The Marshfield Common Council on Tuesday unanimously directed the city’s Fire and Police Commission to draft a referendum question regarding public safety staffing to discuss at its Jan. 10 meeting.
The move comes after Fire Chief Pete Fletty and Police Chief Jody Geurink presented to the council the struggles their departments are facing — after the city cut their budgets by 4% to deal with shortfalls and after the fire department had to cut three positions earlier this year because the Emergency Medical Services Enterprise Fund had come up short of projections.
Fletty, Geurink and the commission developed two options to discuss with the council Tuesday. The first would add nine firefighters and turnout gear for each, one police officer with uniform and equipment, one records specialist for the police department, and one administrative assistant to be shared between both departments.