FinCom Pressures Fire Chief Barry to Establish Vacation Leave Policy-August 22, 1979

The showdown occurred after the FinCom sharply rejected the chief’s request for a $15,000 reserve fund transfer to the overtime substitution account, opting instead to authorize a modest $4,000 transfer to shore up the rapidly dwindling vacation leave account.

Chief Barry explained that the vacation leave account—originally appropriated at $33,390—had plummeted to a balance of less than $3,000 due to a heavy wave of personnel taking time off during the popular summer months. Vacation substitution proves exceptionally costly; when four firefighters on a shift take vacation simultaneously, four replacement workers must be brought in at overtime rates, draining roughly $4,000 a week from the account to maintain the required minimum shift strength of 13 men. While Chief Barry defended his $15,000 request by citing an underestimation of seasonal costs and delays in deploying four new firefighters currently completing academy training, the FinCom insisted that scheduling vacations is a fundamental management prerogative. Although the chief noted that the current firefighters’ union contract does not explicitly require advance notice for taking vacation leave, the FinCom demanded that Chief Barry and the union produce a structured vacation schedule through September 15, at which point the new academy graduates will join active shifts and alleviate staffing pressures.

FinCom member Peter Bamber clarified that the board did not expect firefighters who had already rented summer cottages or made firm reservations to cancel their plans, but urged cooperation to prevent clustering all time off during peak summer weeks. Other board members offered alternative cost-saving measures: Joseph R. Adakonis suggested capping summer leave at two weeks per man during July and August, while FinCom Chairman Allan D. Howard—who dissented even against the $4,000 transfer—advocated temporarily lowering the minimum manning requirement during the summer. Countering that suggestion, Norman E. Rickard predicted that minimum manning levels would soon be formally codified into the next collective bargaining agreement, removing it from debate as a tool to curb overtime. Weighing in on the FinCom’s rejection of the $15,000 request, Selectmen Chairman Joseph F. Curran remarked critically, “If that’s the way they’re going to play the game, he’s just going to have to live with it.”

In addition to the vacation overtime dispute, the FinCom denied Chief Barry’s request for additional funds to pay three firefighters an extra $1,000 a year to serve as part-time mechanics. Chief Barry warned that the department was failing to perform critical preventive maintenance, which has plagued the agency for years. In response, FinCom members Bamber and Adakonis urged the Board of Selectmen to explore establishing a centralized municipal maintenance facility to service all town vehicles, while inviting the chief to compile a prioritized list of current apparatus repairs so work could be outsourced to private contractors.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger