LETTER: Nothing wrong with firefighter overtime pay
In response to your Sunday story on firefighter overtime: As a retired cop, I know it was not uncommon to make $30,000 in overtime. Sometimes as high as $50,o00 to $60,000. We budget overtime into every fiscal year. Also, sick days, operational planning and shortages, to name a few. But what isn’t a headline is that hardly anyone wants to be a public servant. Police, fire and EMS outfits are in a continuous downward hiring spiral. Some agencies will hire 25 and drop 40 to retirement transfers or those who just quit. What some may think is bad spending is a necessary retention device. Money talks, and if these employees can work when they want and earn extra for a job that is often extremely dangerous, they absolutely should do so.
