Perspectives on the state of the Meadville Central Fire Department are opposed along predictable party lines as Meadville enters the sixth month since City Council voted to cut departmental staffing levels. City Manager Andy Walker acknowledged the opposing views as he explained the city’s position on the changes. “One perspective is that the policy change to a three-man shift minimum — where you’ll have at least three guys working instead of four — certainly has had the intended effect of reducing overtime,” Walker said. Capt. Jill Staaf — president of Local 515 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the department's union — offered a starkly different take on the staffing changes.