By Heidi Truschel-Light
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal
LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Fire Chief Luca Quagliano angrily confronted Fire Board President Anthony Nemi as he attempted to discuss the possibility of civilian ambulance drivers at the board’s meeting.
Nemi was introducing the idea as a strategy to reduce fire department overtime when Quagliano said he would not discuss union matters at the meeting.
Nemi responded that it was not a union matter and tried to resume the discussion of potential savings when Quagliano interrupted him and said, “How is there just a driver?”
When Nemi resumed his explanation, Quagliano cut him off, loudly snapping, “You run your mouth on social media. We’ve caught you in so many lies. That’s why I won’t talk about it. All of the fire department employees are in a union and have a contract.”
When asked in an interview about Quagliano’s response, Nemi said, “He’s trying to circumvent the board, but according to the city charter, he’s supposed to report to us.”
When asked what Quagliano was referring to, Nemi said, “I think he was referring to posts of statistics.” Nemi said he has shared on social media some previous overtime costs from past years’ budgets.
At the meeting, Mike Tucker, a member of the fire board, responded to Quagliano that Nemi was just presenting an idea for discussion and should be allowed to speak.
“Our role at the fire board is to just make sure we’re being thoughtful about taxpayer dollars,” Nemi said Thursday. “When you look at overtime spending — we’re looking for ways to operate as efficiently as possible. It’s just about working together to find some solutions, while still being financially responsible.”
Using round figures, Nemi said, “Since inception of the ambulance service, there were around $190,000 in overtime costs just for out-of-town transports. To this point, in order to combat that cost, the fire department now has four extra people to help reduce that overtime number. Last year it came to $130,000, but now we’re paying for those full-time firemen. I fully support their current staffing, but if there’s ways to cut overtime …”
“Since the implementation of the ambulance service, there has not been any oversight,” Nemi said. “That’s the point of our committee. You have a department that over 75% of their calls are ambulance calls, not just fire calls. Anytime you make a big change like that in the municipality, you should keep an eye on how it’s going.”
The main driver for overtime has been out-of-town transports because Lockport Memorial Hospital is either not the patient’s preference or does not have the capabilities to handle the emergency. Nemi said each time the two firemen on the ambulance are out of town, the fire department calls in one or two people at overtime pay to meet their minimum staffing requirement.
Years ago, Nemi said, “When they initially had conversations about the ambulance service, they talked about a hybrid model. There was talk where there’s other models where they have full-time firemen and part-time drivers, volunteer drivers, and there are other options. There may be models that do not produce as much overtime.”
Nemi said the fire board has not established or been given a goal for overtime cost reduction. He said the fire department has not provided or posted performance data online since 2023, and he has requested 2025 statistics from Quagliano.
“The ambulance service was pitched as a revenue-producing thing for the city,” Nemi said. “I don’t know that the city taxpayers have any idea as to what they’re getting for that service. As far as transparency, the ambulance reporting is supposed to be listed on the city website on the financial data portal. I just think that in the interest of transparency, we should be reporting these numbers to the fire board or the website. This is a new service, you have to review. We’re supposed to be good stewards of taxpayers.”
“I think he tries to just get me to back down,” Nemi said of Quagliano. “He made a comment that I was out of my scope by asking for this. I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. What do you think will happen to your four people if you don’t make enough?”
For the city’s ambulance reports, go to https://lockportny.gov/lockports-open-financial-data-portal/ .
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