Eight fire department captains will be demoted to firefighters under a restructuring agreed to on Monday night by City Council members in the proposed $42 million budget.
Council members also unanimously agreed Monday night to keep the department’s deputy chief position and a battalion chief/training officer. The eight demotions will save the city about $70,000.
Under another proposal, City Manager Sharon A. Addison recommended also cutting Deputy Chief Russell J. Randall to battalion chief and a battalion chief to a captain’s position for a cost savings of $281,000.
Council members decided not to lay off the two firefighters, however.
“I don’t want to see people lose their money, but I’d rather see this over the two positions,” Councilman Cody Horbacz said before council members unanimously agreed on the demotions As a result of the demotions, firefighter Daniel Daugherty, president of the Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191, said immediately after the meeting he planned to file for arbitration this morning.
The demotions come at a time when the city and firefighters’ union are entrenched in a nearly two-year contract dispute. The contract talks have become increasingly bitter in recent weeks.
Saying the moves will be unsafe for firefighters, Mr. Daugherty insisted the city did not think about the impact of the demotions.
“Once again we have people making a decision when they don’t know anything about fire safety,” he said.