Fire merger is model for sharing

Local elected officials routinely call, in their speeches and news conferences, for cooperation, collaboration, and regionalism in the face of shrinking municipal budgets. Yet we seldom see these ideas put into action.

This week, our two northwest Ohio communities have passed a milestone in that respect -- the one-year anniversary of the merger of Toledo's and Ottawa Hills' fire services. Looking back at the planning for this successful venture, we can apply its lessons to future collaborative endeavors and share them with others who have watched our partnership and seek to replicate it.

When Ottawa Hills approached the city with this proposal, Toledo was open to the idea. But we remained unsure of how citizens of both our communities would receive it.

Our firefighters already worked together each day under an automatic mutual-aid pact. Each department was staffed by skilled and highly trained professionals who delivered fire protection and emergency medical services to their respective communities.

Each department was comfortable relying on each other for the same purposes when it needed backup from a nearby ally. All that separated the two departments was an artificial line of demarcation called a municipal boundary.

As we worked through a potential partnership agreement, it became clear that we could provide the citizens of Ottawa Hills with professional fire protection and emergency medical assistance at a much lower cost. Toledo could benefit from an extra fire station where there was a geographical gap, as well as 10 highly qualified firefighters joining the ranks of the city fire department.

Our two communities continue to benefit from these positive features. The Ottawa Hills community has warmly welcomed Toledo firefighters; during their first week, they enjoyed homemade pies delivered to the station. Firefighters from Ottawa Hills are now part of the Toledo fire and rescue family.

Because the fire merger was the first real foray into shared services in northwest Ohio, citizens in both communities were justifiably uncertain about the proposal. We hope they have been reassured by the consistent provision of high-quality, professional safety protection in both communities, the dedication of Toledo Fire and Rescue Department personnel to a high standard of care, budget savings, staff gains, and respect for and pride in community identity that Toledo and Ottawa Hills both hold.

We are proud to lead the way for other Ohio communities that look to our collaboration as a model they can follow. We've participated in phone calls and meetings to explain how we approached this partnership and why it has worked for us.

And we continue to look for opportunities to work with our neighbors to ensure that we are providing other public services as efficiently and economically as possible for our citizens, whenever these potential partnerships make sense.

As we said in 2010 when we began our discussions, the vocabulary of cooperation, collaboration, and regionalism has no value without action. In going forward with this program, we took a hard look to make sure that it worked for both communities.

Not all services can or should be combined. But fear of change should not cause us to dismiss the opportunity to explore partnership and service collaboration. As budgets shrink and the demand for public services holds steady, local governments must be innovative and open to new ideas to meet the needs of our citizens.

Shared services can be a part of this. We are proud to be at the forefront of this initiative in northwest Ohio.

Kevin Gilmore is mayor of Ottawa Hills. Mike Bell is mayor of Toledo.