Tag: Memphis Firefighters Association

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Politics Politics Feature

‘Ready to Rumble’?

Firefighters ask for a previously agreed-upon pay raise. (Photo: Snider & Horner, PLLC | Facebook)

As the calendar makes perfectly clear, July 1st, the beginning of fiscal year 2026, is just around the corner, and the budgets of neither the city of Memphis nor Shelby County are in final form to everyone’s satisfaction.

The city’s situation is complicated by successive acts of compromise by Mayor Paul Young and the city council which may have made figures add up technically but may be in conflict with the city’s existing financial obligations.

The matter became public via a statement from the law firm of Snider & Horner characterizing the Memphis Fire Fighters Association Local 1784, which the firm represents, as being “very disturbed” by “what appears to be a blatant breach” of the city’s standing agreement with the union.  

The issue has to do with a formal compact achieved a year ago between the city and the firefighters granting a 5 percent pay increase for both fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026.

The problem is that the budget approved last week by the council authorizes an across-the-board pay raise in fiscal 2026 for all city employees amounting to only 3 percent. And this budget seemingly ignores the prior carryover raise of 5 percent for the firefighters.

Says the law firm: “The pay rise for Memphis firefighters was expressly agreed to in writing … and literally signed off on by the mayor, chief operating officer, chief human resources officer, and city attorney. … If the city is blatantly ignoring what they agreed to do in writing for its firefighters how can these firefighters — or the citizens of Memphis — trust them?”

The statement goes on to threaten a lawsuit: “We will be expecting the city to get this corrected before the deadline of July 1 … [to] do the right thing, honor their written commitments so that legal options will not have to be explored. … We’re ready to rumble.”

To underscore its dissatisfaction, Snider & Horner posted on its Facebook page a mocked-up version of the firefighters’ logo (see image).

For its part, the county government is still very much in the bargaining process, with compromises yet to be reached. The county commission scheduled two emergency meetings this week — one on Monday to work on outlays of concern to the sheriff’s department, another on Wednesday to examine a variety of other projects and amendments competing for fiscal attention.

Meanwhile, controversy continues as to whether County Mayor Lee Harris’ proffered tax rate of $2.73 is in conformity with the state’s established base tax rate of $2.69.

The state rate is set at a level meant to ensure that the amount of revenue raised will not exceed the amount that would have been generated under the current tax rate of $3.39, which was set prior to the most recent county reappraisal. This is the so-called “windfall rule.” 

Critics of Harris’ tax rate say it amounts to a 4 percent property tax increase. Harris insists otherwise.

• Meanwhile, the ranks of contenders for the office of Shelby County mayor in 2026 got one more formal entry last week — the long expected one of Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn.

There is no surprise in the fact of Kuhn’s announcement, although the manner of it — specifically, the optics — have occasioned some bafflement in the political community.

The announcement by Kuhn, a sometime professional model, juxtaposes a brightly lit version of her facial image against a deeply dark background symbolizing the gloom of what she designates, without specifics, as the county’s ongoing “crisis” and promises “hope with Heidi.”

Gotta say, that one is different. 

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News The Fly-By

The Council and the Mayor

When I heard it, I thought, “This is the quote of the year.”

Thomas Malone, the ever outspoken president of the Memphis Firefighters Association, railed in frustration, “The city administration is like an addict on crack. They will buy, steal, and do anything they can from anybody, to get what they want!” So, Tommy, tell us how you really feel, huh?

Based on the events of 2014, there are a lot of Memphians bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by the actions of the administration of Mayor A C Wharton and the Memphis City Council. Malone’s bitter assessment came just days after the council rammed through a surprising vote on the long-debated city employees’ pension plan.

After nearly a year of discussion, with the Wharton administration at first presenting a proposal with Draconian cuts to appease a warning from the state comptroller on addressing a more than $500 million pension deficit, the council decided on a 9-to-4 vote to go with Councilwoman Wanda Halbert’s plan to only apply the benefit cuts to city employees with seven-and-a-half or fewer years of service. It also happens to neatly include council members, as elected officials. Halbert’s plan was a complete reversal of her previously staunch support of city employees seeking no cuts to benefits. Her apparent flip-flop will be the fodder for much discussion as she reportedly will seek to unseat incumbent Thomas Long for the city clerk’s office in 2015.

But, after nearly a year of debate, why was Halbert’s proposal fast-tracked for a vote? As Malone told me, he asked for time for actuaries to run the numbers again on all the plans presented. His request was rejected. It certainly makes you wonder.

