By Sofi Zeman
The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kansas City, Kansas’ fire union is suing the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK over an alleged First Amendment violation that they believe has safety implications.
The Kansas City, Kansas Professional Firefighters Association, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 64, filed a federal lawsuit against the local government earlier this week, it announced in a Thursday news release.
District Judge Toby Crouse will consider the union’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction during a 9 a.m., in-person hearing on Wednesday in Topeka, according to court records.
The lawsuit follows an alleged dispute with the Unified Government after union members were not permitted to speak to elected officials about staffing and safety concerns within the department.
Union membership wanted to discuss those long-held concerns during the government’s Public Safety Commission meetings, as well as directly with elected members of the Unified Government Board of Commissioners, according to the release.
The Unified Government threatened Local 64 with legal action if members attempted to do so, given it believed that allowing union members to address commissioners with staffing matters would violate Kansas labor law, according to the release.
But the union disagrees, and it wants the court to keep the Unified Government from preventing Local 64 from talking to officials before an upcoming public meeting.
If they get a temporary restraining order that would force the Unified Government to allow union members to speak, Local 64 hopes to urge commissioners to invest in fire department staffing before they set the 2027 budget.
“The firefighters were hopeful this situation could have been avoided,” Jacob Miller, an attorney representing Local 64, said in the release. “However, when discussions about safety and matters of public concern are repeatedly shut down, they believe the legal system is the only remaining path to ensure these important public safety concerns are heard.”
Longtime safety concerns
Concerns over short staffing within the department and its effect on public safety are nothing new in KCK. After county commissioners’ 2024 vote to freeze property tax revenues for the 2025 budget year, the Unified Government had to make millions in cuts to keep public services funded.
Among those cuts was a 2025 hiring freeze that the union said contributed to some local firefighters getting injured on the job.
During the 2025 budget season, as officials were discussing the year ahead, union membership told county commissioners that the department failed to meet minimum staffing recommendations and did not meet emergency response time standards.
The union also expressed concern about the state of its dated facilities and low medic unit staffing, particularly as the county continues to grow and call volumes increase.
“Fire and EMS are essential services and a necessity for public safety, not an optional expense,” union president John “J.J.” Sima said during the 2025 public meeting.
More than a year later, and despite the fact that the government voted to collect increased property tax revenues in 2026, members of the KCKFD still don’t think the local government has sufficiently handled those concerns.
In April, Local 64 cast a vote of no confidence in Fire Chief Dennis Rubin and former County Administrator David Johnston. Decisions made by county and fire department leadership put firefighters and residents at risk, the union said at the time.
Their Aug. 4 lawsuit comes just months after Johnston resigned from the top hired position within the Unified Government.
“Our members have spent months trying to work collaboratively with the Unified Government because we believe our elected officials deserve to hear directly from the firefighters serving this community everyday,” Simma said in the release. “Instead they chose to silence the conversation.”
The Unified Government Board of Commissioners in July granted Johnston nine additional months of his full salary and benefits following his departure from public office. They also named former Assistant County Administrator Alan Howze as his temporary replacement through the end of the year.
Government responds
Kansas law, and the Unified Government’s contract with Local 64, stipulate that union members are not allowed to lobby elected officials on items involving contract matters, according to a statement from the Unified Government.
The government employs nearly 2,300 people, many of whom are represented by 13 bargaining units that the Unified Government negotiates with.
“While we disagree with the union leadership on the merits of their suit, we have great respect for the firefighters and emergency medical personnel who serve our community every day and hope this can be resolved quickly and amicably,” according to that statement.
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