Our next meeting. It will be held 7:30pm on Tuesday, April 24th at:
Connolly’s Corner
71-17 Grand Avenue Maspeth, NY 11378
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Merit Matters Essay Contest And Next Meeting
On December 30th, 2011 in response to the attempt to censor us we AGAIN opened up an Essay Contest with a prize of $100 and promised to post the winner on our site and distribute it to all our supporters. The premise of the essay is, “Merit Matters is wrong because...”. How could our opponents resist?
Well, resist they have. They had until the first day the new entry test was administered - March 15, 2012 - to submit entries but failed to do so.
How could this be? We know that although our supporters are growing faster than ever, we still have detractors. Are they not able to fashion a well thought-out essay? Or is the premise their problem- our positions are not wrong so it is impossible to muster an argument that they are?
In any event, we will once again donate the $100 to a charity supported by our attorneys, Sullivan and Galleshaw. Our opponents should know, however, that they may still submit an essay on the premise above at anytime and we will post and distribute it. We are not expecting them to, however, since they have had the opportunity to do so since 2010 but have not. That reminds me- the Vulcan Society leaders have not yet invited me to Vulcan Hall for a debate, either. I wonder why?
Now, about our next meeting. It will be held 7:30pm on Tuesday, April 24th at:
Connolly’s Corner
71-17 Grand Avenue Maspeth, NY 11378
All are welcome, especially those who disagree with us. In fact, they will be able to speak whenever they want and will be afforded all courtesies and respect.
When they are not speaking, we will be and we will talk about our efforts including the Amicus brief, the Vulcan prep course, the home visits, the EEO Unit etc. etc. etc. Things have certainly been busy of late. We will also answer questions, and introduce any and all of our newly minted Division and Battalion Representatives who can make it.
One of the main thrusts of this meeting will be an explanation of why we are doing what we are doing and why it is important for all who believe in equal treatment and care about the future ability of the FDNY to protect the residents of NYC - as well as each other - to speak out and take action. Some believe that our opposition to the lawsuit, the judge, the appointed monitors and the arguments made by the Vulcan Society leaders will in some way hurt the FDNY by giving the opposition ammunition to use against us. Consider that the ruling that reading comprehension ability is not required to be a firefighter was made before the judge knew my name or Merit Matters was formed, and you will conclude that meekly submitting to edicts from on high will in no way protect us. Groups and individuals across the country have successfully fought back against the same arguments made here (and we are in contact with many of them, including the New Haven 20). Even if our fight is not ultimately successful, and quota hiring is once again forced upon the FDNY, we will have gone down swinging in that fight - and will continue to fight.
So join us. Realize that if quotas are utilized for hiring they will next be used for promotion (and already have been in NYC in the past).
See you on the 24th.
Paul Mannix
President - Merit Matters
516-848-9847 cell
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
A Rebuttal to Mary Rose Roberts on Diversity in the Fire Service
In a recent Fire Chief video (http://firechief.com/video/merit-vs-diversity-20120314/?cid=nl_cp&YM_MID=1298621&YM_RID=chgold151@gmail.com)
Mary Rose Roberts addressed responses to her latest article “Turn Up the Heat” (http://firechief.com/leadership/ar/creating-fire-service-diversity-201202/index.html)
on increasing diversity in the Fire Service.
Unfortunately, this address (linked above) doesn't really deal with the core issue here - DOES diversity trump merit as a primary concern? I and many others, for instance, believe merit clearly trumps "diversity for diversity's sake." Ms. Roberts seems unable to even stake out the position that "diversity should trump merit at least in some cases," perhaps because it may be very difficult for her to articulate exactly why. In NYC, as for example, there are numerous agencies that are much more racially imbalanced than is the FDNY. While the FDNY's uniformed force is appx 90% white (appx 2.6X their #s in NYC's population), the NYC Corrections Dept is over 65% non-Latino black (appx 2.9X their numbers in NYC's population)...and yet "diversity crusaders” HAVEN'T appeared to take much issue with that even more glaring imbalance...at least not YET. Mr. Richard Levy’s remarks in a recent interview (http://k004.kiwi6.com/hotlink/6412v367oa/fdny_podcast_0001.wma) seem to indicate that as an attorney he is VERY MUCH interested in addressing precisely such disparities....AND Merit Matters disagrees! We feel people gravitate to the jobs they have an interest and aptitude for and that such disparities are merely “snapshots” in time, subject to change given a whole range of social, cultural and economic factors, at any given time.
Considering that non-Latino blacks comprise just 23% of NYC’s population and 36% of its Municipal workforce, and that until 2007’s exam were historically LESS than 10% of the applicants for the FDNY, there appears to be a historic lack of interest in the Fire Service among that group. That appears to be merely a matter of personal choice, that is subject to change at any time. That same group is also currently woefully UNDER-represented among America’s Volunteer Fire Departments and they are also significantly under-represented among organ donors, as well.
IF actual “diversity” was the goal here, then those who espouse it would be fighting every bit as vehemently to make sure that agencies that are overwhelmingly non-Latino black would be properly “diversified” as well, and they’re not. Fact is, non-Latino blacks are the most over-represented group in both the NYC Municipal workforce (the ONLY ethnicity over-represented by more than 10% of their numbers in NYC’s population) AND they are greatly over-represented in the federal workforce, as well.
I’m sure we all consider as a given that “Free people are NOT equal,” they’re not equal in interests, nor in aptitudes. We believe that people SHOULD BE able to choose for themselves which jobs and in which fields they have an interest in and would like to work in. AND if diversity crusaders were truly serious about their “mission,” they’d have begun their crusade by looking to address the OVER-representation of the group that is most OVER-represented in government employment – non-Latino blacks. The fact that they haven’t speaks volumes about the real focus of their “mission.”
JMK
KNOW the Protest Procedure for Questions on Exam #2000....Proctors Will go Over Before Exam
Anyone taking the test currently being administered should know the procedure to protest questions. The proctors may be making this clear (and we have not received any indications that this is a problem) but just to cover all bases, make sure any candidate taking the test knows to ask about the protest procedure if it is not made clear to them that they can, indeed, file protests about specific questions after the test is given and scored.
This message is being sent out because we were made aware of a situation we had not thought about, and that is exactly what we encourage. Be our eyes and ears and feel free to contact us anytime with questions, advice, suggestions etc.
Paul Mannix
President - Merit Matters
516-848-9847 cell
Saturday, March 17, 2012
If You Believe You Were Discriminated Against.....
Merit Matters
Friday, March 16th, 2012
Anyone who believes they were discriminated against by the FDNY Vulcan Society because they were denied access to their FDNY entry test prep courses, or were admitted but made to feel unwelcome based on statements made by the organizers of the class, should contact attorney Keith Sullivan of Sullivan and Galleshaw LLP to discuss your rights and the claims that have already been filed.
Mr. Sullivan can be reached at Keith@SullivanGalleshaw.com or 718-843-0300. You can also visit their website at www.SullivanGalleshaw.com
Paul Mannix
President - Merit Matters
516-848-9847 cell
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