Firefighters plan to present petition

Clovis firefighters plan to attend today’s city commission meeting and ask commissioners to reconsider their decision on a pay plan designed to retain firefighters.

Commissioners voted against a pay plan Fire Chief Ray Westerman presented to the commissioners earlier this month that would increase salaries of 50 mid-level emergency service personnel, which includes lieutenants, operator/drivers and paramedics. The plan would use budgeted money from five empty firefighter posts.

Firefighter Joel Gershon said a number of firefighters plan to present a petition asking the eight-person Commission to reconsider the pay plan. The proposal was voted down 4-3 at a Sept. 6 meeting.

“We’re not asking for a pay raise, it just happens that the pay structure does give some people a raise,” he said. “What we’re asking for is some retention; help us retain emergency services personnel in Clovis.”

Firefighters went door to door on their time off collecting signatures from Clovis residents, Gershon said.

Gershon said he did not know how many firefighters will attend the meeting, but said Westerman will be there.

“It depends on what’s going on in the city, how many guys are on shift, and how many guys are at their second job,” Gershon said.

City Manager Joe Thomas said he was aware that firefighters planned to present the petition, but he said commissioners could not act on it because it is not on the agenda.

“They can make whatever request that they want as long as the mayor gives them the latitude to do so, but the Commission cannot take any official action on any request because it’s not on the agenda,” he said.

Thomas also said a city resolution passed in 1988 prevents commissioners from revisiting any agenda item for six months.

Aside from the petition, Gershon said the firefighters will also challenge the Commission to come up with a pay plan of its own for the fire department.

“I’ve talked to every commissioner, I’ve been to every one of their houses and they all recognize there’s a problem in the fire department, but nobody has offered a solution yet,” he said. “So that’ll be one of our challenges to them, to come up with a solution to that problem.”