Village Commissions ICMA to Review GCFD Operations

Village officials have again commissioned the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to assess all Garden City Fire Department training and operations.

In a statement he made at the May 2 meeting about alleged "union thuggery," trustee and appointed fire commissioner Dennis Donnelly said, in part, "In the coming months the BOT will be reviewing the model for a combination fire department to see if a dual force is still a viable option for our village. With all this in mind, I think the BOT should reengage International City Management (ICM) to review what training and operational options should be considered by the village in the future."

ICMA has already provided an analysis of the department's overall performance, as requested by the village board of trustees in late 2011. That 85-page report, which cost $36,000, provided a "baseline of the performance for Garden City in its delivery of fire services as well as recommendations for continued improvement towards national benchmark performance measures." The report contained 14 recommendations, including switching all dispatching duties over to Nassau County Firecom, which happened Aug. 6, 2012.

The first analysis caused controversy amongst the career firefighters, volunteers and village trustees after Lt. Peter Clancy, who serves as Local 1588 president, said inaccuracies existed within the report.

This latest analysis intends to "assess what training and operational items we should consider during the next year as we evaluate whether a combination fire service is still the paradigm we wish to continue," Donnelly told Patch Friday via email. "They will be forwarding a proposal and cost structure to the village in the next week or so."