OH Firefighters Upset over Mayor's 'Excessive' OT Comments

NORWALK, OH—The honeymoon is over for Norwalk Mayor David Light — if there ever was one — and the union representing city firefighters.

"It would be very difficult to serve as a fire chief under the current administration. The current mayor has already set an adversarial tone. From his campaign promises to his lack of communication and understanding of fire department operations — it would be a very difficult position to undertake," the firefighters union said in a prepared statement given to the Reflector on Monday.

The Norwalk Firefighters International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1199 issued the statement in response to comments Light made last week about the overtime budgets for the fire and police departments, general services and parks and recreation. Light said the fire department's use of overtime in 2019 was "excessive."

“We’re going to see how this happened and learn how to get it under control,” he told the Reflector.

Light also talked about the overtime budgets of other city departments as they relate to the city's 2020 operating budget, which has a projected deficit of $828,000.

“It’s a balancing act,” Light said.

The union said the mayor fails to see the bigger picture.

"The comments made by the mayor only reflect the city's side concerning the contract negotiations that were concluded in May 2019. One of the major concerns that the city presented during the contract negotiations was to reduce the deficit in the health insurance fund which stood at greater than $800,000. Those concessions made by the union have now brought the health insurance reserve fund into a positive position for the city. This was a major concession by the union," according to the statement.

The statement from the union did not address the overtime issue, or what, if anything, should be done to reduce the amount of overtime that is budgeted. The acting fire chief, Captain Rick Perry, handed the statement to a reporter and complained about the previous coverage of the mayor's comments.

"It is certainly unfortunate that the current administration does not respect the hard work and concessions made by both the city and the union. The separation between ranks was based on comparative data collected from local fire departments."

The statement did address other issues related to city council, the former mayor and the prior administration.

"Further, the city paid a substantial amount of money to an outside legal firm to negotiate this agreement. After the negotiation process was concluded, former mayor Rob Duncan presented the tentative agreement to city council for approval. If the current mayor has a problem with the contract, he should direct his frustration to city council, not the former mayor.

There also is a comparison of wages for city firefighters and police officers contained in the statement.

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Visit the Norwalk Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) at www.norwalkreflector.com

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