The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Wednesday night unanimously approved a long-awaited firefighters contract — but not before the Democratic minority mounted a fight after learning the contract had not been placed on the agenda and no public notice had been published.
Local 2533 of the International Association of Fire Fighters has been working without a contract for more than a year. Under the new contract, base pay for a firefighter will begin at $65,850. That will rise to $67,760 as of July 2015, the final year of the current contract.
Robert Imperato (R‑4), the chair of the RTM Public Services Committee (see top photo), told the RTM that after a good deal of hard work he believed the contract is fair and equitable to everyone, “including taxpayers.”
“We sent a message, we want to have benefits for the town,” he said.
Highlights of the new contract include adding language to the workers’ compensation section to address when the town will stop supplementing payments, along with a new requirement that firefighters “punch the clock” when they leave for a job.
To Vote or Not To Vote
The discussion on the contract came after a long debate on whether to actually vote on it. The Republicans, who control the RTM by a 19 – 11 majority, might well have voted as a bloc to go forward but recognized the awkwardness of the situation and the need to listen to the Democrats.
Chris Sullivan (pictured), who previously served as Democratic RTM moderator and is now the current minority leader, sought to block a vote on the contract. He said he had concerns — not about the contract itself, but about the failure to notice the contract on last night’s RTM agenda. He was also concerned that the contract was not noticed in town publications so that the public might be informed and participate in the meeting.
Dennis Flanagan, the current Republican moderator, told Sullivan he would usually agree with him. He said “we missed the newspaper deadline by a couple of days” but he noted the contract had been approved unanimously by the RTM’s bipartisan Public Services Committee.
Town Clerk Issue
The contract was stamped into the Town Clerk’s office on the morning of March 28. But for some reason, Town Clerk Lisa Arpin did not get it onto the April 9 “Legal Notice” of the RTM‘s April 9 meeting. She attended the RTM meeting last night but did not explain what happened. She could not be reached today because she was attending a clerks’ meeting.
At the outset of the meeting Imperato moved that the contract be placed on the call, which is permitted under RTM rules. That’s when the debate began. Over the next 35 minutes, both sides of the aisle argued over the issue, with the Democrats calling for a special meeting so that the public might attend and the Republicans arguing that an RTM committee approved the contract unanimously after a detailed discussion.
Rep. Maryann Amore (D‑4) told the RTM that “a contract of this magnitude needs to be noticed. It was not on the agenda.”
Rep. Frank Twohill (R‑1) said the entire RTM received a copy of the contract at the end of March. “It is not as if this is going through without any input.” He observed that if Attorney Bill Ryan, who negotiated the contract for the town, were present at the meeting, “that would cost money.”
Finally, by a vote of 19 – 7, with several Democrats voting with the Republican majority, the contract was added to the call.
A Text From The Fire Chief
Typically when a major town contract is up for a vote, those involved in the negotiations attend the meeting. None were there last night. In fact, at one point Fire Chief Jack Ahern texted a message to Jason Driscoll (R‑4), who sits on the Public Works Committee, when a question arose about stipends. Ahern told Driscoll there would be no increase in stipends. Ahern was watching the live BCTV proceedings at home.
Other members that would typically be present would include Joyce Forte, the town’s director of human resources, who signed off on the contract, Jim Finch, the finance director, Attorney Ryan, Fire Commissioner Kathy Fox, Ahern, and Shaun Heffernan, the assistant fire chief.
As it turned out no one was in the community room at fire headquarters to answer questions posed by RTM members because there was uncertainty before the meeting began as to whether the agenda issue could be resolved. Clare Torelli (D‑1) said she didn’t want that to happen again.
“There is not one person here tonight,” she said. “They should automatically be here.” She said she agreed with the contract but added that those involved in its discussions needed “to be here for questions. Were they invited?” she asked. No one responded.
It appears they might have been ready to attend the meeting but when it was uncertain if the item would actually come up for a vote, a decision was made not to go. First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove attended the meeting; no one on the RTM asked him to speak to the issue.
It took more than an hour for the RTM to vote unanimously to approve the contract. The RTM did so after Imperato gave a lucid and detailed explanation of the contract and the new benefits the town had achieved.
Doug Hanlon (D‑3), former chair of the Public Services Committee, noted that the contract was “a full point below most contracts. This was a great job in negotiating the contract, especially compared to other contacts around the state.”
Under the new contract, which will date to 2013 and runs to 2016, wages will increase by 0 percent the first year, 2.75 percent, the second year, 2.8 percent, the third year and 2.9 percent, the fourth year effective July 1st of each of the four years of the agreement, beginning 2013.
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