Thursday, June 3, 2010

Mayor vs. fire union continues

Today, Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten will be in the hot seat, but he's not the one who belongs there. His only crime is being the strapping young lad who naively accepted the chiefdom from the sitting mayor, lawyer Larry Morrissey.

Who could blame a young guy offered an administrative position to represent the men and women he loves? The answer has been obvious from the moment of his appointment: He'll be made to earn his paycheck by the Morrissey administration.

Today, the Fire Department will be made to explain why 30 fire fighters are no longer needed, when it's really a proposal coming from the mayor's office, which manages to find dollars for a plethora of sweetheart deals for Morrissey's developer buddies (and family). Meanwhile, basic city services are being being cut by Larry.

According to the the Register Star, it's a discussion about the department's "Integrated Risk Management Plan: Standards of Cover," but it's really about dropping Local 413 to its knees before Morrissey's shriveled Irish-Italian member.

The department is being held at gunpoint to choose which citizens are the most expendable. Two fire stations are on the chopping block, but my guess is that they will remain staffed in the end, but only after the union bends to Larry's will.

You see, Larry is simply forcing the union into concessions, and they're gonna have to accept them, at least for now.

Larry's real enemy is the public safety pensions. Instead of exercising his non-clout in Springfield, you and me are being put at risk. Meanwhile, folks like Joe Morrissey and Chandler Anderson are laughing all the way to the bank while our burning homes take a little longer to be extinguished by the brave women and men not motivated by political aspirations, who only want to help us. Poor bastards. They became fire fighters to help people, not for political gain.

Monday, vote-driven aldermen will pretend they're doing due-diligence by demanding numbers they could never understand by staff. What a fucking joke. The only ones among them who deserve re-election are free-thinking newcomers Venita Hervey and Bill Robertson. The rest NEED TO GO.

Whether aldermen will actually stand up to Larry on June 7 remains to be seen. That ball is in the hands of the union's PR resources. What say you, EJ Dilonardo?

4 comments:

  1. Ahh,Mr. Duke, I consider you one of the most insightful polical commentators in this area, however your description of Venita Hervey as 'free-thinking' gives me pause....offten when she speaks at city council, you can actually see LarryBoy's hand up her ass....she's almost a bigger puppet than RoboBeck...

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  2. Point taken, unmanager. It is true that Ms. Hervey, like her predecessor, must have a reasonably close relationship with the mayor (whether that's Larry or someone else) in order to advance her agenda, which is the needs of her ward. Politics is an ugly game, but Vic Bell learned very early on that you've gotta play the game to get what you want. This being said, I do still think she's the brightest star on the council. Tell me it didn't take some big balls for her to stand up to the black community and say they need educations and jobs, not a football program at RVC.

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  3. I have full agreement with your RVC example,however I strongly believe you will NOT see the same integrity when LarryBoy's objectives clash with the needs of her ward/constituents. Matter of fact, she(of 'People Who Care' legal counsel)has no problem with LB's plan to close two WEST SIDE stations as long as no money is diverted from the long awaited Morgan St. Bridge project. IF the S.Main station is closed when work on the bridge begins in earnest(i.e. shut down/demolished) HER ward,older housing stock,more susceptible to a fast-moving destructive fire, will have the LOOONGEST response time with the circutous route the companies on 7th St(next geographically closest station)

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  4. I was wrong: Obviously my USAID contacts were wrong because there is no internet connection in Miguel Castro Castro prison in Lima.

    So, where exactly have you been hiding lately? I mean, it seems you have gone off the grid for a reason.

    Next time, take me along.

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