Though no definitive solution has been presented regarding the possible merger of the Shaker Heights and University Heights fire departments, one thing is clear — Cleveland Heights will not be included any time soon.
Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken said as much Friday when asked to respond to a Sun News report that Cleveland Heights Councilman Jason Stein has requested that a new cooperative study be conducted to see if a Cleveland Heights-Shaker-University Heights fire department would be feasible.
In the report, Stein said he has made the city's interest in a potential merger known over the past couple of years, but "Cleveland Heights remains on the outside looking in."
Leiken said the possibility for other cities to be a part of a joint fire department exists in the future, but for now, the city prefers to explore a merger with University Heights.
"When it was initially announced, we felt that we should try to do something that was as achievable as possible, and we thought that the combination of University Heights and Shaker Heights made great sense," Leiken said. "That doesn't at all preclude the possibility of adding additional cities at a later point, but right now we're focused on making this one work."
Susannah Muskovitz, legal counsel for the unions that represent both departments, said she also supports merging the two departments. However, she believes not enough has been said about how the merger would be implemented and what the true intentions of one are.
"Is it the goal to increase level of service? Is it to save money," she said. "Is it to be more efficient but maintain the same level of service?
"We've asked but never got an answer."
Muskovitz stated many of the same concerns when talking to Shaker Heights Patch in December.
"I think the mayors have to state what they're trying to accomplish," she said. "They need to state very clearly how they intend to achieve that. Not one minute has been spent on implementation.
"I find the whole thing perplexing."
Leiken said more information on how the new department would work will be issued to the public in the near future.
"People will be aware of the specifics of the arrangement," he said. "The fire stations in University Heights and Shaker are very close together. It's a relatively uncomplicated combination to do.
"We're mindful of the fact that there has not been one consolidation of fire departments in Cuyahoga County that has been successful up to this because they've all been relatively complicated."
All cities have to do to implement free market fire service is to sell all the firehouses and equipment to the private sector and cut the socialist fire tax out of the local tax rates so that property owners can afford the private fire-response fee. Property owners could rely on free market fire services because insurance companies would require them. Those providers who perform the fire service well at an affordable cost will be rewarded by the market. Those that don't will lose business. This free market solution would also apply to any other type of government enterprise: police service, education, health care, even supposed 'natural monopolies' like roads and bridges, utility distribution, etc. All government enterprises do is displace or inhibit wealth-creating private enterprise with wealth-depleting unionized monopolies. Continuing to support these bloated, Soviet-style socialist industries with a declining tax base is as unsustainable as the old Soviet Union was itself. http://archive.mises.org/14158/did-the-free-market-burn-down-the-house/