Dear Editor,
I have sort of been following the firefighters
pension/compensation issue. The reason I have only sort of been
following it is because it seems like every couple of years we have
the same story.
Dear Editor,
I have sort of been following the firefighters pension/compensation issue. The reason I have only sort of been following it is because it seems like every couple of years we have the same story. Maybe some years it’s the police asking for the raise but whatever, it’s an oft repeated story.
But something this year caught my attention. A firefighter is asking for 90 percent of his salary for the rest of his life as a retirement benefit and that coupled with 10 fire captains making more than $100,000 per year is going to cost the city a bundle. But the whole discussion is about public safety, and we all want to feel safe. We will only be safe with a full complement of fully trained and equipped personnel. At this point I think we all feel relatively safe, right?
If we keep having this discussion every couple of years where will this lead? The unions will continue to ask at the end of every contract, for more. That is the union’s job. If the firefighters ever became satisfied then there would be no need for the unions, right? I mean, when we get to a retirement benefit that is 100 percent of the salary, then we should stop. Wouldn’t it be silly if you got paid more for not working than if you were gainfully employed? We should not confuse public safety with welfare, that would not do.
When we get to the end (that’s the point where the unions have completed their task and disband …) and the city doesn’t have enough money to pay for all of this salary and ever growing retirement corporation, what then will happen?
My guess is that we will have to start cutting back at city hall. First, it will be dog licenses (dogs won’t mind) and then the tree trimmers and then the parks and recreation people and then the programs for the kids and elderly. They, of course, do not have unions to represent them, so that should be easy. The problem is that we aren’t really going to save a lot of money on the little stuff. We may have to start going across the board and eliminate some of the public safety positions which is where the big money is. Then, all of sudden, I am not feeling so safe anymore.
The moral of the story is, do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Jeff Martin, Gilroy
