Political Action Committee (PAC)

Currently the Political Action Committee (PAC) consists of the Elected members of IAFF Local 2067 Executive Board. The Chairman is the Union President.

Political Action News

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Ward 4 Meeting Alert

August 11, 2010 - Councilmember Carol Dillingham invites all residents to a Ward 4 “Back to School” meeting on August 16, 2010.  The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Hallock Hall in the basement of First Baptist Church located at 211 W. Comanche.  First Baptist Church has provided meeting space as the church leadership wants to introduce to the Ward 4 citizens the church’s desire to petition the City of Norman for closure of the one block of Comanche Street that separates the church from its playground and parking facilities.  This will enable the church to design a single “main” entry and safer crossing for day school children, church members and others that use the church facilities. 

This will be the introductory meeting and after the filing of an application, there will be meetings that are required with notice to all of the residents living within 300 feet of the church.  After this presentation, time will be allotted for questions and answers both of the church and City of Norman Planning Staff.

Following this discussion, the meeting will include discussion of parking (game day and regular) throughout the Ward 4 neighborhoods, code compliance issues, Community Policing, party/nuisance houses, enforcement of the Three Unrelated Persons Ordinance (over occupancy in single family dwellings) and any other issues Ward 4 residents may have to discuss.  If you would like to add an item to the agenda, please contact Councilmember Dillingham at 826-7160 or email specific questions or concerns to Ward4@normanok.gov. 

Because there are other meetings on August 11th and August 19th to address the 2010 water and sanitation rate increase election, this Ward 4 meeting will not devote time to this discussion.

Ward 6 Meeting Alert

August 11, 2010 - Councilmember Jim Griffith invites you to attend a Ward 6 meeting to be held on August 16, 2010 at the 12th Avenue Recreation Center located at 1701 12th Avenue N.E.  The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.   The main topic of discussion will be the upcoming 2010 Water and Sanitation Rate Increase Election; however other discussion relative to Ward 6 issues will be welcome. 
 
Councilmember Griffith said “This will be the second Ward 6 meeting to discuss these issues and I encourage all Ward 6 residents to attend this informational meeting”.

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Firefighters Help Schoolboy in Vote to be America’s Youngest Mayor
(Government Grants For All)

May 9, 2010 - The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of the people, ready to listen to their every concern, but only until 6pm. Then he has to do his homework.

The local elections on Tuesday may have been dismal for George Bush’s Republican party, but they were a triumph for Michael Sessions, an independent who emerged as the country’s youngest mayor at the age of 18. Mr Sessions, who is too young to drink in his own town, won by just two votes after a recount. By 670 votes to 668, he beat the sitting mayor, who is 51, and had all the advantages of incumbency. And he won despite the fact that his name was not even on the ballot.

He was too young to stand by the spring deadline for registration, so after he turned 18 he entered as a write-in candidate – meaning voters had to remember his name and add it to the ballot by hand in order to support him. The circumstances make his triumph all the more likely to be a model for future insurgent candidates.

He started by winning the support of a powerful interest group, the Hillsdale firefighters’ union, who had fallen out with the town council.

The union has a membership of three, but in post-September 11 America it wields symbolic clout. Before endorsing Mr. Sessions, its president, Kevin Pauken, called his teachers to check on his credentials. “The guys were a little leery at first because of his age, but he really impressed us with his openness and his energy,” Mr. Pauken told the Detroit News.

To help get his name known, Mr Sessions raised $700 (£400) selling toffee apples over the summer and spent it on posters and placards which were sprinkled around Hillsdale’s lawns by election day. His month-long campaign involved going door to door, explaining his vision of the town’s future in the kitchens of his initially skeptical neighbors. “They’d look at me, and say ‘How old are you again? How much experience do you have?’ And I say ‘I’m still in high school’,” he recalled.

He promised Hillsdale’s voters he would revitalize the local economy and made his youthful energy his selling point. “I was optimistic the whole time,” he explained. At one point, five days before election day, that enthusiasm threatened to get the better of him. He spent so long out on the streets knocking on the doors, ignoring his mother’s pleas for him to wear a coat, that he ended up in a hospital emergency room with bronchitis. But by then his momentum had become unstoppable.

