Published: June 22, 2009 09:54 pm      

Firefighters fight for jobs

35 current and past firemen gather at closed meeting of city council.

Around 35 current and retired Logansport firefighters gathered at a closed meeting of the Logansport City Council on Monday to voice concerns about potential layoffs.

Despite deputy city attorney Lisa Traylor-Wolff informing the firefighters that they would have to leave the city council chambers as the meeting got under way, the firefighters said they were glad to have made a point to the city’s elected officials.

“We’re here because the city needs to know that we might be losing firefighters while the police department is hiring officers,” said Logansport Fire Capt. Rex Danely. “The mayor told us that there are more crimes than fires and that is why we might be losing men.”

Faced with a $1 million cut in budgets in 2010, Logansport Mayor Mike Fincher has strongly indicated in the past few weeks that the city might be forced to lay off firefighters and close one or two of the city’s fire stations.

Fincher said the meeting was held to discuss police and fire wages and benefits after both departments had submitted their requests for 2010.

He said that the meeting was necessary for the city council to understand the terms of the agreement and to make a counter proposal in line with its proposed budget. Due to legal requirements, he said, he could not comment on specifics of the proposal.

The meeting lasted for nearly an hour, with council Democrats Kerry Worthington and Charlie Hastings leaving 15 minutes before the rest of the council. Hastings said he also was not allowed to talk about the subject of the meeting, but he appeared frustrated at the direction of the discussion.

Mark Strong, president of the firefighters union, said that Fincher held meetings with each of the fire department’s three shifts to inform them about possible reductions in 2010.

He said that the firefighters wanted to show their concern and willingness to work with the city to the benefit of the department’s personnel and safety of the city’s citizens.

“All the guys are concerned about their jobs, supporting themselves and their families and providing fire protection to the city of Logansport,” Strong said. “If we can let them know what we’re thinking, that we’re willing to work with them to let people go through attrition such as by voluntary retirements, that would benefit all involved.”

Strong added that this willingness is already reflected in the department’s proposal not to take a pay raise.

“We won’t be taking a pay raise this year, and we didn’t take one last year,” he said.

While no decisions are legally allowed in an executive session, Fincher said that a further closed meeting with fire and police officials would be held at 3:30 p.m. today to discuss a proposal reached by a consensus of council members.

“This is just the first step in the process,” he said. “After tomorrow, we will have to see where we go from there.”

Kevin Smith is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5148 or kevin.smith@pharostribune.com