OCEAN CITY — After receiving a rather dire message from Ocean City Fire Department Chief Richie Bowers, resort officials this week approved the transition of two part-time positions to full time to address a staffing shortage.
At this week’s Mayor and Council meeting, Bowers said some of the part-time firefighter-paramedics weren’t showing up when scheduled, putting a strain on the full-time staff. He said the situation wasn’t unique to the OCFD, but it was becoming dire.
“The Ocean City Fire Department is in a situation unparalleled that I have experienced in my career as it relates to staff,” he said. “That’s consistent with all of the departments here in Ocean City and across the U.S.”
Bowers said converting two positions to reliable full-time status would help resolve the reliability issue.
“That being said, we have an opportunity to really begin to be able to put boots on the ground with full-time personnel that we can count on showing up to work when they are scheduled,” he said. “One of the challenges that we are currently having with a number of our part-time personnel is whether they have a full-time position somewhere else, … they’re just not showing up.”
The result is longer shifts, often 36-hours, for some of the full-time staffers in order to ensure coverage for the town.
“What that allows to happen, unfortunately, is that our full-time career staff is forced to stay over at least a shift,” he said. “They’re working predominantly a 36-hour shift once or twice a week, which is, again, unparalleled with anything I’ve seen in my career.”
Bowers said he has consulted with City Manager Doug Miller and Budget Director Jennie Knapp and there is funding for converting two positions to full-time.
“I am asking the city council and our budget director to transition some of the part-time staff to full-time,” he said. “In addition, we did get additional funding from Worcester County for additional positions. There were funds received in the amount of $115,000 above what was expected in the fiscal year 2022 budget.”
A few years back, resort officials battled with the Career Firefighter Paramedics Union of Ocean City, or IAFF 4269, during contract negotiations over the elimination of the union’s preferred 24-hour shift rotation at the time. Mayor Rick Meehan said the situation now resulting in some full-timers working 36-hour shifts was unacceptable. He asked if converting the two positions would alleviate that.
“As you know, a 36-hour shift is really not what we want in Ocean City,” he said. “Will this resolve that issue, or will it only be a Band-Aid?”
Bowers said converting the two positions would only be a stop-gap measure.
“It will only be a Band-Aid, mayor,” he said. “We have a much deeper and broader situation that requires much more investment and dedication to get this turned around.”
Miller said he has been working with the chief and his command staff on a long-term solution to the staffing issues.
“We will be bringing you a three- to five-year plan,” he said. “We have the funding today to facilitate this first part of what will be an ongoing issue.”
Bowers reiterated, “This will help some with the immediate concerns, with an emphasis on some. I don’t want to over-inflate the word some. We have open recruitment going on right now and I know there have been some applications received.”
There was some discussion of looking within for the new full-time positions or going outside. Councilman Mark Paddack encouraged the former.
“I want to encourage the chief to hire from within,” he said. “You already know who is going to be showing up. The 36-hour shift is well outside our IAFF contract discussions and we don’t want our guys working like that.”
Bowers emphasized the gravity of the current situation, and the importance of a long-term solution.
“It’s safe to say we’re going to need more full-time personnel,” he said. “We cannot continue to operate our emergency service as it is with the Ocean City Fire Department with a huge reliance on part-time personnel. We cannot do it any longer.”
Meehan asked about the root of the problem with the reliability of some of the part-timers and asked if there were potentially other solutions.
“I know we did some things this summer and I don’t know if it’s relevant here,” he said. “Is there anything we need to do to help you increase the reliability of some of the part-time employees? Is it a pay issue, or is it something else? Is it something we need to look at in conjunction with adding the full-time positions?”
Bowers responded, “I do believe a comprehensive look at it would be very helpful,” he said. “The part-time employees that we currently have that show up and are very skilled are absolutely great. I don’t 75 part-time employees, I need 30 to 235 reliable and skilled part-time employees.”
The council voted unanimously to approve the transition of two part-time positions to full-time.
