Labor leader Jerry Butkiewicz saw the post I just did on the irony that opponents of the raise for firefighters were able to kill it by getting a deadlocked 4-4 vote on the City Council.
I found that ironic because Butkiewicz, who launched into a passionate and direct chiding of the council not giving the raise, just recently mocked the idea that 4-4 votes occur at all.
Here’s his response:
I still stand on the concept that to pass an issue at the City Council you should have to get to 5 votes. Today, unfortunately, the firefighters could only get to four. Then, the Mayor got to six. This, in fact, makes my point. Our City did not stop. Chaos did not break out. After the short 4-4 deadlock, one of the sides was able to get to 5. This also happened in the Steve Cushman appointment to the Port. We do not need to waste taxpayer money on another Council Office, especially when we can’t find the money to give our Firefighters a much deserved raise.