There’s a smoldering Fire in Chula Vista!
A few weeks ago, Councilwoman Jill Galvez publicly announced that she was firing her senior council aide in an attempt to free up some money in the city’s budget. Galvez’s rationale for the firing was that Measure A, a half-cent sales tax, was not fully delivering on its promise to increase public safety staffing levels.
Councilman Mike Diaz, a former fire union president, backed Galvez’s decision because he too wished to see more public safety personnel added to the 2019-2020 budget. The initial budget passed with Galvez and Diaz opposing. Although the budget appears to be balanced, the dialogue the city council had on the dais showed who really runs this town.
It’s not the city’s elected body or its citizens. It’s the Chula Vista firefighters’ union. Both Galvez and Diaz received endorsements and heavily depended on fire personnel volunteers in their most recent political campaigns.
A senior council aide makes about $51,000 a year, which is a very small fraction of the city’s approved $196.9 million budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
If Galvez and Diaz want to look at financial savings, they need to look no further than the union who endorsed them, but they won’t do that.
The International Association of Firefighters Local 2180 has a strong hold on the city’s budget. This ongoing imbalance in the budget has created a feeling of “why not me” with other city employees. Employees that dodge pink-slips watch their departments shrink and then are asked to do more with less ever since the 2007 recession.
Of the 15 highest paid positions within the city, eight are firefighters.
The Chula Vista Fire Department pours in thousands of dollars during political campaigns!
They say money talks. And in Chula Vista, the firefighters are doing all the talking!
Tino Martinez resides in Chula Vista.
