James

2.6K posts

James

James

@SkipLeCates

Tham gia Mayıs 2012
288 Đang theo dõi70 Người theo dõi
James
James@SkipLeCates·
@Zindoctor @AbbieKamin I’m not calling you out but you have to understand how frustrating it is that the story on this arbitration story is Council didn’t know. It should be the city again tries to save money on the backs of FFs. Plenty of reasons to go after Whitmire but the FF deal isn’t one
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Mike Gonzalez, MD
Mike Gonzalez, MD@Zindoctor·
@SkipLeCates @AbbieKamin Don’t misunderstand - and don’t even try to call me out. I fought hard and argued relentlessly on behalf of the contract/pay raise that HFD already received. This is different. This deserves the sunshine of transparency that is always promised, but never delivered.
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@Zindoctor @AbbieKamin You don’t think having a properly staffed fire department isn’t in the self interests of all Houstonians?!? Until this contract HFD was bleeding FFs they trained to other departments. Having a competitive wage is stopping it. You may not work for COH but you work with FF
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Mike Gonzalez, MD
Mike Gonzalez, MD@Zindoctor·
@SkipLeCates @AbbieKamin A) I can see beyond my own self interests B) I can see beyond the interests of my friends and family C) I don’t work for the COH
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@gratifihouston Lol, council approved the contract and him fighting the escalator is what they all would have wanted. Every time the escalator was brought up in meetings over the past 9 months City Council was more than happy they were not currently paying the escalator
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@AbbieKamin You already voted on the contract. It doesn’t seem like you and fellow council members are upset the contract wasn’t being followed. Y’all seem upset at that 10-12 million number even though it’s coming from outside the budget
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@evan7257 When is the chronicle gonna practice that philosophy?
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@NoahMF The revenue is from ambulance fees, and the ambulances are operated by the fire department
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Noah 🇺🇦
Noah 🇺🇦@NoahMF·
“The firefighters can have first-priority garnishment rights on all new buckets of revenue” is an incredible proviso that Vaunted Fiscal Conservative John Whitmire I’m sure added to the contract because that dastardly Turner was unprepared for a lawsuit that demanded $1 Bajillion
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@cjblain10 @CGHollins The trigger coming from new revenue obtained through joint efforts by the city and the fire union seems pretty clearly defined. Why did Controller Hollins explain the high OT increasing the deficit and then just gloss over that extra 13M in extra revenue!?!?
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@NoahMF @BillKingHouston @evan7257 It was hilarious watching the city in 2 lawsuits going on at the same time argue Prob B was unconstitutional due to Collective bargaining while at the same time arguing CB was unconstitutional. The city wasted millions on Lawyers knowing the would lose 1 or both of those cases
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Noah 🇺🇦
Noah 🇺🇦@NoahMF·
@BillKingHouston @evan7257 I’ve read the suits. Have you? Do you now support Prop B now? Believe the 2017 pension reform was unconstitutional? Your immediate flipflopping to villainize Turner and lionize Whitmer is what gives me such pause. The scales tipped to the HPFFA at the end **b/c of this law.*
Noah 🇺🇦 tweet media
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Noah 🇺🇦
Noah 🇺🇦@NoahMF·
One of the reasons I do not regret calling Bill King a racist is that he claimed Turner was the most fiscally egregious politician in Houston history but he is still John Whitmire's Strongest Soldier depsite this.
Abby Church⭐️@abbschurch

New: Houston City Council will have to close a deficit of around $174M this summer as it begins budget discussions. A key culprit to the increase is fire and police's overtime spending. houstonchronicle.com/politics/houst… via @HoustonChron

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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@evan7257 “Charges for services increased by 13.9M primarily due to stronger than expected ambulance fees” 13.9m>12m
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@abbschurch @FirefightersHOU @HoustonChron “Houston officials must pay the contract they agreed to” escalator only was executed if the city brought in excess revenue to cover the whole cost so why is this an issue?
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@evan7257 “Revenue they helped acquire”
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@JRDNLTHMS Back in 2017 the Houston Fire union hired an economist to provide data to compare HFD to what they had determined to be a private comparable. The City’s position was a private sector comparable didn’t exist. The depositions exist somewhere
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Jordan Thomas
Jordan Thomas@JRDNLTHMS·
I've never understood what a fire fighter's private sector equivalent was... Can anyone who does explain it to me?
Bill King@BillKingHouston

If you actually spent some time researching these issues, you would know that the firefighters filed a lawsuit under a state statute which awards compensation to them commiserate with compensation in the private sector. Their claim was for over $1billion. The case was set to go to trial in March 2024. Whitmire settled the case for a little more than half the potential damages. What would you have done in those circumstances. Have you read the lawsuit? Have you read the state statute? Did you review the damage model the fire fighters filed with the court?

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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@NoahMF @BillKingHouston @evan7257 Unless they could reach an agreement. Without a contract judge would hear both sides argue compensation for each year of impasse for all 8 years and the city would have to pay all that back pay and pension contributions with interest. Odds are that number would be much > 650M
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@NoahMF @BillKingHouston @evan7257 It’s not claiming damages. Firefighters were operating outside a contract from 2017 till the settlement. They cannot strike so to protect them state law says in the event of impasse firefighters can ask a judge to set the salaries based on private sector equivalents. Instead of
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@NoahMF @BillKingHouston @evan7257 Of going to that trial the Mayor sued collective bargaining arguing that specific clause was unconstitutional. He appealed all the way to the Texas Supreme Court effectively stalling for 8 YEARS. The Supreme Court ordered them to have the judicial enforcement process proceed..
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charles
charles@cjblain10·
Houston recently lost arbitration with the firefighters. No one told council members…or the public @GrooganFox26
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@evan7257 @HoustonChron Everytime the budget is mentioned y’all got to show firefighters. Why are will still blaming them for the cities budget
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@JRDNLTHMS @cjblain10 @GrooganFox26 Yeah I couldn’t spare 4 min to watch the video😑. I also saw the finance director they would brief everyone. What’s the issue? The city apparently fought the firefighters. It’s not like they trying to sneak this by council. I’m sure the controller brings it up tomorrow
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James
James@SkipLeCates·
@JRDNLTHMS @cjblain10 @GrooganFox26 So? After all that back -!: forth when they were trying to vote on the contract last year and in multiple budget meetings when they brought up the firefighters were only getting 3% not one council member was curious if it was possible the escalator could kick in?
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Khám phá

@Zindoctor @AbbieKamin @gratifihouston @evan7257 @NoahMF @cjblain10 @CGHollins @BillKingHouston