A 4-1 council majority (Carter, Smith, Carpenter, Marx, yes; Ashbaugh, no) stood up to the powerful police and fire unions last night and decided to let the voters determine the fate of binding arbitration and pension reform.
At the special council meeting, the council chambers were standing room-only and the tension could be cut with a knife. Speaker after speaker told the council how important it was to preserve the fiscal sustainability of the city, control runaway salary and benefits costs, reform public employee pensions, and let the voters have a chance to decide these critical issues. In the end, only four of 39 speakers wanted to protect the status quo. The council action paves the way for an Aug. 30 mail-in ballot special election. Read The Tribune article on last night’s meeting. Click here for Councilmember Andrew Carter’s slide show on the growth of pension costs.
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