OUR VIEW: City employees can't be immune from recession (vote in poll)
Councilman Gallagher continues pushing wage cut
The eyes of the country, or at least the portion that watches ABC News, were on Colorado Springs this week. ABC broadcast a story about the extraordinary sacrifices Springs residents are making as City Hall revenues dwindle. At least one member of the City Council wants city employees to sacrifice, too.
The ABC story showed two police helicopters for sale. It explained how residents have been asked to mow the parks with their own lawnmowers. It told of cutbacks in the police department, reductions in bus service, closed museums and watering reductions at city parks.
Quite simply, times are tough, and Springs voters have decided to do without much of what they’ve enjoyed in the past. By rejecting tax increases, they’ve decided to hold the line on spending — at least until the economy improves.
Meanwhile, Councilman Tom Gallagher continues pushing for reasonable across-the-board wage cuts for city employees. The state’s minimum wage has decreased because the economy has contracted, and the cost of living has gone down. Small businesses are holding on for dear life. Throughout Colorado Springs, private sector workers — the people who fund City Hall — have been laid off and given pay reductions and/or unpaid furloughs. Those people are the reason we have city government. It exists to serve their needs, at their chosen expense, and it has no other purpose. If the people who pay for city government want no services at all, that’s their prerogative.
The city bureaucracy is not about City Council or city employees. It’s about taxpayers, period.
Yet a small fraction of city employees have made perfectly clear they won’t stand for pay cuts, no matter what happens to the people who pay their wages. The attitude of a loud minority of employees, toward local taxpayers, sometimes sounds like “(expletive) them.”
During a council meeting last week, the City Council grappled once again with the prospect of enormous looming budget deficits.
Revenue is down because people are struggling, and they have less money to spend, which means the city collects less sales tax money. Gallagher brought up the issue of city wage adjustments again and said other governments have reduced salaries and benefits. His comments led Jeremy Kroto, vice president of the local firefighters union, to write an e-mail to City Council calling Gallagher’s remarks “dishonest and irresponsible.”
Asked to comment on Kroto’s e-mail, Gallagher used a naughty word: “You can quote me on this: (expletive) them.”
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Gallagher wasn’t talking about the vast majority of city employees, who work hard for citizens and would be worthy of more pay if taxpayers could afford it. As Gallagher explained to Gazette reporter Daniel Chacón, he was talking about a small fraction of employees who express condescension and contempt for taxpayers each time a city wage reduction is mentioned.
Gallagher’s cuss word led Robert Hicks, a member of the firefighters union, to call for Gallagher’s resignation.
Far from taking Hicks’ suggestion to heart, Gallagher reiterated his disdain for those city employees he perceives have no concern for the people who fund their wages. He believes they are about 2 percent of city employees.
“They are counterproductive to the mission and a blight on the organization,” Gallagher wrote in an e-mail to constituents who complained about his response to Kroto. “When this 2 percent presupposes my duty to them (outweighs) my obligation to the 400,000 citizens that expect me to keep the ship afloat… well, I say it again… (expletive) them.”
Clearly, Gallagher isn’t among those on City Council who act as if they were elected first and foremost to represent the interests of city employees. He knows who he works for, and he’s not about to resign.
The firefighters union has officially distanced itself from Hicks. In a letter to Mayor Lionel Rivera and the council, chapter president Mike Smaldino wrote:
“I want you to know that Mr. Hicks is not an elected representative and does not speak for Local 5. The Colorado Springs Professional Firefighters are not calling for his (Gallagher’s) resignation… We have never suggested we should inflict pain upon the citizens we are sworn to protect…”
Most city employees respect the general public. Taxpayers are living without an array of services they once enjoyed. They are living on less and consuming less. Recessions are a drag. City employees cannot live in a cocoon, and most probably know that by now. — Wayne Laugesen, editorial page editor, for the editorial board
