For the past few weeks I have followed the debate over the
salaries of Gilroy firefighters.
Some who oppose a pay raise for firefighters seem to believe
that our local professionals are overpaid.
For the past few weeks I have followed the debate over the salaries of Gilroy firefighters.
Some who oppose a pay raise for firefighters seem to believe that our local professionals are overpaid.
While I don’t believe that our firefighters are overpaid, we as a city simply can’t afford a raise at this time even if they deserve it.
One reader suggested that being a firefighter in Gilroy was not as challenging as being a firefighter in New York City. (This is true until we have a major fire. When the wildfire out on Croy Road was raging, firefighters were heroes in this community.)
What I learned over the past few weeks is that firefighters earn a decent living. Almost no firefighter retires at 50. The average age for retirement is 56, and the life expectancy for firefighters is only 62.
Maybe the pension for firefighters is justifiably higher because they have a lower chance of collecting social security benefits.
The risks associated with this profession are ones I am not able to meet, and I am grateful that we have a highly trained force here in Gilroy.
I believe that most people in this community want our police and fire personnel to be connected with the city they serve. The best way to be connected to Gilroy is to live here, but it’s too expensive to live here.
I think it is perfectly reasonable that people who put their lives on the line for us should be earning a livable wage. Why shouldn’t the most experienced fire personnel in Gilroy be earning as much as the accountant or engineer next door?
The real problem here is not that firefighters or police earn too much, it is that too many other folks in Gilroy earn too little.
The story about Pat Vickroy getting sick due to mold problems in his office at Brownell absolutely sickened me.
I have a great deal of admiration for Mr. Vickroy. He truly cares about the physical well- being of our children. I have also had at least one child in Brownell for each of the past five years.
My children have always had classes in the ‘J’ buildings and have complained about the smell, the dirt and the general decay of these classrooms. It wasn’t until this week that I realized just how bad the situation was in those old Jordan rooms.
In 2002, six classrooms at Brownell were designated P-1 (top priority) for immediate remediation, and the school district did nothing.
Actually, the district did do something. They opened a new state-of-the-art middle school.
They also simultaneously implemented attendance areas, so that some children would be forced to sit in classrooms that could be hazardous to their health while other children would have the benefit of a beautiful new facility.
Two weeks ago, while addressing cost overruns in the facilities budget, the school board was given possible options for cost-cutting measures.
While portables are supposed to be put in place at Brownell this summer to replace the ‘J’ buildings, one option presented to the School Board was cutting the scheduled upgrades at Brownell.
While I love Brownell, the disparities between its facilities and those of our other two middle schools are shameful. There is no multi-purpose room at Brownell, no stage, no track and no pool.
Brownell lacks adequate space for its computer lab, band, choir and library. A fine example of “our tax dollars at work for some of us”.
The school district needs to rethink its priorities when it comes to facilities. Not one more dollar should be spent on new facilities until our older facilities have been adequately updated.
Case in point: Rucker School has never had a PA system. Placing cameras at any other school should not even be discussed until Rucker School has a working PA system.
There were two lockdowns at Rucker School while my children attended. I was president of the Rucker Home & School Club four years ago and realized that this was a serious problem.
On Oct. 25, 2001, I sent a letter to the superintendent on behalf of the Rucker parents asking that this issue be addressed immediately. I was told at that time that a PA system would be installed at Rucker when the oldest wing of classrooms was replaced.
Those classrooms were replaced a year ago, yet Rucker still has no PA system. Facilities and accountability are supposedly top priorities in this district.
These words ring out at every school board meeting as often as “best practices” and “data-driven instruction.”
Ignoring the disparities that have existed and continue to exist at some of our facilities is not a “best practice.” It is time for the district to do the right thing for all of our schools.
