Firefighters to pay part of insurance

Two councilmen are skeptical about crime statistics.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council authorized the board of control to finalize a three-year contract with the firefighters union that will have members eventually paying 10 percent of their health care premiums.
The employee contributions will be phased in over the life of the three-year contract.
At its Wednesday meeting, council gave the board of control the authority to sign the contract. The board of control could approve the union contract as early as Tuesday, its next meeting, said city Finance Director David Bozanich, a board member.
Firefighters will pay 3 percent of their health care premiums in the first year of the deal, retroactive to Sept. 1.
In the second year, beginning Sept. 1, 2006, firefighters will pay 7 percent, and go to 10 percent in the final year of the deal.
The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 312, representing 135 Youngstown firefighters, is the only union in the city currently working without a contract.
First to agree
The firefighter union is the first to agree to a 10 percent health care premium contribution. City management has contributed 10 percent since December 2003.
"This is a big move," Bozanich said. "The idea is to get everyone to 10 percent."
The city pays about $400 a month for health care premiums for single coverage for firefighters and about $1,100 monthly for family coverage, Bozanich said.
David Cook, the local union president, declined to discuss the contract except to say it was a fair deal for both sides.
The contract also requires firefighters to pay $10 for each visit to a doctor and $50 for a hospital visit. Before this contract, firefighters didn't have copayments for either, said Fire Chief John O'Neill.
The three-year contract calls for annual pay raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent.
Also, firefighters -- with an average salary of about $50,000 annually -- will receive signing bonuses of 2 percent of their salaries, Bozanich said.
The firefighters agreed to not take an increase last year in their base pay salaries because of the city's financial condition, Bozanich said. At the time, the city agreed to give firefighters a signing bonus this year equal to what police officers received during arbitration last year, he said.
East Side problems
Also at Wednesday's meeting, council heard a plea from Bishop Chorrethers Jenkins of Grace Evangelistic Temple on the East Side to stop violence and other problems destroying that section of the city.
About 25 East Siders attended the meeting to support him.
The Rev. Mr. Jenkins said he and other East Side residents were disappointed that an application for the federal Weed and Seed Project was submitted for the city's North Side, and not the East Side.
The federal urban renewal program is aimed at helping cities reduce crime and increase the quality of life in targeted sections.
The city's South Side was designated as a Weed and Seed area in 1999, and that grant expires next year. The South Side cannot reapply for the federal funding.
The designation funds a variety of crime prevention and social services to the targeted area, such as drug reduction efforts, after-school programs and services to the elderly. It provides about $225,000 annually for those programs.
Mr. Jenkins and others said the East Side crime rate far surpasses the North Side, and should at the very least be included in the application.
"If we are to be left there to sit and die, let us know so we can call the funeral homes," he said.
Crime statistics
Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, whose ward is the city's North Side, said the location was based on Youngstown police crime statistics over the past five years.
A final decision on the application's approval is pending with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Councilman Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, who represents the East Side, is skeptical of the crime statistics and unsuccessfully tried to include two East Side census tracts near the North Side in the application.
Councilman Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, whose district includes the city's downtown, said Mr. Jenkins should meet with him, Hudson and Atkinson to see if something can be worked out. Gillam also said he is skeptical of the crime statistics.
skolnick@vindy.com