The Sierra Vista City Council voted 5-2 on Thursday to open the door to establish a meeting and consultation structure between the city and firefighters who are members of Sierra Vista’s local chapter, the Sierra Vista Professional Firefighters. did not approve the resolution to open the Professional firefighter in Arizona.
The vote rested on whether the mayor and the president of Sierra Vista’s firefighters would be allowed to draft a memorandum of understanding or MOU establishing the legal and civil parameters of the meeting and awarding structure.
meet and discuss Defined by Cornell Law SchoolA dispute is the process by which two parties come together to discuss and attempt to resolve a dispute “without court proceedings.” However, if no agreement is reached after repeated discussions, the door is open to arbitration and litigation.
Sierra Vista Charity Coordinator Matt Brown, a professional firefighter, described the meeting and conference at Tuesday’s work session as a “give and take.”
“I’ll use fire trucks as an example: ‘We need three fire trucks this year,'” Brown said during a work session on Tuesday. “And you guys come back to us and say, ‘Hey, we can give you one.’ You can come back and say, “Let’s see the budget numbers.” Okay, here it turns out he has $5 million. How can you be sure he can’t buy three fire trucks?” You reply, “Well, I have this, this, this.” Okay, then we go back to the table and say, ‘Hey guys, I have enough money to buy one.
Sierra Vista’s president of professional firefighters, Chris Klaasen, proposed the draft resolution and memorandum of understanding, saying the primary reason was to focus on representation and communication.
“Ultimately, it’s all about giving everyone in the fire department and EMS department a voice and some input on policies and changes,” says Klasen. “Now they just tell us what we get, how we work, what our wages are.”
Sierra Vista Mayor Clea McCaa, along with City Councilors William Benning and Mark Rodriguez, submitted a resolution and a draft MOU to the City Council, approved by Sierra Vista’s Professional Firefighters during the campaign.
“They just want their voices to be heard. I promised to bring this debate to the council when I took office,” Mucker said.
He said the move was not about politics.
“We want people to understand that if they raise an issue, we listen,” McCaa said. increase.”
According to Klasen, the draft MOU is based on a template created by professional firefighters in Arizona, and the City of Sierra Vista and professional firefighters in Sierra Vista met to “agree on wages, hours, and working hours.” to reach, working conditions, and non-health-related benefits for employees of the City of Sierra Vista fire and medical services.”
He proposed changing the current structure of how the city and firefighters communicate and negotiate, including wages, benefits, working hours and terms.
Mayor Carolyn Umphrey, who voted against the resolution, said it would dramatically change the current urban fabric.
Mr Umphrey expressed concern about the wording of the draft MOU and the potential for “us vs. their mindset” between City Council, administrators and staff. It’s likely the biggest decision we’ll ever see.” , and possible additional costs to the city.
Umphrey wasn’t the only one to warn about the change.
Sierra Vista city manager Charles “Chuck” Potusek said in a work session Tuesday that he would not recommend the city council approve the resolution, citing it as a violation of city ordinances and an additional cost to the city.
“During the discussion, you’ll notice that city managers were clearly left out of the discussion,” Potsek said at a work session Tuesday. “By ordinance, the council has a mayor … who is in charge of all matters related to personnel, budgets, etc. Bypass.”
“So other departments are not at the table when it comes to allocating resources, budgeting, and applying HR rules and regulations, which facilitates things like grievance and disciplinary processes,” Potusek said.
He continued that the city does not currently have many problems with communication and personnel management.
“Anyone can come and talk to the chief,” said Potsek. “Of course, anyone can come and talk to me. Anyone who works at the fire station will know that I’m at the fire station virtually every Saturday and that I’m open to any discussion or question that comes to mind.” I know.”
Council member William Benning asked if firefighters had a problem with the loss of communications.
“But if you do it well, it works,” Benning said Tuesday. “Why change what works just for the sake of change?”
Mr Klasen said on Tuesday that he does not feel the need to break to establish meetings and conferences.
He said Wednesday that he feels firefighters don’t have the means to speak to the city council, one of the reasons they are pushing for meetings and conferences.
“But it’s a tough situation to actually get to them,” Klaasen said. “There are no seats at the all-inclusive table at this time, as the city council is the policy maker.”
Of the 91 total municipalities in Arizona, 19 have meetings and consultations, and 44 do not. In Cochise County, only Bisbee and Douglas meet and talk.
