Thank You, Firefighters; Now, Teachers, Police Officers, It Is Your Turn

I understand that, faced with increasing costs and decreasing funding, Culver City may have to cut some services. I want to commend our Fire Dept. for their fiscal responsibility.

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, it was announced that the Culver City Fire Fighters Local 1927 AFL-CIO agreed to continue to operate under the same pay schedule as it is currently operating on, through Dec. 31, 2010.

The Firefighters have stepped up. While they certainly deserve a raise, they also understand the financial hardships facing Culver City, and the union has agreed to work without a raise for an additional two years.

As a parent of two school-aged children, I understand that the School District also will be confronted by difficult financial times in the coming years.

Faced with increasing costs and decreasing funding, I understand that the School District will have to make cuts to some areas as well.

I also understand that most teachers have an automatic raise built in to their pay schedule. For , every year of experience, most Culver City teachers get an increase in pay.

Given the Firefighters’ gesture, and given that most teachers already get an increase in pay each year, I call on the teachers to join the firefighters and help the School District by agreeing to wait a year or two before getting a raise.

I also call on the police officers to follow suit and agree to work without a pay raise.

In these difficult financial times, we all need to work together.

Thank you, firefighters.