Report honors fallen firefighter
Toolbox
By STEPHANIE M. PETERS Herald Staff - Published: December 1, 2008
The city's 116th annual report was recently released, which for voyeurs means lengthy lists of salaries and delinquent taxes to pore over.
For the rest, it means the unveiling of a new cover design.
This year the honor goes to Deputy Fire Chief Michael Walsh, who died nearly a year ago after a lengthy battle with cancer. He is shown on the book's cover, smiling and uniformed, in a head shot laid over a photo of the entire department.
The 115-page book also features a dedication by Mayor Christopher Louras in which he writes of what an inspiration Walsh's "uncompromising professionalism and unrivaled leadership" were. Those qualities were "many times the glue that held the Rutland City Fire Department together."
Walsh was a full-time member of the department for 34 years, who, in addition to rising through the department's officer ranks, earned many of the certifications available to firefighters, including Level 1 and 2 Firefighter, paramedic, EMT and, most recently, his FAA Airport Firefighter certification.
As Louras wrote, however, "it was not his level of training that separated Mike from his peers … it was his God-given leadership ability that garnered the admiration and respect from anyone who came to know him."
"He gave a great deal to the city and the community, literally right up until the day he passed away," Louras said in an interview Saturday. "He just worked and worked and worked and served his community for 30 years. I thought it was a fitting tribute."
Insider the cover, residents will find that Louras again asked his department heads to "be short on verbage" and heavy on pertinent factual information. Over time, what had once been an itemized financial report of every transaction in the city — down to the dime — had mutated into more of an account of what took place in City Hall during the preceding year.
Last year, he tried to reverse that trend, he said.
"More than anything else it's supposed to be a compilation of numbers," Louras said. "I wanted it to be based on facts and figures."
He is the first to admit, however, that he knows most avid readers of the report quickly turn to its back pages, which this year feature four pages' worth of unpaid water and sewer accounts, and seven pages of outstanding taxes of June 30. Some of these debts date as far back as 1998.
The guide to all things Rutland City also features teacher and city employee salaries, crime and fire statistics and more nitty-gritty details from the wastewater treatment plant than most people would want to know.
Contact Stephanie M. Peters at stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com.
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