CCMinutes - 06/14/04 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Torrey, noting that 20 people had signed up for the Public Forum, asked for a motion to extend the time allotted for it. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to limit the time of each speaker to two minutes so that all speakers could have a chance to be heard. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 7:1 (Councilor Taylor voting no). Bill Dwyer, 125 East 8th Avenue, Lane County Commissioner, opposed the privatization of fire and EMS services at the Eugene Airport. He did not find the proposal to be in the public interest. He said the job of elected officials was to balance responsibilities and weigh all factors related to the issues before them. He held great respect for the professional firefighters and police and how they placed their lives on the line for citizens on a regular basis. He acknowledged there was a great investment in their training and the salaries of the personnel at the airport were paid for by the airlines and, as a result, the passengers. Mr. Dwyer said if he thought paying people less or having people who were not as well-trained do this job would result in lower fares, it might interest him more. He opined that everyone knew this would not happen. Mr. Dwyer asked why the City would choose to save money for the airlines at the expense of losing professional service. He called it an ~ill thought-out attempt to institutionalize poverty at the government's expense." He asked who picks up the cost of health and retirement benefits when the private sector abandons them. He stated that the burden fell on the shoulders of government. He reiterated that privatiza- tion of the essential service benefited the airlines, while it shifted more financial responsibility for people without adequate health benefits or adequate salary on the taxpayers. In closing, he asked the council to consider the effect this had on employee morale, labor relations, and human relationships. Peter Sorenson, PO Box 10836, Lane County Commissioner, thanked the City Council and the Mayor for the work they do. He asserted that landing fees should pay for both the regular EMS and fire service as well as the Air Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) services and property taxes should not and do not pay for those expenses. He stated that ARFF was required by federal mandate. He felt a person should feel protected at the airport just as anywhere else. He said whether a public service should be privatized was a policy issue to be determined by the Mayor and City Council. Jill Simmons, 2381 Dale Avenue, president of the Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) Chapter 1, said she represented 900 classified employees and served as a Zone 4 State Director for OSEA and represented 26 chapters in the state of Oregon. She spoke to the City Manager's proposal to privatize ARFF services at the airport. She related that she had experienced similar issues with the school district as the district had instructed management to explore outsourcing some food service and custodial positions, affecting approximately 170 living wage jobs. She stated that contract language had been entered into requiring that a task force of management and workers be formed to explore all options to meet needs of management and workers and maintain the same high quality and standard the community had come to depend upon. She said, because this process was used, the school district had made the %orrect" choice for the community and continued to enjoy a high quality work force of employees who were invested in schools. Regarding the recommendation for privatization of ARFF services, Ms. Simmons predicted that such privatization would reduce dramatically the level of fire and emergency service at the airport and the low- paid contract employees would have minimal training and be unable to fight structure fires, vehicle fires, wild land, and grass fires. She asserted the contract employees would also have little or no training to provide emergency services. She stated that Eugene firefighters were highly-skilled professionals with training in hazardous materials, weapons, mass destruction, confined spaces, and technical rescue.