Drive two months ago. A woman drove her car through the perimeter and almost came in contact with a Bayflite helicopter, witnesses said.
Firefighters at the scene blamed Giammarco for being in the way and distracting them, causing the breech in the perimeter.

The commissioner denied their claims and said he did not arrive at the scene until after the incident.

In other fire district news:
Fire commissioners voted 3 to 1 to keep the tax millage cap at 2.75 rather than decrease it to 2.50. The board discussed lowering the cap during previous meetings, but decided against doing so to avoid delaying the ongoing referendum negotiations.

The district is working with the county on the wording of the ballot referendum, which asks Spring Hill residents whether they want an independent district. Currently, Spring Hill Fire Rescue is under county control.

Certain county departments either handle or oversee the administrative responsibilities of the district - namely payroll, human resources management and budget approval.

Fabian R. Lokenauth, an attorney who represents the district, told fire commissioners Wednesday the deadline for the final approval of the referendum was pushed back from mid-June to September.

However, changing any word or provision in the referendum could delay negotiations and increase the risk of the district missing the deadline.

"This is a long, tedious process," Lokenauth warned. "Just the change the word 'is' to 'are' has to go through three or four people."

Having the cap at 2.75 does not mean the district could raise the millage rate to that level without the public's knowledge or approval, said Assistant Chief Bill Davies.

"The citizens would have to vote to raise it," he told the board.

A millage is an ad valorem tax an owner pays on the value of the property being taxed. Spring Hill residents currently pay a millage rate of 2.2678 for their fire services.

Giammarco cast the lone dissenting vote.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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