However, we question their ethics in trying to stack the Lacey City Council with candidates who are in their pocket when the firefighters’ union negotiates their salary and benefits.
The firemen union’s contributions, signs and campaigning aims to pack the Lacey City Council with members closely tied to – and beholden – to them.
This raises a big red flag for Lacey taxpayers.
The City Council is supposed to represent taxpayers when negotiating salary, health insurance and retirement benefits for city employees and firefighters.
Yet a person elected to the City Council with the union’s contributions and campaigning is hardly beholden to the taxpayers for their seat on the council. If elected, it puts the firemen on both sides of the bargaining table.
Voters will be electing three Lacey councilmen in this upcoming election. There are “union-backed” candidates and “taxpayer” candidates who are running. Nearly everyone is 100 percent for the firemen as “firemen.” But it is not fair to us taxpayers if union representatives are on both sides of the bargaining table.
We can prevent such a self-serving outcome when we receive our mail-in ballot late in October.
We will get a fair-minded council that represents taxpayers if we vote for – and elect – Mark Arras, Lenny Greenstein and re-elect Jason Hearn to Lacey City Council.
