Mayor Yaede: Hamilton fire district consolidation could be delayed by ‘poison pill’
HAMILTON » Hamilton’s big government fire service could be consolidated into a municipal fire department effective Jan. 1, 2019, but Mayor Kelly Yaede says the process could take much longer.
Hamilton Council introduced a pro-consolidation ordinance Tuesday that includes “a poison pill provision” that could delay the fire district dissolution process, Yaede said Tuesday in a statement, citing the concerns of Hamilton’s special attorney Richard M. Braslow.
“We are on the brink of providing a significant tax cut to Hamilton taxpayers by moving fire districts under the jurisdiction of the municipal government,” Yaede said, adding township taxpayers “will suffer by shouldering a higher cost for fire services than is necessary” if consolidation gets postponed over a provision that requires the township and firefighter unions to agree upon a labor contract before consolidation can take effect.
“Further delays will mean that individual fire districts will have to prepare their own budgets for 2019,” the Republican mayor said, “rather than the municipal government being afforded the opportunity to ensure that consolidation achieves greater efficiencies and greater cost savings.”
The Democratic-led Hamilton Council introduced an ordinance Tuesday that calls for Hamilton Fire Districts Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to be “hereby dissolved and abolished effective Jan. 1, 2019, or such later date, conditioned upon Local Finance Board approval, Civil Service approval/readiness, and a fully executed and approved Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Collective Negotiations Agreement (CAN) between representatives unions and Township.”
The Yaede administration is calling the Collective Negotiations Agreement provision a “poison pill” that could greatly delay consolidation, while Democratic Councilman Jeff Martin sees it as an opportunity for the township and firefighter unions to negotiate a fair contract in good faith.
“My hope is the administration and unions get together and collectively negotiate in good faith,” he said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “If people are doing their job on this I don’t think it is a poison pill.”
Hamilton Business Administrator Dave Kenny said he agrees with the mayor’s viewpoint on the issue. “The ordinance that was introduced last night makes it a condition there be an agreement between the township and the union on wages and working conditions before there could be any dissolution of the fire districts,” he said Wednesday in an interview. “It is dependent on that, and that gives an awful lot to the unions. It certainly gives unions a lot of bargaining power. If you want consolidation, it is going to be subject to their concerns. That is the concern.”
Hamilton Republican Councilwoman Ileana Schirmer blasted the mayor for posting her “poison pill” statement on the township’s website.
“I am very disappointed that before this meeting our mayor took it upon herself to post something on the township website before this, which is insulting,” Schirmer said at Tuesday’s Hamilton Council meeting as she voted in favor of consolidation. “That is upsetting to me, because this is not a game. … Everybody should be working together for the same outcome.”
The council voted 4-1 to introduce an ordinance calling for eight of the township’s nine autonomous fire districts to be consolidated into a municipal fire department. Republican Councilman Ralph Mastrangelo cast the lone “No” vote.
“It’s all about saving tax dollars,” he said about fire district consolidation. “If you don’t save money I don’t see the point in doing it.”
Consolidation will lead to an initial $900,000 reduction in township fire service costs, according to Martin, who said greater budgetary savings could be realized over time “as we figure out more efficiencies.”
The Local Finance Board within the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs has to approve of Hamilton’s fire consolidation ordinance before the fire districts can be abolished. Once consolidation takes effect, all firefighters in Fire Districts 2 through 9 would be fired and then immediately rehired by the township, according to Martin, who said it would take the state about 75 days to document and approve that gigantic transfer of Civil Service labor.
Hamilton Council would have to pass the consolidation ordinance on second read before it could take effect. Even then, an ordinance passed on second read will not take effect unless a firefighter contract is first agreed upon by the township and the FMBA labor unions. If everything goes smoothly and expeditiously, the township could ring in the New Year with a new fire department overseen by Mayor Yaede.
The new department would be led by a fire chief appointed by the mayor. The ordinance does not explicitly say whether Hamilton Council must give its advice and consent on the appointment of a fire chief, but there is language in the introduced ordinance suggesting council would have a role in the approval of a fire chief.
Democratic Councilman Rick Tighe said the introduction of the consolidation ordinance represented a “milestone for Hamilton Township.” He said consolidation will save taxpayer money but that his “primary motivation” for supporting consolidation was to “improve public safety.”
“I am excited about this ordinance,” Democratic Council President Anthony Carabelli Jr. said at the packed council meeting filled with firefighters and other members of the public.