Hundreds rally over the fire union's contract negotiations, the General Assembly's township consolidation legislation, economic development opportunities with Kokomo's sister city in China and baseball season starts February 25th.
On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: Any new city council agendas or business to kick off 2018?
Goodnight: I do my annual state of the city speech the last council meeting in February, as I say, I joke, but I probably take it more seriously than I should. But I usually use it as the blueprint of what we're going to take on over the next year... what we feel is important, what we need to address and those things. So we're just now starting to put the outline out on that.
Hren: Just this past Monday night, hundreds rallied for the unresolved firefighter's union contract, could you address that?
"It's because of their own doing. Their inability to either read or comprehend the ordinance."
Goodnight: We began negotiations probably in May with both the police union and the firefighters. We reached an agreement with the police officers. The firefighters went on for months and months for what I feel are unreasonable demands for Kokomo taxpayers. They were adamant about a three year 15-percent increase in their wages. When we compare their wages and benefits package with the surrounding areas, they're in the top tier in all aspects.
This fall we gave them our last, best and final offer. They didn't take it to a vote from the membership and the union president demanded arbitration. The Board of Works denied that because of a city ordinance, and the president sued the City of Kokomo. The judge ruled twice in the city's favor. So as of January 1st of this year, so the firefighter's president allowed their contract to expire and they no longer fall under the terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement. Therefore, they are considered non-contractual city employees.
Just this weekend, we tried one more time - a three year contract, six-percent pay raise, a guaranteed no layoff clause, we increased the retiree stipend - $900 a month to purchase private insurance with proof of purchase. During a Sunday meeting they rejected it, now they claim they are without a contract and our position is they are without a contract but it's because of their own doing. Their inability to either read or comprehend the ordinance which was written in the 1970s.
I have a moral and legal responsibility of the taxpayers of Kokomo that I have to look out for their best interests. And we don't see their demands as reasonable at this point.
Hren: The Indiana General Assembly is in full swing, is there anything you're keeping an eye on at the Statehouse?
Goodnight: I'm very interested to see where the consolidation of townships goes. I think it's a start. We really need to look at how Indiana is going to look in 5, 10, 15 years. I think it gives us an opportunity to adapt to change. So as people move to more urbanized areas, things like consolidation can help townships and counties and cities work together to take on those challenges a little bit better.
I think we have too many layers of bureaucracy here in the state of Indiana. Think if you could have a county-wide sheriff, a county-wide coroner, a county-wide auditor - you could have a county-wide trustee. If it could be done in larger counties like Allen county, it can be done in some of those smaller counties. It doesn't mean the trustee goes away, it's a way to come up with policies that are more... for example, Howard County has eleven trustees, they have different policies, different procedures and I think you can make it a more prominent position if it was just one here in the county.
