i agree with you… however, i have a pinch of sympathy because just a couple of these council members were on council when these contracts were initially negotiated/approved/arbitrated. they are all left holding the “raise taxes, fire employees, void contracts” bag and are looking at their future re-election bids and C%@&&!^G their pants (sorry lisa).

kateb, i know we disagree on bancruptcy for toledo, but council’s lack of action is more than deer in the headlights – i think they see bancruptcy as the best alternative as well – whether they see it as the best alternative because of their careers or because it is best for toledo, i can not attest.

He probably should have used girls to be consistent but? I didn’t think it was a huge issue.

So “Boys” and “Women” ? Not Boys and Girls? Or Men and Women? Is this prejudice on the part of Councilman Craig who referred to them in this way? Or is it on the part of our reporter who changed the descriptors?

There’s no way to get the budget in on time. Not like this. Council cannot have private meetings, the Mayor cannot meet with Council in private. So what Council has apparently decided to do is nothing.

This is an abject dismissal of their responsibilities in the offices they campaigned for.

To be talking about parking permits when we’re facing going into receivership is something you’d typically only see in a movie…and a bad one at that.

the point is we tax payers can not afford to compensate our employees so generously any more. most tax payers have stagnant wages if not lower as a result of job loss and taking a new job that pays less; we all pay for our own retirements or at best get a very small match; we tax payers all contribute significantly to our medical plan if we have not lost them; we can not gain our retirement benefits until our mid 60s; and everyone is running with leaner management and production staff.

however, “the help”, our city employees expect these benefits that most of us only dream of. and it is these generous benefits that significantly impact the budget mess we are experiencing.

some employees are making less now but they have cut back their work hours. some minor adjustments have been made to a handful of employees regarding benefits, but not enough to impact the budget deficit. we need all of these issues addressed for all employees – no special deals for specific bargaining groups; no future reimbursement for current “concessions” – new uniform contracts with affordable salaries, no pension pick-up, medical contributions that align with reality, no retirement benefits until some age in the mid-60s, and lean command/management structures.

I am sure we will do the same here in Toledo. The “budget” will pass but not the revenue to pay for it. Hopefully the state or federal government will be there to give us a hand-out.

unscathed – adjective (dictionary.com) – not scathed; unharmed; uninjured: “She survived the accident unscathed.”

Council graciously “fell on the sword” accepting $35, $55, or $75 a month towards there healthcare to help balance the budget. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it but the mayor’s requested concessions for police and fire total approx $600-$700 a month. So I, as a member of Toledo’s safety forces, along with my peers will see a decrease of $7,000-$8,000 annually. As a resident of Toledo, I also will incur the money trash fee, any future entertainment tax, my spouse who works in Maumee will be paying the full amount of income tax in both cities, and I also will continue to pay my 2.25% income tax on my wage earned. Talk about spreading the pain and being scathed, wow!

Ok, enough with the sarcasm. I would just like to say that believe it or not, police officers and firefighters are not all lazy no good union bums looking to make a quick buck, as many in our local media outlets make us out to be. I would agree that there are people of questionable character in are profession as it is in all professions. But the majority of us truly care about the people we serve. We go to work each day with the expectation of helping people. It doesn’t matter what race, religion, annual income, neighborhood, council district, whether they pay taxes or not, republican or democrat. We don’t ask, we don’t care; you call, we come, we do everything we can to fix your problem.

It’s easy to be critical; I’ve heard some complain about the way they were talked to by someone in uniform. That instead of getting to their house in 4 minutes they got they’re in 5. One person said they saw a police officer with his eyes closed napping, are you sure about that? Maybe he was actually praying. I make no excuses but will ask you to consider that police officers and firefighters are human beings to. What we may see or are exposed to in one day at work would be more than most see in a lifetime. Remember that when we respond to “your” emergency it might be that the crew (police or fire) may have just come in-service from a run where a mother of 3 was killed by her boyfriend in a domestic dispute, a child died after being hit by a car, a family 5 watched there 32 year old mother die of an unexplained cardiac arrest, a fire where 4 children under the age of 10 died because of a discarded cigarette, the rape of a special needs person, construction workers killed after falling 100 ft, a 13 y/o hung himself because he couldn’t take being bullied at school anymore, etc, etc, etc. Again, no excuses; we will respond to “your” emergency, do what we need to do to help, hope for a good outcome and return to service to be ready for the next call. We don’t ask for or expect a thank you. We would respectfully ask that you don’t spit on us or call us names.

Now some of you who have read my rant may still feel that we are lazy, over paid public servants. It is your right to feel that way. The beauty of it is that you will rest tonight knowing that if you need to call 911, one of us will show up to help you or your family members that are in need; we will do this regardless of what you think about us.

And by the way, the examples I used above were real incidents and not made up. Just a snapshot of what a public servant sees over a 25 or 30-year career.

In-regards to the budget, maybe they ought to give us a shot at fixing it. Click or copy/paste the link below to see how it would be handled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6DORwBzuA