A group of city leaders led by Mayor Jeff Williams has banded together to oppose a voter proposition seeking to establish a civil service system for firefighters, warning that it could lead to reduced response times and cuts in city services.
In recent days, pamphlets from a political action committee called Safety First Arlington PAC have landed in Arlington mailboxes, contending that adopting Proposition 2 would put the city’s firefighters “under labor union control” and add costs that could prompt cuts to the police force and street repairs.
“Labor union civil service will add an expensive level of bureaucracy at City Hall that would cost us millions of dollars over the next decade. That could mean higher taxes just to maintain most basic city services,” says a letter signed by Williams, former mayors Robert Cluck and Richard Greene, and City Council members Sheri Capehart and Robert Shepard.