It only took a few days for new Auburn Mayor Michael Quill's first challenge.

Quill, the former long-time chief of the Auburn Fire Department, must deal with the perennial issue of increasing firefighter overtime. Within five days of being sworn in, after one of the closest races in Auburn's history, he is, whether he likes it or not, again at the center of the firefighter overtime crisis and an easy target for critics.

At issue is that with only 50 percent of the fiscal year over, Auburn's fire department has seen its overtime usage near 70 percent for the year. A combination of factors have created this situation - from a high number of injuries, to the more costly 15-man minimum that has been at issue for close to two years. The controversy over the issue may have been one of the reasons that Quill, 18 months ago, decided to hang up his fire helmet.

While Quill may want to distance himself from this issue, and suggest that it will be up to City Manager Mark Palesh and Quill's successor at AFD, interim Chief Michael Hammon, to make a recommendation - it will be Quill and the members of the city council who will have to make the final decision on a fix.

If they are not already, all eyes will be on Quill, who during the campaign was questioned about whether or not his allegiance would be with taxpayers and voters or the “brotherhood of firefighters” with whom he spent his career.

There are several options that the city can use. It can add four or fewer firefighters to start the process to curb overtime. It can eat the cost of overtime - the most recent report pegs it at more than a quarter million dollars - and hope that injuries that have helped drive overtime costs up are healed and a better complement of firefighters reduce this increased rate of overtime usage.

Or, and this will take a great deal of cohesion and planning on the part of Palesh and the council, the city can hold the line on the number of firefighters and make as their drop-dead negotiating position effective the end of June, that the 15-man minimum must go and the city will work to return to either a 14-man minimum or lower as it negotiates its next fire contract which expires in less than six months.

That, by the way, is easier said than done, because to reduce the manning number, the union, emboldened by recent electoral wins, seems to have a perception that it has a former member of the brotherhood as mayor. While the city may reduce the number in the end, it may take some time and require giving something in exchange to the union.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com