Community Politics

As the fire department is a dynamic environment, the Southington Fire Department will need to regularly evaluate, potentially update, and then reaffirm its mission statement, vision statement, and organizational values. The exercise of evaluating, updating, and reaffirming is necessary to ensure that limited resources are appropriately deployed to satisfy the priorities of the department. It is imperative that all levels of the organization, from the newest firefighter to the town’s elected officials, understand the mission and priorities of the department so that decisions made at all levels possess the same focus and priorities.

Once the Southington Fire Department establishes its identity, it must then brand itself. A brand is a product, service, or concept that is publicly distinguished from other products, services, or concepts so that it can be easily communicated and marketed. Branding is particularly important if the Southington Fire Department continues to be staffed by both career and volunteer firefighters as this arrangement must be effectively communicated to the public and leveraged to recruit both new career and volunteer firefighters.

Community Politics

The Southington Fire Department is governed by multiple political boards and commissions. While somewhat common in New England, this is not a standard practice across the country. With the department reporting to a Board of Fire Commissioners, Board of Finance, Town Council, and Town Manager, all with varying levels of understanding of fire department operations and needs, it is difficult for the fire department to achieve its goals and objectives without considerable time dedicated to educating and presenting information. The time spent performing this function detracts from the needs of the department, further compounding issues created by the lean administrative staffing currently in place.

In total, there are five Fire Commissioners, six Board of Finance Members, nine Town Council Members, and one Town Manager. This totals 20 officials who have varying levels of authority related to the fire department, of which 15 are elected officials, five are political appointments, and the Town Manager is appointed.

Feedback received by ESCI from Southington Fire Department members, both during in-person meetings and through the anonymous survey, identified politics as one of the major threats to the future success of the Southington Fire Department. With few exceptions, people who want to fight fires become firefighters and people who want to be involved politically run for elected office. Allowing politics to permeate the fire department will only detract from its mission.

Within the Town of Southington, the governing bodies have appointed administrative staff in the form of a Town Manager and Fire Chief. The purpose of these administrative professionals is to oversee the town and fire department’s day-to-day operations, thus enabling elected officials to focus on big-picture policy issues. Elected and appointed officials collectively decide policy issues. Staff members are responsible for implementing that policy direction.