Looks like firefighters will stay in Rolling Meadows

Rolling Meadows firefighters marshaled the troops before Tuesday night's city council meeting, and they won.

A straw vote of the council in front of more than 100 people who packed the council chambers showed no real support for Alderman Brad Judd's proposal to investigate privatizing the fire department.

Aldermen said he received more than 100 phone calls and e-mails from residents expressing support for the firefighters and urging defeat of the proposal. They also supported Judd's right to request consideration of the idea and objected to the way he had been "demonized and vilified."

Judd had said at the end of a recent council meeting he would like the city to see how much money could be saved by hiring a private contractor to provide fire and ambulance service. In May, the council will discuss studying an option to privatize garbage collection.

"I hoped that it wouldn't have gone that route," Judd said after Tuesday's meeting. "Everybody's entitled to their opinion. Things need to be looked at. The pension thing's a huge issue. I got chastised and beat up in all the blogs, but I'm at peace with what I did. I can't force people to talk about it if they don't want to talk about it."

He said during the meeting that his request was no criticism of the firefighters. He would not want privatization if it saved only $50,000, but if the city could save $1 million a year, "I think it's something we should consider."

State-mandated pensions for police and firefighters required the city to pay more than $2 million this year. In recent years, Rolling Meadows has made several cuts in positions and programs, including layoffs, because of financial difficulties. The city also increased its property tax levy by 15.5 percent.

No one except aldermen and the city staff were allowed to speak at the meeting, which was not an official council meeting.

Before the meeting, Ron Pawasarat said he was there because paramedics had helped him years ago when he had a seizure.

"It's a very critical issue that relates to health and professional response," he said. "Safety affects home values. Look what happened to Daley's parking meters."

Other residents at the meeting expressed pride in the city and its services, especially police and fire services.

David Poore, president of International Firefighters Association Local 3075, issued a statement after the meeting thanking "all the residents who showed their support not only by showing up tonight but through their e-mails and phone calls."

The firefighters had leafleted the city with a flyer asking residents to "help save the Rolling Meadows Fire Department" and listing phone numbers of the aldermen. They also started a "Support Rolling Meadows firefighters and paramedics" group on Facebook that garnered 1,780 members.

The fire department has 45 full-time and one part-time employee with a budget of $8.2 million, including the city's pension contribution. Salaries total $4.6 million plus benefits.

Rolling Meadows firefighters are also trained as paramedics. Hiring private companies to provide ambulance service is more common than contracting for firefighting services, City Manager Sarah Phillips said before the meeting.

Elk Grove Township Fire District and Lincolnwood decided years ago to contract with private companies to provide their fire protection when another jurisdiction decided to no longer provide it to them.

A municipality that already has a fire department and decides to privatize it could be in conflict with several statutes, said Robert Buhs, executive director of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. Labor management laws could especially come into play with a city like Rolling Meadows that has a union contract with its firefighters, he said.

City Attorney Jim Macholl agreed with that assessment after the meeting.

Stay: City will discuss privatizing refuse collection in May