Certainly the communication gap between the mayor’s office and the council has never been more obvious than with the proposed settlement agreement Wharton and Shelby County School (SCS) Superintendent Dorsey Hopson privately reached. The facts are that two courts have ruled against the city’s counterclaim that they are owed the interest on $100 million given to legacy Memphis City Schools for buildings. They alleged their claim trumps the $57 million both courts ruled the city owes the school system, dating back to 2008. Councilman Myron Lowery told me last week the majority of his colleagues feel their counterclaim will win out as both sides continue mediation efforts. Two glaring discrepancies come to mind as the battle lines are drawn for the upcoming showdown over whether the council will approve funding for the school settlement in early January.

It doesn’t surprise me that Wharton, Hopson, and the SCS board members are happy with this deal that essentially amounts to $43 million in cash and other amenities, such as $2.6 million in police protection for schools and a balloon payment of $6 million in February. What bothers me is how Wharton decided to communicate this agreement to the council in a terse, written memorandum delivered just as the pension vote was about to be made. He apparently hadn’t even told those council members on the mediation team he’d reached a deal. It’s an example of Wharton’s confounding “lawyers know best” mentality. He comes from the world of plea bargains and deals in criminal justice. But, as the city’s chief executive, he has to be more open and candid about his dealings, especially when the final approval for funding lies with the council.

And speaking of the council: Back in 2008, tired of the “maintenance of effort” in voluntarily funding city schools for years, they went rogue. That proved to be a costly mistake for all concerned. It can be reasonably argued that their failure to pay the $57 million led to the collapse of the legacy Memphis City Schools two years later. Their decision to divest themselves of that obligation led to millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted on the protracted litigation between the city and the county that followed.

Now the ball is in their court again. A second chance to begin to right the foolish mistake the city council committed six years ago. If council-members decide to reject this settlement because of bruised egos or personal agendas, then they should be made to pay the price at the ballot box in 2015. It will be a fitting answer for those we elect who once in office suffer from the “addiction” of power. If we as voters don’t respond? Maybe we’re on crack.

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News News Blog

Demonstrators Gather to Protest City Council Vote

CREDIT: Alexandra Pusateri

Protesters in front of City Hall say theyre angry about the city councils recent cuts to employee benefits.

  • Alexandra Pusateri
  • Protesters in front of City Hall say they’re angry about the city council’s recent cuts to employee benefits.

Honks rang out every few minutes Tuesday afternoon in support as drivers along Front Street read the signs protesting the city council’s recent decision to cut benefits for city employees.

The protesters are angry about a recent vote taken by city council members to cut major health care subsidies for retirees and spouses of city employees, which was previously reported in the Flyer.

Crowds of firefighters, police officers, retirees, and supporters stood in front and behind the building holding signs, some asking Memphians to wake up and others calling out Mayor A C Wharton and city council members.

Joe Norman, the vice president of the Memphis Firefighters Association, said the protest was about hope and educating city council members about what those cuts actually meant.

“We have folks who have given their bodies protecting the citizens of Memphis who are no longer able to do the job and didn’t want to retire but are forced to,” he said. “They have these injuries that have disabled them, and now the insurance that they have to use to treat their line-of-duty injuries is being priced out of their [income] range.”

And that’s not even including the spouses and families of those affected, Norman said.

“A secondary impact is what’s going to happen to the employees that are now on the job. The message has been sent to them that your public safety officers, your police officers, your firefighters are going to be forced into working until they’re senior citizens. You’re going to have an aging force.”

According to Norman, the cut to benefits has “crippled” those who have been employed in public safety for many years, and for those who are still on the job, it might lead to those working until retirement age.

Protesters also gathered behind City Hall facing Front Street.

“The message that we’re getting from the council and the mayor is that their biggest priority is capital improvement projects,” Norman said. “I can’t think of one capital improvement project that they haven’t liked. The kick in the teeth was they cut all the retirees’ health care benefits Tuesday night and the next morning, they’re giving $66 million to the Raleigh Springs Mall.”

The Greater Memphis Chamber has also taken a stand for the mayor’s plan, according to the union.

“[The chamber] keeps telling us the benefits are unsustainable,” he said. “They can’t tell us why. They have no math to back it up. They’re just like a broken record. It’s one of these issues where if you tell a lie enough times, everyone starts to believe it. You can tell from the crowd today that we’re not falling for it and the citizens don’t fall for it either. These benefits are not unsustainable. The pension’s been in effect since 1948. It’s got more money in it today than it did in 2008, prior to the recession.”

Norman says the city also refuses to compromise.

“If you spend any time in front of the city administration, it’s easier to nail a piece of Jell-O to the wall than get an answer that you understand,” he said.

Lydia Verret is the wife of a firefighter who has been working with the department for 22 years. To her, the city council vote felt “like a slap in the face,” she said.

“He’s supposed to retire in three years, and our health insurance is going to go up to $1,800. So we’re going to have to pay either our house note or our health insurance,” Verret said. “It’s unacceptable. He’s not a regular guy. He doesn’t have a ‘regular-guy job.’ That’s the least they could do. That’s what they promised. We planned our entire life on this and now they’ve lied.”