BUDGET EFFICIENCIES

BUDGET EFFICIENCIES (OWH Editorial, 8-18-09)
Unfreeze it, City Council
Omaha’s municipal leaders need the same flexibility to pursue efficiencies in the Fire Department as with all other departments of city government. This is a sound, common-sense principle in general, and it’s nothing short of impera­tive in the face of the city’s current budget chal­lenges.
The City Council would do well to repeal the 2000 city ordinance on Fire Department operations. That ordinance freezes the status quo in place for a wide variety of operational matters, including not just the endless debate over fire-truck staffing but also such matters as the type and number of vehicles as well as the number of firehouses.
Modification of the ordinance is possible only with the approval of the fire union and the fire chief. Re­peal of the ordinance, not surprisingly, is again on the council’s agenda.
As long as the ordinance remains in place, council members will have only limited options, and too of­ten only blunt instruments, to seek efficiencies in the department’s operations.
The fire union, Mayor Jim Suttle and council mem­bers opposing repeal are going to find it difficult to justify retaining such an unusual and restrictive ordinance at a time when taxpayers are understand­ably wanting city leaders to explore all reasonable options to address the budget crisis.
As we’ve noted before: “It would be wrong to un­dermine the fire union’s legitimate bargaining rights, just as it would be wrong to turn the Fire Depart­ment inside-out. But common sense says the city government ought to have the leeway to examine the full range of efficiencies in all departments, especial­ly given the magnitude of the current fiscal crisis.”
Repeal deserves a “yes” vote today.