“Firefighter Pay Raise Faces Little Support, While Boboski, Sims, and Weems Graduate from NFPA”
Little support for attempt to boost firefighters’ pay raise
By Randy Bell
An effort to adjust the City’s budget less than two months after it was approved to give Clinton firefighters a bigger pay raise seems to have fallen flat. Ward 5 Alderwoman Beverly Oliver had proposed taking $150,000 to $200,000 from the $1.1 million that was set aside for street paving this fiscal year to boost the pay hikes for firefighters beyond the three to eight per cent increases included in the budget.
“Paving is very important in our City,” Oliver said after a Board of Aldermen work session on November 4. “But I think a higher priority would be the safety of our City.”
Reallocating paving funds to give police officers and firefighters more money was one of the options the Board considered during budget discussions, but the idea was dismissed. At the work session, Oliver’s fellow Board members offered little support for making the adjustment now.
Ward 7 Alderman James Lott said taking money from the paving budget “may not be the best idea.”
Alderwoman At Large Ricki Garrett warned, “If you open up the budget after it’s passed, you open the door for another group of employees [to ask for more money].” She urged the Board to “think about the precedent” it would be setting. Garrett said firefighters should be making more money, but believes it’s an issue that would be better to address next fiscal year. The Board made police salaries a higher priority this year.
Oliver suggested that next year may be too late, because some firefighters won’t wait to see if the FY 26 budget provides them with a bigger salary boost – and Fire Chief Jeff Blackledge said it’s already happening. His department is now below the minimum staffing requirements, with three employees leaving since the new budget was approved.
Blackledge says he expects more resignations.
“If [the Board] had given the police department a piece of the pie, and we got a piece of the pie, it would have been a lot better. [Police] got three-quarters of the pie, and we got a sliver.”
The chief said some of the citizens he’s talked to indicated they would be willing to pay higher taxes if the extra revenue is earmarked for firefighter and police officer salaries. But that was another option the Board refused to consider when the budget was being put together.
Mayor Phil Fisher believes it would be a “huge mistake” to dip into the paving fund at this point.
“There are a lot of people in this town who want paving,” he said after the work session. Fisher points out that the City’s paving budget has dropped from $1.5 million three years ago to $1.1 million. “Stop gap measures designed by short-term thinking is what got it to this point,” he said.
Meanwhile, Blackledge is turning to a restaurant chain in hopes of pumping more money into the fire department.
“Firehouse Subs, they have a grant program,” said Blackledge. “I think the highest [amount] they give out is $25,000.”
He said the grants are intended for the purchase of equipment but could free up some money for firefighter pay. According to the chief, “Every little bit that I can save in paying for equipment, I can put into salaries.”
Boboski, Sims and Weems of CFD graduate from NFPA
Special to The Clinton Courier
Pictured (l to r) are Michael Boboski, Funcha Sims and Dawson Weems.
Firefighters Michael Boboski, Funcha Sims and Dawson Weems of the Clinton Fire Department have graduated Class 211 from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001 Firefighter I-II course held at the Mississippi State Fire Academy in Jackson.
The intense seven-week course includes online, classroom and hands-on instruction in the areas of fire behavior, fire suppression, rescue, incident command, hazardous materials and other fire related topics. The course meets and exceeds the National Fire Protection Association for Firefighter Qualifications and the uniform minimum training standards stated in the Mississippi Code section 45-11-7.
The Mississippi State Fire Academy is a division of the Mississippi Insurance Department. State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney and Academy Executive Director Kelly Elliott conclude that firefighters, through their newly acquired skills and knowledge, will be an asset to the fire departments they represent.
“We are confident the immediate impact and positive difference these firefighters will make, not only within their departments but also in their communities, will truly be substantial.” said Director Elliott.
