You'd think that the board managing a fire department would know a thing or two about the fire department itself. With the CFRB, you'd be spectacularly mistaken. Comprised of multiple postgraduate degree-holders, the overwhelming majority of the board has not even a day of fire/rescue experience beyond responding to incidents at civilian homes and shrugging their shoulders upon pleas for help. And while a lack of experience in a field isn't necessarily detrimental to managerial efforts, the CFRB manages the fire department about as well as your annoying friend manages their bitcoin account.
A typical board meeting (and these are open to the public) can be summarized in four components:
1. Telling the Fire Chief that he does not have the right to vote on pertinent issues
2. Arguing over the semantics of antiquated and exclusionary bylaws
3. Spirited debates over whether they can find it in their non-existent budget to afford firefighters basic human rights to safety and health
4. Making it 1/8 the way through their proposed agenda
It's a strange thing that people can be so ignorant, condescending, and apathetic but still want to "run" a public safety service. But hey--it looks great on a lawyer's CV, right? read more
