Last week, auditors at the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, OpenTheBooks.com found that Portland ranked #2 out of 466 cities with similar populations across the country. Today, we take a deeper dive into a comparison to similar East Coast cities. 

Joining us this morning is Adam Andrzejewski CEO of OpenTheBooks.com.
 

Questions:

1. In 2013, Portland had 234 firefighters and today there are 226. So, how does Portland compare to Bangor, Hartford, CT and Portsmouth, NH?
2. In 2013, Barnstable, MA had the lowest per captia number of firefighters at 0.35 per 1,000 residents. Where do they rank today and what is the comparison to Portland? 

3. How does South Portland compare? What is the standard recommended by the National Fire Protection Association?

4. What issues are still outstanding and demand answers in Portland (we didn't get to this last week)?

ANSWER: We still don't have production of the 2022 city payrolls. In 2021, overtime in the fire department amounted to $2.5 million with some firefighters or EMS personnel nearly quadrupling their base pay with up to $150,000 in overtime. So, the 2022 payrolls should be very interesting.