| Updated: 6/24/2009 6:52 pm |
Published: 6/24/2009 3:57 pm
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A war of words escalates between public safety officials and one Tulsa city councilor. The issue is the amount of money the city gives to the police and fire departments. With the budget stretched thin, Councilor Bill Martinson says the police and fire unions are dictating policy. Fox 23’s Douglas Clark has continuing coverage on this story.
Last Thursday, city councilors approved next year’s budget, set to take effect July 1st. But the vote came after much debate about how much the city spends on public safety.
Councilor Bill Martinson wanted to take nearly $4 million from the police and fire budgets, to fund various quality of life programs.
Police and fire officials warned against any funding cuts to their departments, saying there would be a dramatic impact to public safety.
Over the weekend, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police charged Councilor Martinson misled fellow councilors by using old data to support his theory that the police and fire budgets are over-funded.
Now Councilor Martinson is firing back, issuing a statement rebutting the FOP’s accusations.
In the release, Martinson says: “We have a system run amuck when our two public safety departments operate with impunity when it comes to their union members; deciding which laws to obey or what information they feel inclined to disclose. Police and fire budgets have consumed an increasing share of our operating revenue. The police and fire unions have parlayed this…increase in funding into fewer positions rather than more.”
The fire union responded to Martinson’s accusations.
“We do not bargain on the number of firefighters they hire. That's management's rights. They determine how many people we have,” says Tulsa fire union president Stan May. “We're in the middle of contract negotiations. It's a little irresponsible to try to rile up the troops while we're trying to come to an agreement with the city and the council as to how we're going to operate this year with fewer funds.”
Martinson's plan to take more money out of the police and fire budgets was rejected. But under the new budget plan, police and fire officials will be forced to take eight unpaid days off next year.
Martinson went on to warn the departments that they should be prepared to make deeper cuts to their budgets if sales tax revenue continues to decline.
The city spends about 35% of its budget on police and fire funding. That’s the second-highest portion of the budget, behind transportation and public works.
