That Time Muncie Republicans Wanted to PRIVATIZE the Fire Department
12.2.2023 / Op-Ed/ munciepostdemocrat.com
The local GOP in 2008 wanted to make massive cuts to and even privatize the fire department. Why do they pretend they’re any different now?
Beyond the obvious desperation on their part, there’s also some irony in the fact that this is coming from Republicans. As a party that wants to deregulate and privatize anything they can get their hands on, their elected officials tried to tell people like Roger Overbey how to support city workers. It’s even more ridiculous seeing that not terribly long ago, the Muncie GOP wanted to privatize the department thanks to the likes of then-mayor Sharon McShurley.
McShurley’s term was the tail end of a twenty-year period where the mayor’s seat was Republican controlled. Previous mayor Dan Canan didn’t pursue a fourth term in 2007, and not long after serving he moved to Fishers. The primary was speculated to be an easy win for McShurley given her larger donations than her opponent, the long-term Council member David Taylor.1
“McShurley for Mayor.” From X/Twitter.
The stories of her fanatical single term are numerous, namely when firefighters were immediately fired and she railed against corruption to prove she was the rootiest tootiest cowboy in the Midwest (also by carrying a gun everywhere she went) and fighting what she called the “good ol’ boy” network. McShurley was also one of the most confrontational mayors in recent times. When she and the council were at odds over budgets in 2010, resulting in a high number of vetoes, she claimed it was nothing more than payback for her firings of firefighters and police.2
Not only did McShurley decrease their budgets, like many mayors had when negotiations came up, but she considered actually privatizing the entire fire department (written in a WTHR article literally titled “Muncie mayor considers privatizing fire department.”3) Council President Sam Marshalls responded to this idea “You already have well-trained firemen. Why would you want to take that risk when you don’t know what you’re getting?”4
Her idea was to hire more volunteer firefighters and kick out those icky unionized ones. While different from what some batshit libertarian think tanks dream up now and again, it was still so unrealistic that the council wouldn’t let her speak about it at a meeting on June 2nd that year. 5 That meeting also consisted of 250-300 community members, vastly in protest of her statements about closing stations and laying off firefighters, and wearing shirts printed by the local union that read “it takes firefighters to fight fires.”6
Later in the year it was also proposed that fire runs would be charged by the city anywhere from $500 to $1,000 for car accidents and structure fires.7 Luckily Democrats had a 7-2 majority in council and could stop many of these proposed changes and cuts to the fire department. Were they the sycophants of the egregious good ol’ boys’ network? Probably. But at least they wouldn’t get anywhere near considering McShurley’s ideas. Her proposed budget cuts also struck a chord because they were happening at a time when we were losing the identity of Muncie as a labor town, namely with the loss of BorgWarner. Out of that discontentment from voters she lost her reelection bid, the first time a Republican lost the seat in over twenty years.
It’s not hard to find Star Press articles expressing that she was a contested and controversial mayor to put it mildly. And it wasn’t difficult to find opposition within her party, namely Dan Canan refusing to endorse her. But on her side of the fence was our current mayor Dan Ridenour, who had just lost a council election to Jerry Dishman the previous year, during which he was one of three Republican candidates who said he would vote in favor of closing a fire station and selling the property for commercial use.8 On unions, he said he would consider cutting bargaining agreements with both the police and fire unions.9
Star Press headline “Three GOP candidates would close fire station.” Available with newspapers.com subscription.
From “Teamster Steward vs. banker.”
After the election Ridenour was appointed by McShurley to the convention and tourism commission, and the following year was elected treasurer of the county party.10 There was also the Citizens of Delaware County for Property Tax Repeal, a group with was also present at the June 2nd meeting. Their tirades were well documented on an ancient YouTube channel “WatchingInMuncie,” filled with such videos as a PSA for firefighters to get a reality check,11 a camera man harassing Dennis Tyler at the county fair,12 and conservative memes of Obama playing over the Beatles song “Taxman.”13
If we want to call them just a faction of the GOP, they were a loud and engaged Tea Party-esque group that weren’t far off from how the party is today. Granted, Ridenour as mayor hasn’t exploited brash partisanship like McShurley, but instead he and the local party are just quiet about such positions and actions. Ridenour today, in his estimation, can’t garner support if he were open in his intentions or else he would lose city elections. Unfortunately he could go down the route most of the GOP has if he ran in a larger scale election, but in Muncie he has to change his demeanor.
