Student Senate votes no, extinguishes student fire fee

Ohio University Student Senate rejected a bill that would add an optional $50 fee to students’ tuition to fund the Athens City Fire Department at its meeting Wednesday night. 

The resolution proposed the addition of a $50 fire fee per semester to the tuition of all Ohio U students, while including the opportunity for students to opt-out (similarly to the student legal fee). The $50 would provide necessary funding to maintain the Athens Fire Department and finance a program for fire safety education for Ohio U students. 

According to the resolution, the City of Athens currently employs a total of 23 firefighters, who are responsible for all fire emergency calls within the city limits. On average, 40% of emergencies the fire department responds to are on university property, according to the resolution.

The Athens Fire Department is funded through the city’s property and income taxation. However, university property is tax-exempt and Ohio U makes up 29% of the city of Athens, which means the fire department does not receive that portion of revenue.

Ohio U’s contract with the Athens Fire Department includes $50,000 for equipment and other apparatuses, but no funding is provided to maintain staffing or personnel services. As a result, the fire department has not received the funding necessary to maintain an adequate number of firefighters, according to the resolution.

According to the standards of the National Fire Protection Association, a two-story house fire warrants a response of 15 firefighters at minimum. Due to understaffing, the Athens Fire Department can only respond to a similar scenario with four to six firefighters, which the text of the bill describes as a direct result of underfunding. Inadequate staffing could potentially be a hazard by disrupting the department’s response time and ability to effectively respond to emergencies.

Dan Gordillo, the Student Senate governmental affairs commissioner and primary sponsor of the resolution, stressed the importance of fire safety education. 

“It is a tragedy in this country that most people only know stop, drop and roll when it comes to education,” Gordillo said. “I ask you all today to think of your constituents and to consider our measure to increase their safety.”

Gordillo argued providing adequate fire safety training and education through the university could serve as a preventative measure, promoting a safe living environment on campus and reducing the number of emergency calls and false alarms that the Athens Fire Department regularly responds to.

Governmental Affairs Vice Commissioner Owen Wisniewski was a secondary sponsor of the resolution and promoted the student fire fee as a means of connecting the university and the City of Athens. Wisniewski suggested the fee would give students the optional opportunity to give back to the community by promoting infrastructure in the city of Athens.

“We should not shy away from this opportunity to reinvest in our community and further ensure the safety of the area that we call home,” Wisniewski said.

Drew Longaberger, an Ohio U student and the liaison between the City of Athens and the Student Senate, was also a secondary sponsor of the bill. 

“As someone who has had numerous talks with Chief Rymer about fire safety, as well as working with the Athens Fire Department both professionally and as a student, I can say with confidence that the Athens Fire Department is significantly underfunded,” Longaberger said. “The worst time to find out how underfunded the department is, is when you’re stuck in a burning building.”

Some dissenting members argued that if students have the opportunity to waive the fee, then there is no way of knowing or guaranteeing how much money the fire department would receive from the student body each semester. 

Although proponents of the resolution demonstrated the Athens Fire Department’s need for additional funding, when Senate members asked questions regarding the distribution of the funds and future plans, the bill’s supporters did not provide specific details, plans or a form of curriculum for fire safety education. 

These aspects of a discussion are not necessary for a bill to be passed, but a lack of concrete, categorical assurance about the distribution of the funding caused some members to express further doubts about the bill. Additionally, the text of the bill required several grammatical revisions.

Athens City Fire Department Chief Robert Rymer suggested that average Ohio U students are likely unaware of the logistics of the Athens Fire Department budget, and are consequently unaware of the impact that an increased budget for fire department staff could have on the community as a safety assurance. 

Rymer suggested that reaching out to the students through surveys and student organizations to discuss the funding issue could spark conversations about the needs of the fire department and the relationship between the city and university as a whole.

“I am very confident that if we get the education out there, we will be successful,” Rymer said.

Many senators voted according to the feelings of their constituency, who largely expressed opposition to an additional tuition fee. After a period of debate, the senate voted on whether to adopt the bill. The results were ten votes in favor, 13 opposed and one abstention. 

When asked for his thoughts about the results of the vote, Chief Rymer shared with optimism that this would not be the last time student involvement in Athens Fire Department funding would be brought to the senate.

“It’s not a defeat,” Rymer said. “We need to regroup, evaluate everybody’s opinion and get more input from the student body. I think it’s a good thing, I was happy to see it come this far. We’ve been working on this for over eight years, and it’s a matter of getting that education out there, about how dire the situation is. It is needed, and I really appreciate them even thinking about it and taking the time, because like I said, eight years, and this is the closest we’ve ever been.”

Clay Lewis, the Student Senate university life commissioner and a secondary sponsor of the resolution, also shared his thoughts about the verdict. 

“This is what I see as a failure of the senate, to not protect its students properly. Not only is this disappointing, but it’s shameful,” Lewis said. “This is something that should not have failed. This was something that not only benefits students, but also benefits the community.” 

Commenting on the senate’s debate, Rymer said: “They did a good job, and they had a great discussion. I was very proud to see that they’re very involved and actually care about the issue, one way or the other. So, we’ll get there.”