Letter to the editor: Homer Township Fire Department Ballot Question

Homer Township Fire Department Ballot Question

Do not be fooled by the Homer Township Firefighters Union to take over the Board of Trustees.  If you want a real eye-opener, just look at all those six figure salaries, not including benefits given to the Fire District employees.  Now the union wants to take over the board so they can hire more people, have more benefits and make more money.  Just keep in mind the firefighters union has the money along with the funds and know how to get their people elected to take over total control of your fire department.  The international firefighters union in Washington DC employs a union boss with $100,000 plus annual expense account and a salary 3 times more than that.  They train Local Union Officials on “How to elect candidates ” that will support higher wages and benefits. The union president David Curtis told the Horizon over the summer that having the Trustees elected by the residents would mean better partnership for the union and trustees.  His words not mine.  Once this happens you as a taxpayer will never have a say in how much you will pay in taxes for your already overpaid fire department.  Any other time if a resident or even a business went out to petition the public to have trustees elected it would be a different story and could be valid. But in this case it is a public sector union thinking they can come out and take over.  Word on the street is that the firefighters union petitioned most of the seniors residential living and the elderly people who reside in their district to secure their 1200 signatures. I can only imagine what these elderly people were told.  At this time I am asking all voters to take a stand and vote NO on the Homer Township Fire Protection District Referendum by sending a clear message to the public sector unions that we still have and will always have a voice in the way things are done in this country.
Ted Neitzke, Homer Glen