In a letter, Rye resident Bill Bryson says there should not be any Rye City "company cars". What do you think? Leave a comment below.
Acceptable use of Rye taxpayer dollars?
I have had enough. For years I have commuted on the road to NYC and NJ paying for my car, car insurance, and gas. And time and time again I would see a "Rye Fire Department" SUV driving in as well. Years ago I thought it an anomaly thinking my taxes couldn't possibly be paying for someone else's commuting. But after countless trips and countless sightings I have come to find this a regular commuting practice. After tailing SUV 2422 I have come to discover this is the truck of one of the Chiefs and he uses it to drive to and from work. Considering that this is not done in secret or with any attempt to hide his affiliation with the RFD, I have to assume that this either the dumbest criminal mis-use of city property OR approved by the mayor and city hall and an accepted use of my hard earned tax dollars.
1) Is this the dumbest Chief in the history of RFD?
2) Is this an acceptable use of our taxes?
Everyone is hurting, trying to keep their jobs, trying to pay bills, and taxes keep going up. How could this possibly be acceptable? I for one see this as a blatant misuse of my hard earned money. Some light needs to be shined on how we are spending money at City Hall and clearly the Fire Department. I am optimistic that this will come up at the next city council meeting and we can get some answers.
Bill Bryson
Purchase Street, Rye
Mr. Bryson if you thought that upset I guess you did you know other department heads and employees had company cars? They utilize these vehicles with no limitations whatsoever. The Police Commissioner has a company car when he lives less than a quarter mile away from the Police dept. the detective Lt. has a company car and he lives in Brewster! They use these vehicles to drive their kids to school, softball and volleyball games and no one sees a problem with that. OP Shew had a company car that he drove back and forth to his residence in another state and no one thought there was anything wrong with that. Calculate their salaries and then the savings on car notes, insurance and gas, then do the same with your own expenses an see who is ahead of the game.
Mr Bryson I heard an even better one from one of the members of the department . The city of Rye pays for a dinner once year so the fire department can have some sort of event at AYC. The best part is i hear most of the people attending this event are from surrounding departments. How do i get on the list for a free meal?
Bill,
I am with you on this one but the Fire Department should be the only exception. In emergencies such as fires, accidents and similar situations seconds and minutes count with first responders. You are talking about situations where seconds and minutes are the difference between life and death. I don’t think you would want to be trapped in a burning car when the fire chief is stuck in traffic behind you, trying to get thru.
The Fire Department vehicles you want to restrict carry equipment, communications and supervisory personnel that needs to be in radio contact while en-route and they also need to be on location ASAP, even if they are out of town when the call comes in. The emergency lighting and sounding devices enable immediate responses. On the other hand, I agree with you on every other vehicle that is owned by the city. Let them come to work with their own cars and then use the city cars if needed. Personal use of City vehicles is a smack in the face to taxpayers.
Mr. Bryson,
I will always take the side of a civil servant or volunteer. But you bring up a valid point. Each chief is assigned a car. They take it home and they can drive it. Pretty much every community with volunteer chiefs has this set up. In Rye they have a radius distance they can drive the vehicle. I believe Rye’s is 50 miles or maybe 35 miles. So no the Chief is not the dumbest and he has a right to drive it that distance. Ray i agree with you but when a Chief commutes to work that far from Rye he can’t possibly be responding from there. As far as dinners well they are volunteers. You guys should volunteer and get up at 3am or leave your family at dinner to go to alarms. Nice to be rewarded now and then for volunteering your time.
Hey Ray–checked this out for you–thank me later-
THE WIZARD OF OZ ANNOUNCES LOCAL MUNCHKIN AUDITIONS FOR ITS LEXINGTON ENGAGEMENT
You will be a perfect candidate–use my name, they will get you right in…
Need Change
I am guessing you are one of the members that drives around in a free car since you know the city rules. I guess the year i was up in Syracuse supporting the football team and saw a FD truck at the game, was that 50 miles from rye?
All the years of volunteering at the schools, church and charities , I didn’t know i was entitled to a free dinner at AYC. My reward is knowing i am doing something good for all the right reasons
This is an issue that has bothered me for years
Use of a taxpayer paid government vehicle for personal use is an ethical, and moral question.
One should ask
– Am I fairly reimbursing the city for the gas, maintenance, depreciation, insurance liability?
– Have I valued the amount I have not reimbursed the city and properly indicated this as income for tax treatment?
– If I am traveling outside the city for personal use is there any real reduction in emergency response time if I left the government vehicle in rye and used my own car?
There are at least two department heads that have access to- but do not use – a city vehicle for personal use. Good for them- Shame on those who abuse the system, and taxpayers of our city.
My comments and views are not meant to be directed at any one individual, but rather at city policy of allowing the use of any vehicle for personal use.
D,
No I am not one of the chiefs with a vehicle. In fact I hold no city position and I am just up to date and familiar with what the city regulations are in regards to this matter. And if you carefully see what I wrote. Maybe I didn’t explain it well I am on the side of its not right. It should only be for official business or if the chief is in a reasonable response area of Westchester county possibly a few towns into ct. Is that a little more clear? The dinner is nice to the FF who go to calls all hours of the day and night putting their life at risk. Their volunteering goes above and beyond then Most other volunteering organizations. Not that other ways of volunteering arent good or appreciated but volunteer firefighters put their lives on the line and help rescue people in car accidents or at a fire. So yes they should get a dinner no matter what you say. Next time you call 911 and need FD think about it. Some of the men are career some others are volunteers they all deserve to be rewarded
Lt. Verille going to Brewster for personal reasons on a daily basis is ABUSING!
Fire Chief going to Syracuse is ABUSING!
City Manager going to Rhode Island or Mass is ABUSING!
I’m with you “D”!!!
@ Need Change,
WAKE UP!!!
The reward is what you get from the GOOD DEED you perform!!
You want a dinner, fine with us, pay for it from your own pockets!
Your comments are offensive and far from intelligent….
“Their volunteering goes above and beyond then Most other volunteering organizations. Not that other ways of volunteering arent good or appreciated but volunteer firefighters put their lives on the line and help rescue people in car accidents or at a fire. So yes they should get a dinner no matter what you say. Next time you call 911 and need FD think about it. Some of the men are career some others are volunteers they all deserve to be rewarded.”
I can’t believe a REAL “volunteer” would utter such words let alone put them in writing!
This isn’t Mt.Vernon or Yonkers….work “ALL” those fires and then get back to us and tell us how much you risk your lives and the reward you deserve!!!
The Volunteers I know do what they do because that is who they are as a person, they do not volunteer for “material rewards”…
I’m curious, who puts this AYC dinner on, who puts it all together, does the invites, all the leg work, etc etc???