BROOK PARK, Ohio — If voters pass an ordinance on Feb. 3 about Brook Park's fire stations, don't expect a quick response time.
City Law Director Neal Jamison and petitioners' lawyer Mark Guidetti disagree over whether the ordinance would be binding. Mayor Tom Coyne vows to ignore it. Initiative leader Greg Wellman says the petitioners might sue to enforce it.
Last May, Coyne closed a fire station on Ruple Parkway in the city's somewhat isolated West End neighborhood. That left just one station open -- a bigger, more central one at Holland and Engle roads. The initiative at stake in February's special election would reopen Ruple and set minimum staffing levels of two firefighters there and five at Holland.
Coyne, who lives in the West End, says the petition is the latest bid by Jim Astorino, head of the Northern Ohio Fire Fighters, in a long, losing drive to set minimum staffing levels at the bargaining table or on the ballot. In 2012, Astorino backed losing charter amendments for minimum staffing. In 2013, he finished last in a three-way race for mayor.
Astorino says he helped with the recent petitions to keep the town safe, not to make work for his members. And Wellman says the Brook Park fire local has not helped with the recent campaign.
Officials say the closing has cut response times citywide. According to figures from Safety Director David Byrnes, recent travel times for first responses to medical emergencies — the vast majority of emergencies for the fire department — have averaged 5:53 to the West End and 4:48 overall.
Coyne often calls the Ruple station a myth and a security blanket. Its firefighters made about twice as many runs to other neighborhoods than to the West End, so they often had to double back. He says it's more efficient to have a common base for all firefighters and equipment.
The West End is partly cut off from the rest of Brook Park by Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. It connects via Sheldon Road on the city's southern edge, Brookpark Road on the northern edge and a snaky Aerospace Parkway in between. It includes the city's biggest workplace, NASA Glenn Research Center.
Since the closing, the West End's first responder is often a police officer with a defibrillator for stimulating weak hearts. But Wellman says, "That doesn't mean squat if the person's not suffering with a heart-related issue."
Brook Park used to have four stations. But nearby Berea and Middleburg Heights, roughly the same size as Brook Park, have one apiece.
Last year, 630 residents petitioned for City Council to consider a bill to reopen Ruple and set minimum staffing levels at both stations. A split council gutted the bill of virtually all requirements before passing it. Petitioners returned with another 816 signatures to force the original bill onto the ballot at a special election Feb. 3, costing the deficit-ridden city $29,900.
In a recent complication, Coyne has said he's looking into privatizing emergency medical services. At a meeting late last year, a couple hundred firefighters protested the plan.
Like all elections, February's will take place from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. To vote early or by absentee ballot, contact the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, 216-433-VOTE, boe.cuyahogacounty.us.