Firefighters Still Going Wild

Beaumont firefighters' incessant chest-beating over their pay raise escalated to new comedic levels earlier this week when they again marched on City Hall to grouse about City Manager Kyle Hayes getting a 3.5 percent salary hike.
The firefighters already have won a pay jump of 9 percent each year for the next three years in a move that will put their salaries comparable to some of their New York City counterparts and at the top of the scale when compared to similar-sized Texas cities. (The judge's ruling, however, is on appeal.)
And yet, they're audaciously finding things to complain about.
Retired firefighter Tommy May at a Tuesday council meeting suggested that Hayes be given "a boot out the door." He called Hayes "incompetent."
A look at the same cities for which The Enterprise compared firefighter pay showed that Hayes ranked toward the bottom paywise when stacked up against his counterparts, although the new pay of $145,417 seems pretty sweet.
The problem here is that after their noisy pay victory, Beaumont firefighters continue to rattle their bells and engage in bully tactics.
Before a judge upheld the arbitrator's pay decision, they bullied our City Hall reporter during a court hearing, with firefighters mouthing "bitch" under their breaths, according to the reporter. After the hearing, a fire department representative got up in her face, she said.
As part of our watchdog role, we're looking at all sides of this issue, comparing firefighter pay as well as city manager pay alike, for example. We're equal-opportunity snoops on all fronts.
On Tuesday, we started asking about how many Freedom of Information requests firefighters had made with the city, and John Werner, the lawyer representing the International Association of Firefighters Local Union No. 399, said it had been less than a dozen.
The city clerk's office confirmed this, according to the reporter, but some of the requests contain dozens of requests, and municipal resources are being tied up chasing down the information.
Werner, within an hour of her conversation with the city clerk's office, called the reporter to let her know what she was up to at the clerk's office, she said.
During Tuesday's meeting, Mayor Guy Goodson expressed disappointment in the firefighters' behavior, and Jim Rich, president of the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce called their actions "silly."
All of the negative campaigning and intimidation maneuvers are not serving firefighters well, just like Democrats' negative campaigning during the 2004 presidential election turned off so many voters. The firefighters deserve a better image than this and perhaps should get someone with public relations expertise to take up their cause.
They're still pointing to proposed drainage projects and hike-and-bike trails as examples of City Hall waste.
Frankly, I'd much rather see fewer flooded streets and houses and more places to run, walk or ride a bike than see tax dollars go to ensuring that local firefighters, who enjoy a rock-bottom cost of living in Southeast Texas, are among the nation's best-paid.