SHUTESBURY — Residents gathered at the Shutesbury Athletic Club Sunday evening, ready to support their fire chief in his push for a pay raise as part of ongoing contract negotiations with the Select Board.
Many who met at the “AC” signed a petition in solidarity with their fire department and Chief Walter Tibbetts, whose June 19 letter of resignation has stirred the town of roughly 1,800 in recent days.
Yet as the buzz carried on inside, a 10-minute drive away, around Town Hall, past the library and off onto the narrow dirt way that is part of Cooleyville Road, three volunteer firefighters were dealing with a reported tree fire. A fuse had blown and the fire department was called in. After 25 minutes, a worker from the electrical company came by to cut down tree limbs that were at risk of escalating the situation on this somewhat residential throughway to Route 202 and the New Salem town line.
“We’re still here doing our job,” firefighter Mark Foster said.
It was a fairly routine call for the Fire Department, but it may not be so simple in a few weeks. In response to Tibbetts not being offered what he sees as a reasonable salary for his full-time position — calling in his letter of resignation the proposed $5,000 increase to his $55,000 salary a “pittance” of an increase and a sign of “absolutely no respect” from the Select Board — the volunteer firefighters have said they will resign with him if his demands aren’t met.
This has all led to a relative uproar from citizens and a petition that was created this weekend calling for a special Town Meeting, if need be, for residents to have a chance to approve a $65,000 salary for the fire chief for this coming fiscal year.
Organizers of the petition said it gained about 100 of the needed 200 signatures this weekend, many of which were collected at the Athletic Club Sunday following a Facebook post on the department’s official page saying it will be passed around there.
On Tuesday, the Select Board will meet to discuss the ongoing negotiations. The meeting will be at the elementary school at 7 p.m., instead of its usual place at the Town Hall.
The situation of all eight active firefighters resigning, which could effectively put an end to the department, has spiraled into a national media story, with the chief receiving calls from Fox News and the Associated Press, publishing the story in papers in like the Chicago Tribune. Earlier in the week, Town Administrator Rebecca Torres called it is an “unprecedented situation.”
By suppertime, many of those who came by the bar in support of the chief had already gone home. Out of the handful of those who were left, some didn’t want to speak on the record because of worries associated with the politics of living in a small town. Critics of the salary raise also didn’t want to talk because of town politics, particularly on a hot-button issue that seems to have the overwhelming support of residents, at least those who are vocal on social media.
Some residents said they didn’t want the narrative to be seen as this heist of negotiations by the chief and his department, as they felt some of the conversation across media has shown tinges of.
Those who did speak expressed an outpouring of support for the Fire Department.
Paul Danielovich, a former Shutesbury firefighter for about 10 years, said while sitting at the bar at the Athletic Club how important it is to support the chief.
“When it comes to a real dedicated town employee, you can’t get any better,” he said.
Before Tibbetts became the full-time fire chief, Danielovich said, the chief used to work over 40 hours a week anyway.
While working with Tibbetts, he said, “The reality is Walter has always put in more time than was probably required,” Danielovich said. “He’s just really into the job and does it really well, above and beyond.”
Resident of close to one year, Julio Mendez said he has needed the services of the emergency response team four or five times already.
“When we moved here, we thought we might have some problems with the response times,” he said, especially compared to cities where he had lived previously. “It’s actually quite the opposite.”
Mendez, who said he served in the military and worked with law enforcement in other jobs before moving to the area, explained the work the Fire Ddepartment does as “top notch.”
As the evening approached on the long summer day, signatures were still being collected. A handful of petitioners were canvassing around town.
On Cooleyville Road, firefighters were monitoring the situation.
“We are residents of this town, too,” Foster said at the tree fire. “We suffer just as much as everyone else does,” if the Fire Ddepartment folds, adding that “no one seems to get that.”
“We never wanted this,” he said. “But we got our boss.”