Carter: Sylvester Sequester and the New Star in D.C.

Stand by for a ram my friends. The news from our nation's capitol seems to be getting more depressing by the moment. The people who have specialized in war and taxes are now moving into the arena of spectacular inconveniences. What's next: a new war to take our minds off the problems in...

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Carter: Sylvester Sequester and the New Star in D.C.

Ladies and gentlemen, the shovel-makers are at work in Washington, DC and Sylvester Sequester is the name of that shovel.

Article • May 7th, 2013
Fire Politics: Fire Chiefs Confront Our Biggest Challenges

I recently conducted a survey involving fire chiefs who manage 10 metropolitan fire departments in the United States. The departments selected for the survey were literally from East Coast to West Coast, from north to south. The chiefs were each asked...

Article • May 1st, 2013
Fire Politics: The Healing Power of Camp

L exi Holmes is a bright, curious and fun-loving little girl, just like many other young girls. She loves to read and would like to turn her playroom into a library. She pours her entire being into drawing, singing or turning cartwheels. She remembers...

Article • April 1st, 2013
Fire Politics: A Political Reality: It's All About Relationships

T here is plenty for a fire chief and his or her executive team to do just running the fire department on a day-to-day basis. Dealing with the challenges that accompany the management of personnel, finances, services, programs and activities in the...

Article • April 1st, 2013
Fire Politics: 15 Lessons in Leadership From the U.S. Senate Floor

A speech was given on the floor of the U.S. Senate in late January that provided interesting insight into the leadership beliefs of a particular outgoing senator. He was leaving office after 28 years in the Senate. The speech was 50 minutes long, but...

Article • March 1st, 2013
Fire Politics: Sometimes, Reality Trumps Political Rhetoric

In my January 2013 column, I wrote about three wishes I had for 2013. I actually submitted that column to Firehouse ® on Nov. 26…and then December happened. A couple of incredible events that occurred in December 2012 made me wish that I had...

Article • January 7th, 2013
Fire Law: 2012 Cases And Controversies

When I began to work on this review of fire service cases for 2012, my sense was that it had been a slow year compared with 2010 and 2011. In 2010, we had the landmark reverse-discrimination case of Ricci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 2658, 2671, 174 L. Ed...

Article • January 3rd, 2013
Three Wishes For the New Year

This being the January 2013 edition of the Fire Politics column, it is interesting to contemplate what could happen this year in politics to significantly benefit the fire service. I have learned over the years to keep my lists short and realistic to...

Article • January 1st, 2013
EMS: Stolen Ambulances

A headline in Amarillo, TX, screams, “Catastrophic Ambulance Collision Lawsuit Settled for $12.5 Million.” Here’s the story behind that headline: A woman was admitted to Northwest Texas Hospital for a psychological evaluation. Despite diagnoses...

Article • December 1st, 2012
Fire Politics: Honoring Our Fallen And Those They Loved

The fire service is never short on issues that require our individual and collective time and attention. Throughout the year, fire service representatives work with various levels of government to address budgets, grant funding and other public safety...

Article • December 1st, 2012
Fire Politics: The "Fiscal Cliff" And the Fire Service

Those who follow national news have heard of the looming “fiscal cliff.” Without some action soon by Congress, it is widely projected that the economy could be seriously impacted in a way that may send the country into another recession in 2013...

Article • November 1st, 2012
Restoring the Flame at the U.S. Fire Adminstration

Next year marks the 40 th anniversary of the landmark report, "America Burning." A must-read for fire service officials, "America Burning" brought together many of the brightest minds in the fire service to develop a report that captured the...

Article • October 23rd, 2012
Fire Law: Pregnancy Discrimination In the Fire Service

I t was a discussion that took place many years ago, in a fire station, over dinner. “Hey, Chief, my wife is pregnant. Can I go on light duty?” the firefighter asked me in a baiting sort of way, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice...

Article • October 1st, 2012
Fire Politics: Exercising Your Individual Right to Vote

Throughout the United States, the primary elections are over and the November general elections are right around the corner. As we know, these November elections will occur at the local, county, state and national levels of government. The outcomes...

Article • October 1st, 2012
On the Road Again for the 2013 FIRE Act Roadtrip

Let me start by saying that my son-in-law made it to a Bob Dylan concert back in September. We discussed the man's music and the lyrics of a number of his songs. I spoke of one of my favorite lines from his work which tells us that, "… the times...

Article • September 15th, 2012

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