Supporters for a Safe Sylvania have been adamant in its contention that it is not a union effort to control the direction of the Fire Department. I disagree. Over the last year, I have taken the opportunity to observe certain actions and have come to what I believe is a logical conclusion that unions are a major force behind trying to convince the Sylvania community that we are not safe.
Let's review some basic facts about Safe Sylvania that their co-chair readily admits to:
- 40% of the petitions circulated by Supporters for a Safe Sylvania to put their 1.5 mill levies on the ballot were circulated by union members or their spouses.
- 60% of the funds raised during the most recent reporting period were contributed by union-related organizations or union members/spouses. (Compare this to the community effort supporting the May 2005 fire levies where only $1,500 of $17,000 raised for the campaign came from a union.)
- A noted local union attorney, Joseph J. Allotta, is the group's treasurer.
- Three unions, a union trade group and a union PAC have endorsed their efforts, including, thousands of dollars of financial support from Local 2243 of the IAFF, the union that represents our firefighters.
- The committee's attorney, Keith Wilkowski, interchangeably uses the phrases "my clients" and "the firefighters" in email correspondence with a local elected official.
Two and a half years ago, all of the support for the levy campaign came from the local community - businesses and residents who chose to support an unprecedented expansion of the fire department. This election we have various unions from outside Sylvania putting major money in to a campaign in order to avoid losing their grip on even one small part of the government.
Don't be fooled by their protests that this has nothing to do with the union. For decades, in governments all through out Lucas County, unions have been pandered to in order to get their support and avoid controversy. Now, Pam and I have stood up to the union, and the union community is doing every thing they can to thwart our efforts to bring responsible government to Sylvania.
Who do you want running Sylvania Township? Experienced business and government professionals, or the union? I urge you to vote "NO" on issues 5 and 20, the 1.5 mill fire levies supported by the unions.
