Another battle in store for Prince George’s County, MD’s volunteers. County Executive wants to dramatically change Fire Commission.
The Prince George’s County Council is now considering a bill that would change the power structure within the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department as it relates to volunteer firefighters and EMS providers. The bill, submitted at the request of County Executive Jack Johnson, would radically alter the make-up of the Fire Commission for the first time since it was formed 38-years-ago.
If it becomes law, commission members would no longer be elected by the volunteer corporations. The County Executive would appoint the members. Instead of nine volunteer commissioners, the commission would be made up of three volunteers, three career members of the department and three members of the public. All would have to reside within the county. The chair and vice-chair would come from the civilian appointees.
In the last year, volunteers in the county have been fighting with Jack Johnson’s administration over some major funding issues. These include the inability to rent fire halls for fund raisers, the county taking over ambulance billing and a new method of disbursing state grant money.
