It’s been more than a year since Tallahassee firefighters have had a contract. And it will soon be up to the city to decide what’s in it. After nearly two dozen failed negotiation sessions with the city, and a last-ditch effort with a special magistrate, the two sides remain at a stalemate.
The issue is also playing a role in upcoming local elections. It’s been three years since the union filed an ethics complaint against City Manager Reese Goad – and it’s been downhill ever since.
In July 2021, the local firefighters’ union and its president, Joey Davis, filed a state ethics complaint against Goad. At issue: the union wanted records regarding the city’s fire service fee and claimed that Goad blocked the request. And Davis said Goad threatened him, thereby misusing his position.
Byron Meadows is a former Tallahassee firefighter who was in the room at the time the alleged threat was leveled.
“What I can remember right now is that it was told to Joey at that point to stand down," Meadows said, "that the city manager had sent word for him to stand down or basically it would cost him his job, that there would be repercussions.”
Davis’s complaint continued, "Since the threat, the City Manager has reached out to meet with me but has been adamant that there would be no attorneys allowed nor recording of the meeting.”
The ethics complaint was dismissed. Goad said he was pleased, and Davis said he was disappointed. Davis even apologized to Goad last September during a commission meeting.
“Mr. City Manager, I have stated our intention to work with you to resolve this situation, and I will double down," said Davis. "For my part in leading to our poor relationship, I wholeheartedly apologize. We need to move forward. I will meet with you anytime, if you’re willing to help us get to where we need to be. These men and women and their families deserve that.”
Three years after the ethics flap, the city and its firefighters remain at impasse over a new contract. They’re overdue for the one-year contract that would have started last October, and they’re also behind on negotiations for a 3-year contract that should start this October.
A 2023 poll of Tallahassee firefighters showed that 31 percent were either thinking about leaving the force, had applied elsewhere, or were already committed to leaving. Now, ten months later, another firefighter just resigned, and the Tallahassee Fire Department is understaffed by 21. The contract negotiations continue.
In recent candidate forums hosted by WFSU, the Tallahassee Democrat and the League of Women Voters, city commission candidates were asked their take on the situation:
"It’s political because there are three city commissioners who refuse to support treating firefighters the same as they do all other employees."
“The negotiations have failed because it has been weaponized for political purposes.”
“I think we have a political problem at the city that requires a political solution."
"This has become political, to influence the outcome of this election.”
That was commission candidates Dot Inman-Johnson and Rudy Ferguson, and sitting commissioners Jack Porter and Curtis Richardson.
During the last election cycle, the local firefighters' union endorsed Mayor John Dailey’s opponent, as well as the opponent of sitting commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox.
Dailey, Richardson and Williams-Cox compose a 3-2 majority on the commission. They also tend to back the city manager. And they, alongside Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter, will ultimately decide the fate of at least one of the firefighters’ contracts.
During the forums, Porter said, "The city has the money that it needs to pay our firefighters a fair wage. They protect us; we need to be there for them. And it’s just unacceptable that it’s come to this point.”
While Richardson said, “They are in the collective bargaining process. The city commission does not have a role in that process. It’s outlined in state statute, and we aren’t involved until a recommendation comes back.
The union has endorsed Porter, but it also endorsed Inman-Johnson, who is opposing Richardson.
The primary election is August 20th. And the commission will take up the firefighters’ contract a day later.
