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Cohoes unionized firefighters at odds with the mayor

 Keeler for Mayor election poster.
Keeler for Mayor election poster.

Unionized firefighters in Cohoes remain at odds with the mayor.

Uniformed Firefighters of Cohoes Local 2562 President Rob Wattsman says the union has been asking Democratic Mayor Bill Keeler to honor a campaign promise he made in 2019 to keep the Vliet Street Firehouse open 24/7.

“When he became mayor, we sat down with him," said Wattsman. "And that was 2020. It is now 2022. And the Hill Station has been closed, almost 355 days since he's taken office. So almost a full year. We're just trying to keep the mayor’s pledge that he said, that what he did, when he met with our union at election time, and for the taxpayers that keep the station open 24/7. And he's failed to do so. The station is closed today, which is number day 47 for this year. And we're only halfway through. And since I've been on, I got hired in 2015, and the station has been closed on average of about 120, 130 days a year."

Keeler says under his watch he increased fire department staffing and expanded emergency services.

“One of every $2 paid in Cohoes property tax revenue goes to fund our fire department," Keeler said. "In recent months, I have doubled the number of Cohoes based ambulances from one to two now serving the city. And we've trained the police officers is EMTs to help out in that regard that regard.”

Keeler says the union voted down his proposal Wednesday that included adding an ambulance from Green Island along with a safety staffing proposal that would ensure a sixth firefighter working at all times to keep the Hill Fire Station open.

Wattsman says the union rejected the city's offer because it did not actually guarantee that Hill Station would remain open around the clock. He called Keeler's remarks "spin," telling WAMC two firefighters working one shift are appearing daily on the "sick" list due to injuries suffered in two separate incidents while on duty, and now an additional firefighter will be taking several sick days after testing positive for COVID.

Keeler insists staffing is problematic, and used Thursday as an example.

“We had 10 firefighters scheduled to come into work. Yet only five of them showed up," said Keeler. "Two of them took sick time. Two of them took vacation time and one of them took his birthday. So I know maybe it's time to start thinking about supplementing the fire department with volunteers, certainly surrounding municipalities around us are all-volunteer… Maplewood, Waterford, Colonie. And then if you look at cities the same size as cohos, in our immediate region, specifically Gloversville and Amsterdam, both of those have similar populations. They're actually geographically twice as large as Cohoes, yet they are served by a staff of the same size or smaller out of a single central firehouse."

Wattsman contends that when Hill Station is closed, emergency response must come from nearly 2 miles away – requiring at minimum an additional 6-7 minutes of travel time, notwithstanding delays ranging from lengthy railroad crossings, vehicle traffic or first responder deployment to other scenes.

“The city will say we meet the national requirements for response times," Wattsman said. "I believe the national average is around seven, eight minutes for a fire department. But that's including all rural volunteer, career departments. So seconds matter, especially in our line of work. If we can get there in two minutes from the Hill Station. I'd rather get there in two minutes and try to do what we need to do then get there in five or six or seven minutes. So it definitely affects us. And it also affects the Island Station and the crew because if Central is out on a call, now those two firefighters at the Island Station are covering the whole rest of the city. So it's the whole city issue. It's not just a Hill territory issue, or Hill resident issue or taxpayer issue. It's a whole city of Cohoes issue."

Both sides say they favor continuing negotiations.

“My top priority will always be public safety," Keeler said. "And I'll continue working to that end, including with the union whenever possible.”

“So if the city is willing to sit down with us we are willing to sit down with them and try to get this through,” said Wattsman.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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