Travis County Commissioners Court
November 24, 2009,
Item 4
Item no.
4 is introduction of fire cadet class number ten to Commissioners court by emergency services district number 4.
good morning.
>> good morning.
>> good morning, Commissioners.
>> thank you for allowing us to be here this morning.
my name is don smith, chief of esd number 4.
today chief reynolds and I and actually joe robinson, one of our former cadets now a member of the houston fire department, are now bringing you class 10.
they just completed their first live fire burn on Saturday and I think they can tell you they had a full day of training, got very, very tired, very dirty and probably got a pretty good understanding what was it's about going to structure fires.
so we want to thank you for supporting this program and introduce these cadets and chief reynold, if you have got a few words.
>> this is the 10th year that the county has supported this program.
i'm sure you realize the amount of lives, the number of lives that you have touched in your decisions in allowing this program to move forward.
i call it a pay it forward.
for every life that they save or they touch or change, that's probably two lives down the road that are affected.
so I say thank you and my hats are off to you for your support on this program.
>> thank you.
any additional comments?
>> no, sir.
>> at this time we're going to let the -- each of the cadets from class 10 introduce themselves.
>> starting with you.
>> cadet
>> [indiscernible]
>> cadet shaun burkeheart.
>> drew perry.
>> randy
>> [indiscernible]
>> josh lopez.
>> cadet ryan douglas, I would like to say thank you all it's a blessing for you all to support us and for us to be able to stand here today.
>> cadet lorenzo ruiz.
>> cadet leslie
>> [indiscernible]
>> cadet lucas orona.
>> cadet meghan
>> [indiscernible]
>> cadet isaac silva.
>> cadet drew garcia.
>> cadet jacob couch.
>> cadet chris escobar.
>> cadet jonas schwartz.
>> > as you can see, we have got a very nice group of cadets here.
i think they are pretty excited about this opportunity that you are providing to them.
chief reynolds, I think, was very correct when he said you are the people that make this program happen.
this is class 10, as you look around at the classes that preceded this group, you see young people in a lot of different fire departments around the state of Texas making a difference to their communities.
and as they do so, it changes the lives of other people that look at this program.
we are already getting names and comments of people wanting to get into the next class.
that credit goes to you for supporting this program, so we want to thank you again very much for supporting this program.
>> well, it's absolutely the best vote that I have ever taken in 10 years.
i'm preproud of all of you.
i guess we will get another picture of the 10th class as well.
i think that I have all of the pictures.
this is really exciting.
>> when we get down towards graduation time, which will happen in April, we will bring them back down, you will get to see them again.
they will have completed all much their training program goes at this point in time.
and we will be looking to find jobs out in the real world as we move forward.
it's kind of nice because we are already getting fire departments calling us asking us when graduation is going to be.
they have hired people from other programs.
they see the enthusiasm that comes out of the young people coming out of this program.
and the skill levels and that's I think what impresses me is that I get a phone call from the training division or the fire chief in the department telling us how well our people come in, how skilled they are, and their knowledge of their basic training.
and a lot of that credit has to go to the instructors and adjunct instructors who train for us.
chief reynolds is in charge of that program.
my hat it off to him because he does an excellent job.
the adjunct instructors that we have come from a lot of different departments.
joe robinson is one of those adjunct instructors.
saturday, I went down to visit with him.
it was pretty impressive.
i really couldn't tell who was who.
they were pretty dirty coming out of that smoke house.
it was their first opportunity to feel that heat, see that smoke, really have that adrenalin working in there.
to see that on that drill field was really impressive.
so hats off to the cadets, hats off to the instructors that actually make it happen.
>> I would like to applaud all of you and I'm going to make sure we do that for before he leave.
but, you know, I -- this program has been here a while and thank goodness.
i think Travis County has played a significant role, but we can't do it without the cadets that have taken an interest in the program itself.
and these young persons have demonstrated that and have really changed some lives.
i guess that I would like to maybe ask the question, approximate, ballpark, I know that you may not have that information right in front of you.
but ballpark since the program started, how many cadets have actually participated in the program for the 10 year period?
that's just ballpark you don't have to be accurate because --
>> the last count that I did, Commissioner Davis, was 184 cadets completing the program, 157 finding jobs.
>> that is remarkable.
>> that is remarkable.
>> [ applause ]
>> that is -- that is something else.
and again, for those that are viewing this particular presentation and
>> [indiscernible] this morning, how could -- how could they be able to contact -- hey I think that I like that, I would like to be a part of this.
is there a telephone number they can call, some kind of way they can get in the loop as far as future position that maybe became available for this particular program?
>> yes, sir, there is.
the first way or an easy way is to go to our website, and it's www.esd4.org.
we have information about the program.
what it's all about.
how long it takes.
those types of things.
we also have our office contact number listed there.
and here in Austin it's 836-7566.
>> 83?
>> 836-7566.
>> okay.
it's to our office.
>> okay.
>> and we can answer questions for people who have interest in the program.
>> in the program.
>> so it's how we spread that information and that's actually how we recruit, also.
>> all right.
well, we have a lot -- a lot to be thankful for and -- and these cadets are -- are just part of that -- part of that -- that demonstration of how -- how grateful we really are to have such young persons involved and such a rewarding service, very rewarding, so thank y'all.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, myself.
>> I have one --
>> thank you, Commissioner Davis.
>> I have one thing in closing.
specialist robinson came through in our class number two.
when he graduated he worked for esd 4 and then went to houston.
he has been an adjunct instructor with the program since class 3.
he's paying back what you gave to him.
and it's one of our fine -- he's one of our finer instructors.
there again it show that's it is a pay it forward.
>> can lieu at the cadets and figure out -- can you look at the cadets and figure out which ones will graduate and which ones won't.
>> we hope they all graduate.
>> then we will plan to see all of you back around graduation time for the picture taking session.
>> yes, sir.
>> absolutely.
>> thank you very much.
>> thank you.
>> thank y'all.
>> good luck to all of you.
>> [ applause ]
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:40 PM