Beyond our current mayor, there exists an unspoken consensus in Muncie for limiting public goods. Even if nothing of the sort can be passed with the composition of the council now, it can be through other board/commission appointments or actions beyond city government. Going back to that resolution, it can still pass if the public gets enough details. But we have to wonder if it’s going to fix the horrendous conditions firefighters are exposed to without longer-term issues coming up. Those issues could mean a future with less guarantees for the department, or residents in general, and not meeting the agreements the city has promised to follow.
After the election Ridenour was appointed by McShurley to the convention and tourism commission, and the following year was elected treasurer of the county party.10 There was also the Citizens of Delaware County for Property Tax Repeal, a group with was also present at the June 2nd meeting. Their tirades were well documented on an ancient YouTube channel “WatchingInMuncie,” filled with such videos as a PSA for firefighters to get a reality check,11 a camera man harassing Dennis Tyler at the county fair,12 and conservative memes of Obama playing over the Beatles song “Taxman.”13
If we want to call them just a faction of the GOP, they were a loud and engaged Tea Party-esque group that weren’t far off from how the party is today. Granted, Ridenour as mayor hasn’t exploited brash partisanship like McShurley, but instead he and the local party are just quiet about such positions and actions. Ridenour today, in his estimation, can’t garner support if he were open in his intentions or else he would lose city elections. Unfortunately he could go down the route most of the GOP has if he ran in a larger scale election, but in Muncie he has to change his demeanor.
Beyond our current mayor, there exists an unspoken consensus in Muncie for limiting public goods. Even if nothing of the sort can be passed with the composition of the council now, it can be through other board/commission appointments or actions beyond city government. Going back to that resolution, it can still pass if the public gets enough details. But we have to wonder if it’s going to fix the horrendous conditions firefighters are exposed to without longer-term issues coming up. Those issues could mean a future with less guarantees for the department, or residents in general, and not meeting the agreements the city has promised to follow.
Notes
1. Yencer, Rick. 2007. “Little suspense in mayoral primary.” Muncie Star Press. May 9th. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253940949/
2. Proffitt, Chris. 2009. “Muncie mayor, council locked in budget battle.” WTHR. November 13th. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/politics/muncie-mayor-council-locked-budget-battle/531-f9a3a4ba-2341-4b09-84a2-fc2e903a538c
3. n.a. 2008. “Muncie mayor considers privatizing fire department.” WTHR. June 3rd. https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/muncie-mayor-considers-privatizing-fire-department/531-01bd6e52-476e-4af6-9a58-0cbd183ca4c6.
4. Werner, Nick. 2008. “Mayor: Take fire dept. private.” Muncie Star Press. June 3rd, 2008. 1, 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253883656
5. Werner, Nick. “Mayor: Take fire dept. private.” Star Press. June 3rd, 2008. 1, 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253883656
6. Werner, Nick. “Mayor: Take fire dept. private.” Star Press. June 3rd, 2008. 1, 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253883656
7. Yencer, Rick. 2008. “City may charge for fire runs.” Star Press. September 10th. 1, 7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253886597
8. Werner, Rick. Three GOP candidates would close fire station. Sept 21st, 2007. Star Press. Pg. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253624078
9. Slabaugh, Seth. 2007. “Teamster Steward vs. banker.” October 28th, 2007. Star Press. Pg. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/253830082.
10. Slabaugh, Seth. 2009. “Republicans shake up leadership.” Muncie Star Press. March, 8th. https://www.newspapers.com/image/254333099.
11. WatchingInMuncie. “Muncie Firefighters need a Reality Check,” YouTube Video, 4:15, July 4th, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoh0ss60x0s.
12. WatchingInMuncie. “Dennis Tyler SNUBS Charity!” YouTube Video, 1:50, July 23rd, 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHevdu2WlOc.
13. WatchingInMuncie. “Taxman,” YouTube Video, 2:39, February 27th, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuLPTc7isos.