Plan might douse firefighters' ire

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a.. Council attempts to douse firefighters' ire

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June 6, 2001, 11:23PM

Plan might douse firefighters' ire

Councilmen believe they have a way to pay for increased staffing

By RACHEL GRAVES

Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

Houston City Council appears on the verge of solving its most

divisive problem -- increasing the number of firefighters -- with a new plan

that has widespread support.

The plan calls for $2 million in savings from cuts in city staff and

shifts about $9 million from other city funds to pay to train new firefighters

and pay current firefighters to work extra hours. It would bring Houston closer

to a national standard of four firefighters per truck. Now, less than a fourth

of Houston's firetrucks have four firefighters, while the majority have three.

City officials say it will take six years to train enough new

firefighters to put four on all trucks without relying on overtime.

Meanwhile, some firefighters marched to City Hall earlier Wednesday

demanding an increase in staffing.

The latest plan was put together by Councilmen Mark Ellis, Bert

Keller, Carroll and Vasquez at Mayor Lee Brown's urging. They

worked closely with the mayor's staff on the proposal.

" The mayor's favorite saying is that it's amazing what gets done

when you don't care who gets the credit, " Jordy Tollett, Brown's chief of staff,

said Wednesday.

The four councilmen said they expect the plan to get support from a

majority of council members and Brown.

" I suspect that we have the votes to pass this, " Ellis said.

Brown and council members have been deeply divided over how to pay

for more firefighters, an issue they all agree needs to be addressed. Brown

originally proposed a 1-cent property tax increase, but withdrew it when nine of

the 14 council members said they would not vote to raise taxes. He then

challenged the council to come up with its own plan.

Tollett said the mayor supports the proposal " at first blush " but

wants to study it overnight before making a statement.

Two of Brown's election opponents, Councilmen Bell and Orlando

, said they also support the plan.

Bell commended the group for working to " take the mayoral politics

out of the equation, " admitting that anything he had been involved in would have

had more potential to draw opposition from the other candidates.

The plan would shift $5 million from water and sewer fees to the

general fund and transfer $4.2 million in spending on concrete street

construction from the general fund to a debt-financed construction fund.

The $2 million in cuts would come from a system that would require

departments to justify new hiring. About 400 employees leave the city each year,

and replacing them would have to be approved by a position-control committee. If

100 were not replaced, about $2 million would be saved.

Additionally, the plan depends on at least $4 million in new or

increased fees that the city has not yet identified. That money would be used

for performance bonuses, or possibly raises, for city employees. There is no

money in the city budget for employee raises, who last received a 2 percent pay

increase in February 2000.

It also would shift $5 million from the city's ending fund balance

to a cash rainy day fund.

Councilman Bruce Tatro objected to using $5 million in water and

sewer fees to pay for firefighters and paying for reoccurring expenses with

one-time revenues, saying the plan " leaves next year in question. "

Proponents said the $5 million water and sewer funds transfer is the

only one-time revenue source in the plan. They said they are not concerned about

it because they expect additional revenues in 2003 from soaring property values.

Tatro also said the plan does nothing to check what he believes is

overspending by the city. " There is still a general consensus on council to

spend everything right to the last penny, " he said.

But others seemed thrilled at the prospect of putting a bitter

dispute behind them.

City Controller Sylvia , who had proposed her own plan,

applauded the ideas and said she was glad they used some of the items she

suggested.

" All along I've said that we can fund fire first ... without raising

taxes, " she said.

The potential solution came the same day that about 400 firefighters

stormed City Hall to demand an increase in staffing.

They marched from former Fire Station No. 1 to the steps of City

Hall chanting " Four or more " and carrying signs with slogans such as " Nice fire

trucks -- no firefighters. "

Capt. said he participated on his day off after

working the flash flood Tuesday night.

" In that flood, every time someone called for help, we were there, "

said. " And now we're asking for help. "

During the rally, council members grilled Fire Chief Connealy

about his department during his presentation of his proposed 2002 budget.

Councilman Jew Don Boney, usually a close ally of the

administration, scolded Connealy for not revealing a Texas Health Department

investigation that resulted in a one-year probation of the Fire Department and

the potential for a $33,000 fine.

" Sometimes bad news is not well-accepted, but I prefer to have

someone give it to me than read it in the newspaper, " Boney said.

The probation went into effect in February but just came to

council's attention this week.

Also Wednesday, council voted to refinance the city's debt to take

advantage of low interest rates. The city will issue new bonds for between $180

million and $270 million. The restructuring will save the city money in the next

couple of years, extend the debt by six years and allow the city to issue

additional debt.

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Chronicle reporter A. Wolfe contributed to this story.

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