ORANGE : Council to Vote on Firefighters Contract
The City Council is expected to vote at 7 tonight on a $21.2-million, two-year contract with the city’s firefighters.
If approved, the action would effectively squelch mounting community pressure to contract with the county for fire services--a move proponents say could save the cash-strapped city $2 million a year.
In spite of a series of layoffs and service cutbacks, Orange still must close a $2.1-million shortfall in its $47-million 1993-94 budget.
According to a city staff report released this week, the proposed firefighter contract calls for changes in overtime and personnel procedures that would result in $1.8 million in savings for the city over the next two years.
Members of the Orange Taxpayers Assn. were angered at the last council meeting when the body declined for a second time in a month to discuss the county fire contracting proposal, being pushed by some residents.
The group charged that some council members are dragging their feet on the proposal to repay a political debt to the firefighters. The firefighters union supported Mayor Gene Beyer in last year’s election.
Beyer and other council members deny the accusation.
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