Cost of this truck to taxpayers? Who knows and who cares I guess...

Captain Zach Bond's taxpayer funded income last year, $235,621.

"It's helping to maximize efficiency all around," he said.

I bet it is....

As a graduate of the CERT program I feel extremely safe living in our community. Getting to know the inside-out workings of our emergency systems is very satisfying. Spend all that is necessary to make us as safe as possible!

And where do you draw the limit on salary and overtime, Susan? What about fully-funded retirement and benefits at age 50? How much is too much? Or is the sky the limit?

Re: TeaPartyer

I guess you confirm what most already know: the Teaparty movement is full of ignoramuses. Do you have any idea why firefighters get paid overtime? Um, oh yeah, because the fire department is understaffed and they are working to ensure the safety of the community. Oh and get this, firefighters actually pay into their retirement system! Who would have known?!
I guess being a simpleton like you must be a nice feeling as ignorance is bliss;)

You're naive to think the system is not being abused. Read up on the situation in San Jose. Firefighter there would much rather reduce staffing than give up their overtime.

So what's the limit on overtime? No limit? Ever? Are firefighters paid to sleep? Is overtime abused? Work all day, and instead of going home, rack out at the fire station on overtime and start your next shift? Who knows do you? If the fire station is understaffed, hire more firefighter for less cost. Reduce and salaries retirement benefits. I certainly don't want an overworked firefighter showing up at my fire to "save me" exhausted! That just turns the whole pubic safety notion on its head. Even with a brand new truck. Who wants a sleepy fire fighter or paramedic making split second decisions while overworked?

Most real professions work extra hours because they have to (teachers, doctors, and almost everyone else in the public sector), firefighters and police will only work extra for overtime.

An angle many miss is that if the Fire Dept hired more firefighters for less money and benefits, the CITIZENS of Mountain View would benefit more. What good does a high priced fire Captain and one truck do for us when their is powerful earthquake? We'll have a few overpaid firefighters in expensive trucks responding to only a few calls while everyone else's homes burns. It's simple mathematics folks.

How about this. Let's pay teachers more and make the teacher to student ratio 1:100. Even with that, I doubt teachers would make more than $200,000 like many MV firefighters.

I believe there is a limit on what should be considered adequate salaries. MVFD seems to have past that limit. It makes me all the more suspect when they justify buying more equipment. Is it really needed and were cost saving strategies used. It's hard to believe, when you consider the rational they use for salaries and benefits. The whole system seems pretty tainted.

Do any of you realize that it is more expensive to hire a new guy with uniforms, training, benefits, work comp insurance, etc, than it is to have a firefighter work overtime! Do the math. Also, there is equal opportunity for everyone to work those hours. Some firefighters choose to be away from their families more and work more overtime than others. The money going out is the same, it's just dispersed to some more than others depending on their amount of extra hours worked. Some firefighters don't work any overtime because they choose not to. Geez. When the tech sector was making obscene amounts of money, everyone scoffed at civil service salaries and benefits. Now it's a big deal because people are no longer making the money and the firefighters are. Well worth the money paid especially if you need them for ANY emergency.