Like other city employees and city residents, Albuquerque Fire Fighters know only too well the difficult economic circumstances facing our city, our state and our nation. As President of the IAFF Local 244 that represents the fire fighters and fire fighter paramedics of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, I would like the citizens of Albuquerque to know we have worked earnestly and in good faith to do our part to help balance the budget while ensuring the safety of the City we protect and serve.

To date, however, we have not seen our good faith efforts reciprocated by the Berry Administration.  Statements from the Mayor and his Chief Administrative Officer David Campbell portray us as uncooperative and unsympathetic to the city’s financial problems.  Worse, many of our members believe that the Mayor and those he so frequently refers to as “his team” have gone out of their way to create an impression in the media that not only reflects negatively on the men and women who serve Albuquerque, but is intentionally misleading in order to score public opinion points at their expense.

For example, it was the Berry Administration that arbitrarily dismissed the cost saving measures we proposed. Fire fighters offered concessions from what was otherwise a legally binding contract between the IAFF Local 244 and the City that would have saved taxpayers $6 million over Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012.  These costs savings came largely by deferring contracted raises and relinquishing holiday pay for fire fighters.

Our proposed savings far exceeded the budget cuts the Berry administration required and clearly met the budget shortfall facing Fire Department. Our bi-partisan City Council, having several years of budget experience,  agreed with our proposed cuts and cost savings concepts and incorporated them into their 2011Fiscal Year  budget.

Despite the tax dollars that could have been saved and despite these proposals being supported by the City Council, they were inexplicably rejected by the Mayor. Subsequently, he unilaterally imposed changes to contract provisions and cut wages without ever entering into formal negotiations. These actions left us with no other recourse but to file suit to protect our rights. These actions may also trigger early retirements and can also create retention issues for the fire department which could negatively impact Insurance Service Office (ISO) ratings. The ISO rating of a community has a direct effect on the insurance premiums that individuals pay on their homes and especially on commercial buildings.

On the other hand, while arbitrarily rejecting proposals that would save taxpayers money and while claiming the City is broke, Mayor Berry and his Administration have managed to find plenty of money for contracts for people and projects that have their favor. For us, the most prominent of these is “Management Associates, Inc” which is owned by a retired city employee.

Management Associates, Inc. was awarded a “no-bid” contract for labor negotiations and paid $55,000 – just under the threshold that requires City Council approval (Mayor Berry was opposed to “no-bid” contracts during his campaign…).  The Berry Administration is now proposing a multi-year contract of $440,000 for the on-going services of Management Associates Inc., which will go before City Council on August 2, 2010 for approval.

The “no-bid” nature of this expensive contract aside, what’s even stranger is that the City already funds a Human Resources Department, an Office of Employee Relations and a Legal Department who are paid to work with city employees and their representatives.  Given that, spending tens or hundreds of thousands of tax dollars on an individual who clearly has some sort of inside track with this Administration – while rejecting realized cost savings – doesn’t make sense!

As Albuquerque fire fighters and fire fighter paramedics, we take great pride in serving our community.  Last year the Albuquerque Fire Department handled over 110,000 calls for service with pride and professionalism which included emergency medical, fire and rescue calls.  We stand determined to keep the city as safe as possible regardless of political bureaucracy and deeply appreciate the support we have received from our citizens.

We continue to hold out hope that we will be able to reach a reasonable agreement with Mayor Berry and his Administration – one that reduces costs while maintaining the high standard of service Albuquerque expects and deserves.  As fellow residents of Albuquerque, we are all weathering this economic storm.  With genuine leadership and commitment to a common purpose, we will see our way through.