12/05/1995 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Cowncii Minutes of 12/5/95 ~ Director Gareau said that the firefighters are a collective bargaining unit. In all the years ,~,,; he has negotiated union contracts, the element of contracting outside if it becomes necessary has never been eliminated. City Council has the authority to place Charter amendments on the ballot that are determined to be appropriate--not just simply because the issues comes up in a Charter Review Conmms~on or is recom~o~eaded by the Commission. He does not feel that any union m the city is sacrosanct. It is his open that Mr. Power's comments that a vote to put this issue on the ballot is a vote in favor of safety is `fag-waving." The city shtmld not treat certain collective bargaining units more favorably than others. Mayor Boyle .that the issue has noth~g to do with the union. He feels this is sitr~ly a safety issue. Mr. Gareau and Mr. McKay do not agree. Finance Director Burns stated that there are two parts to the privatizati©n issue: One, the cost; second, the quality of service to be provided. A private company wt71 not gaff the worse case scenario to protect our city at the expense of other cities. Mr. Gareau anti Mr. McKay commented that there is gg proposal to privatize safely. What is berg considered is takimg the right of ctmsitlion away from future administrations. The Mayor reiterated his feelings that the voters mould be allowed to decide this issue, which he foals is a safety matter and not a costive basga»g issue. Mr. Gareau noted that the spoke~erson for the issue was the union p t. Also, he feels that Councd has the discretion to decide what prt~osals should ~ platay<ci on the ballot. Mr. McKay sal that when he hears the comment, `°The voters shrauld decide," a flag goes off m his miatd that says, `2 don't want to make a decision." He believes that, if the citizens are so inclined, they can place the issue on the ballot through the petition process. Dennis Lambert, 25957 Carey Lane, Chairperson of the Charter Review Commission said that he did not believe the C ' n considered any labor or management issues when discussing the proposed Charter admants. He believes the vote on the privatization issue was unanimous. Mr. I,a~ert said he did not believe that anyone could put a dollar value on the life of a fim meu~er. In an emergency situation, you would want the best evadable help. Also, he dinagr~s with the Law Director in that he feels that every issue from the Charter Review Co should be put on the ballot. Thomas O'Grady, 6328 Hastings Drive, a member of the Charter Review Cammitssion, said that the privatization issue had been thoroughly discussed. He does not agree with Mr. Lambert's assessment of the feelu-gs of the Commission members. He per had concerns that this issue would tie up the hands of the city in future negotiations. Whether or not the issue should go forward is Council's decision. Mr. Limpert expressed concern about the language calling for the safety forces to be "full time city employees." He feels this may cause a problem if a worse case sceoario should occur because of the length of time involved in training a safety employee. He wondered whether this Charter amendmegnt wcmld give the city the flexibility it needs to do what is in the best interest of the citizens and the firefighters. Mayor Boyle said that, if ~ entire shift were lost, we would have to try to fill in through overtime or temporarily hiring people from other forces. This probably would cause problems of "burn-out" over an extended period; however, a private contractor would have the same problem The 7 ~«~~«:, .