Article source for : Can't concessions be temporary with city unions for budget cuts?
I've been trying to follow the financial crisis the city is in and now it seems that both the police, fire, and trash unions are standing strong against the city's strong stand.
Why can't the unions agree to a concession in salary and benefits for a contract that lasts only one year? I mean, if the city makes any more money next year, then the unions could re-negotiate and get back those concessions. I do not want to see police or fire cut, but can't they give up a little? On a side note, since 9/11 it has become very "wrong" to criticize either group publicly. That being stated, I have interacted with TPD on about 7 occasions in the last 3 years. Only one of those times could I say that the police were worth their money. The other times they were arrogant, rude, and treated me like calling them was an inconvenience. I'm not talking about calling them for a cat up a tree. I'm talking about calling them for a group of 25 kids fighting in the street and those type of incidents. I'm not even counting the 3 cop cars that showed up at Ravine Park on a Sunday to stop us from working on the roller rink because they were worried we didn't have permission to build it and wanted us to stop. I guess no crime was going on elsewhere in the city that day.
On another note, I just read in the blade how the city council approved buying those trash containers for the city that are used with the one driver trash truck at a cost of 9 million dollars. The council said that they needed to buy them now because the price would only be going up. My question is, "How much would they go up if they waited?"
These trash containers aren't even going to be used until Sept of this year, if at all. The city couldn't have waited and maybe delayed this program?
On one hand I hear how this budget is a crisis and needs to be resolved yesterday, then I read how the council put off another vote for the big decisions. How much more confusing is this going to get? Politics as usual I guess.