Poor man's confused!
City Councilor Linda Pereira said that during contract negotiations with the firefighters, the union requested a 4 percent raise, but Flanagan offered 7.5 percent, and education and clothing allowance go into the base pay, increasing a pension and further burdening the pension system.
“I had a conversation about that with the mayor because it was wrong to do,” Pereira said. “ ... And I know you as a union representative said (to Flanagan) can you afford this, and he told you yes. ... You are not the only ones in this community that have been deceived because I’ve, too, been deceived.”
It was the same agreement Flanagan negotiated with the police union, she said.
Firefighters union, City Council say SAFER application from Aug. 2013 contradicts mayor's recent statements
Herald News Photo | Jack Foley |
Fall River Fire Department District Chief James Mellen, left, who is vice president of the firefighters Local 1314, points out what he says are discrepancies in Mayor Will Flanagan's statements regarding proposed fire department staffing levels. Seated next to Mellen is the union local's president, Firefighter Jason Burns. Union members in the audience are wearing white T-shirts.
Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter Posted Mar. 26, 2014
FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s administration identified a $10 million budget shortfall in August 2013 and acknowledged that a reduction in firefighters would put the city’s safety at risk, according to information contained in a 2013 SAFER grant application.
But those facts contradict recent statements made by the administration claiming that the shortfall wasn’t discovered until January and claims by Flanagan that the planned layoffs of 60 firefighters would still keep the city within federal fire safety standards.
During the public comment portion of the City Council meeting Tuesday night, union representatives of the firefighters Local 1314 outlined those facts after a request from City Councilor Michael Miozza to review the 2013 SAFER grant.
Union President Jason Burns said that, when he was hired as a firefighter for the city, he took an oath to protect and serve, whether it was to fight fires or respond to other emergencies.
“Tonight, it’s a little bit different. But it’s still protecting and serving,” Burns said. “I’m here to sound the alarm, not with my words, but the papers before you, in the mayor’s words.”
Burns said Flanagan was either being untruthful to the federal government or untruthful to the residents.
Contacted Tuesday night, Flanagan said he didn’t recall the details of the SAFER grant application and would meet with the financial team today and will make a public comment after the meeting.
The city is seeking funding for 16 firefighters, which would total more than $3.2 million. It identified in the application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that it was committed to funding the 79 firefighter positions currently paid for through a $14.4 million SAFER grant awarded in 2011.
But in February, Flanagan announced plans to lay off more than 30 percent of the fire department staff — 60 firefighters. It would reduce the complement of firefighters from 213 to 153.
Until December, according to firefighter union representatives, Flanagan had promised the department that the city would fund a staff of 200 firefighters.
In the application, a projected $10 million gap was identified as the reason the city could not support its staffing needs.
The fiscal 2015 budget shortfall wasn’t made public until this month, and it wasn’t mentioned by City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros and Treasurer John Nunes when they delivered the City Council’s first quarterly budget update in January.
The council briefings passed an ordinance requiring the administration to make quarterly updates on the municipal budget and the water and sewer enterprise funds.
During questioning by city councilors, Viveiros and Nunes reiterated that the shortfall was found in January, but Miozza quizzed Nunes, who was part of the finance team at the time the grant application was written, on whether he was aware of the $10 million gap in August.
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