Follow the Money – Part II
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Last week, we reported on the $22,482.20 that Davis firefighters and their union paid to or spent on behalf of 4 sitting Davis City Council member campaigns in the 2020 (Josh Chapman and Will Arnold) and 2022 (Gloria Partida and Bapu Vaitla) election cycles (see Follow the Money – Part I at https://davisvanguard.org/2024/10/guest-commentary-follow-the-money/).
These direct contributions preceded huge, retroactive salary increases given to the Davis firefighters pushing their compensation well in excess of what neighboring, similar-sized cities are paying their firefighters.
As Davis Enterprise columnist Rich Rifkin once wrote: “No segment of the Davis’ labor force is gorging at the trough more voraciously than the Fire Department…”
Well, not to be outdone, other Davis city employee unions are joining the firefighters’ union in rapidly filling the coffers of the Yes on Measure Q campaign committee. Following are their campaign contributions to the Yes on Measure Q campaign committee reported thus far:
- Davis Firefighters Local 3494 – $5,000 – August 26
- Davis City Employee Association – $5,000 – September 19
- Davis Police Officers Association – $5,000 – October 4
- Davis Firefighters Local 3494 – $5,000 – October 9 (2nd contribution)
- Davis City Employee Association – $2,000 – October 10 (2nd contribution)
Total = $22,000 (so far!) – And this does not even include any independent expenditures made by each of the unions on behalf of the Yes on Measure Q campaign.
Do you honestly think that the unions are doing this because of their overwhelming love for the City of Davis? (Hint – Less than 25% of the firefighters even live in Davis!)
Face it! – These Davis employee unions are buying future payroll increases with these contributions. They know exactly which side of the employee salary bread gets buttered in this town.
Buying future payroll increases? They could also be trying to make sure there is funding to offset the loss of American Rescue funds.
Or trying not to lose their jobs
Hey guys, where did most of the revenue from the 2004 sales tax measure end up going?
Hint: they drive red trucks.
Fool me once…
Most of the revenue from the 2004 sales tax measure did not end up going to the firefighters. However, most of the revenue from the sales tax measure ended up going to employee compensation which is not how it was billed AND a disproportionate amount of that went to the firefighters.
Is anyone still working for the city or on the council that was there 20 years ago? Lucy is no longer holding the football Charlie Brown.
Bobby Weist just recenly retired from the City and as the local union President. I’m pretty sure a few of the Davis Fire Dept Battalion Chiefs and Captains were there then also. Bobby Weist taught them how the game was played
Okay, I stand corrected. Most of the 2004 sales tax measure went to employee compensation of which the people who drive red trucks got the biggest chunk.
David, do you have the breakdown of where the money went? What percentages of that 2004 sales tax hike went where?
At one point I think I did that analysis, I would have to search for it.
David, your own words from March 2, 2013. Don’t you think that qualifies as “most”?
“The stunning aspect of that contract is that in 2004 the council passed a half-cent sales tax that was sold to the public as necessary to prevent cuts to parks and public safety. A year later, the council took that approximately $3 million in revenue and simply gave it to the firefighters in the form of the salary increases. The four-year increase in salary over the course of that MOU nearly matched the annual revenue generated by the sales tax.”
https://davisvanguard.org/2013/03/my-view-discrepancy-between-police-and-fire-pay-persists/
The CIty Council held the line on the firefighters for years thereafter even getting to the point where the FF had a contract imposed upon them by the council for a number of years.
This is all old news if you want to relitigate decades old come meet paints.
It is interesting that Keith only asked about 2004 – 20 years ago. There was another sales tax increase in 2014, the same amount as 2004 and here’s what happened since then.
David, why did you stop with FY 2021?
It wasn’t my chart
…Decades old complaints
Ron, those complaints are like your children. They haven’t gone away with time. Einstein’s Law applies.