By SID CASSESE
Newsday (New York)
LONG BEACH, N.Y. — Long Beach’s 24 paid firefighters will get an unprecedented pay hike in July - 22.25 percent over the life of the contract that expires in 2010.
Approval of a contract with the local Uniformed Firefighters Association was one of the last acts of the lame-duck, Republican-led administration during Tuesday’s city council meeting, its last before Democrats regain control on Jan. 1.
The council also added $1 million to its $66.7 million budget halfway through its fiscal year, made some people unhappy with two appointments to the zoning board of appeals and gave a company a two-year extension for leasing and operating city tennis courts.
The firefighters contract, however, drew little criticism, while negotiators from each side praised each other for their dedication and foresight. The agreement is for six years, beginning in 2004. But one union giveback is no retroactive pay for the two years without a contract.
Still, the firefighters will get three years’ worth of increases beginning July 1. That, said both sides, will give them parity with Garden City firefighters, the only other paid department on Long Island. Regular Garden City members - who, unlike Long Beach firefighters are not mandated emergency medical technicians and don’t answer medical calls - earn more than $34,000 to start and $71,000 after four years.
The council came under attack for its $1 million addition from surplus funds to the budget, its failure to reappoint the lone Hispanic on the seven-member zoning board while appointing a real estate broker who also holds two other city posts, and for the tennis court extension without bids.
But City Manager Charles Theofan said it was all done legally. And council president James Hennessy said he was acting in the city’s best interest.