05-28-09, Bruce Philpott Comments on the Support for Assembly Bill AB 155 by Paul Krekorian and the Fire Fighters’ Unions

References:

1. The Wall Street Journal article, “California Cities Face Bankruptcy Curbs”

2. League of California Cities Opposes AB 155

Sad case, but Glendale's Assemblyman Paul Krekorian voted in support of this bill to get it out of committee. Not surprisingly, he has received over $5000 from the fire unions recently. No surprise the fire union was the lead public union sponsoring the bill. The fire unions all over the state are working with their local politicians to find direct ways to fund them independent of the general fund monies they have to share with other departments. They are exploring all types of city-wide assessment districts. The Glendale fire chief announced last week that he intends to pursue a city-wide assessment district to pay for the deficit of millions of dollars each year for the emergency medical response program. There are just as effective models that do not need any infusion of additional taxpayer money, but the fire union wants to keep its membership at the present level, even though it is beyond Glendale's ability to finance.

Bruce Philpott