The president of the local Springfield firefighters union believes the upcoming races for city council will be close.
Last month, the Local 152 firefighters announced their endorsements of candidates Cindy Rushefsky and Coach Jack Steck for City Council.
I recently emailed union president Tony Kelley and asked him why his group is backing Rushefsky and Steck.
"We think these two candidates will be an asset to the City Council. Their background will lend them a great insight as to the operations of the City as they both come from public service jobs. They should have an understanding of budget restraints and how to work around them, trying to break through red tape problems, etc.," Kelley responded via email.
"The Springfield Fire Dept. is operating with 6 more people right now than we had in 1980. We are preparing to open our third station since then and we run over 15,000 calls annually now compared to 5,000 calls then. We have done all this and only managed to add 6 employees. I am hopeful these candidates can help with staffing concerns before the next firehouse opens," Kelley added.
"Both candidates have a lot to offer our city and have already given so much of their time to our community. I think these will be close races," Kelley said.
Kelley said his members would be helping the candidates during the upcoming St. Patty's Day Parade on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment