Board of Aldermen 6-10-2020 Page 11
Chairman Dowd
Are there any of the Alderman that would have a clarifying question from anyone who has just presented?
Alderman Lopez?
Alderman Lopez
| was just curious; Safe Stations seems to being brought up a lot. Is the contract permitting the Fire
Department to continue doing it for the duration of the contract?
Mr. Davidson
No, there are no provisions whether we or not we do continue or not throughout the length of this contract.
Alderman Lopez, the %2% that we consider the raises for the Safe Stations were for the previous years that
we have done them, for the last 4 years.
Alderman Lopez
Do you have any plans to continue?
Mr. Davidson
| don’t know what the plan is for the City right now.
Alderman Lopez
OK just checking.
Chairman Dowd
Any other questions for any of the speakers from the Aldermen? Seeing and hearing none, | will now open
up testimony in favor of R-20-041. Former Mayor Davidson?
Testimony in Favor
Mr. Davidson_Thank you and | want to thank the Board of Aldermen for allowing us to join this meeting in
this modern fashion. | still think being in the same room and seeing body language is a better way to do
business, but we have to live with the times we are in. The comments that | am going to make may sound
repetitive, repetitive from the last time | talked to you about this contract to some of the comments made by
the Chief and to a degree a few of the comments made by Don. This contract is not excessive. When it
first came out, | was, | don’t want to say chastised, | was given a little “what for’ about the contents of the
contract. And I, from the very beginning, started to explain my view of why this contract was so necessary,
as | still feel strongly that it is necessary.
The contract is getting up to the point of being on par with the responsibilities of the men and women who
protect our City every day through their position as Fire Fighters and Administrative Staff, because they all
play a roll. The contract still is below other Departments mean overall percentage that they’ve been able to
get over the years. But as everybody before me has said, we are not here trying to tear anybody down.
We are here trying to say the Fire Department needs to be brought up, in some fashion, to the real world.
I’d like to put what the Fire Department has gone through for these many years, through an analogy of
siblings growing up. The oldest boy or gal gets the new clothes and the new clothes last awhile and then
they passed down to the next in line. And you say, how can you make analogy like that? Well the Fire
Department over the years, have sort of felt they are in the same position. Other Departments get in and
lobby and get a percentage in their contract that is very, very good. And when the Fire Department’s turn
comes up, Oh we can’t do that, we can’t do that, we don’t have enough.