Mr. Sessions insists that his high school obligations will not get in the way of his mayoral duties, pointing out that the $3,000-a-year job is part-time. “From 7.50am to 2.30pm, I’ll be a student. From 3 to 6, I’ll be the mayor of Hillsdale, working on mayor stuff,” he said.

To help him do the “mayor stuff”, he is assembling a transition team of trusted advisors, who will help him deal with the town council and the town manager, who run the town between them.

The ousted mayor, Douglas Ingles, conceded defeat graciously and prepared to return to running his business, a roller-skating rink, full time after four years in office. “This is a very exciting time for our community. We need to find ways to generate enthusiasm, and I am 100% supportive of any change that makes that happen,” he said.

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Oklahoma City Public Safety Unions Plan More Political Activism
(NewsOK.com)

February 14, 2010 - Oklahoma City’s public safety unions plan to get more politically active this year as they try to mend what’s widely regarded as a broken relationship with City Hall.

The decision marks an about-face for the police and firefighter unions. Historically, the unions have stayed mostly silent on city politics and policy, though they have regularly donated to city council and mayoral campaigns.

After running an unsuccessful campaign against the city’s MAPS 3 proposal last year, union leaders say they now see benefit in political activism. "You will in the future tend to see us to be more vocal than we have been in the past on issues of general concern to the public, like the MAPS issue was,” said Gil Hensley, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123. "I believe we have that responsibility to the public.”

Hensley added: "Who better than the employee groups that are actually on the inside looking out and seeing what’s happening to do that?”

Increased activism by the unions could be a burden or blessing to the political unity credited for Oklahoma City’s ongoing resurgence, political observers and city and union leaders say.

As part of its planned political activity, the fire union plans to launch a Web site soon that Phil Sipe, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 157, said will serve as a forum for the union to "intelligently” advocate for or against city policy. Sipe said the goal is to inform and engage residents.

The unions’ political prowess will be tested quickly by public safety concerns that figure to get more attention in coming months.

Immediately pressing is a 1 percent raise firefighters have demanded that the city says it can’t afford. The matter could go before voters in May.

The city is also preparing to undergo substantial budget cuts — a process that poses another potential political pitfall for the unions. "When everyone is asked to make sacrifices, these unions have got to tread carefully in their negotiations,” said Keith Gaddie, a University of Oklahoma political science professor and local government expert.

Oklahoma City’s budget shortfall this year is $25 million, which is 7 percent below projections.
City officials expect they’ll have much less money to work with next fiscal year than this year and are budgeting in anticipation of that. (Read More...)

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IAFF 2067 Endorse Two in Upcoming City Elections
Butch Crawford, President Norman Local 2067 Firefighters

As president of our Local I've talked to councilman Dan Quinn today. Although he hasn't hurt us as a Union he hasn't helped us a great deal either. When Dan first ran for council I met with him and conveyed our issues about fairness and equity among the city of Norman Employees. Again, even though he has not made this situation worse he has not made it better either.

We therefore have elected to endorse Steve Lucas for Council because as a Union Leader he has first hand experience with the issues we face including 'Unfair Labor Practices' and the misinformation that occurs within our City Government that causes poor labor relations and disparate treatment of employee groups.

We have worked for and supported change in our system over the past 10 years. We'll continue to support those that also want that change to a better labor relations system that promotes fairness and equity for all employees. This will give the Citizen of Norman a employee that is efficient and happy with their job; thereby serving the public with the utmost efficiency.

February 11, 2010 - Councilwoman Carol Dillingham, 57, Ward 4, filed a candidacy declaration for the upcoming municipal elections at the Cleveland County Election Board as well, making her the last incumbent council member to do so. The battle for the Ward 4 seat on the Norman City Council is now a four-way contest. We've supported Carol in her first run as a City Councilperson and we also support her run at a second term. She will be challenged by three other candidates for this seat: John Dawson, 65, Austin Dyches, 28, and J. Michael Sherrod, 55.

January 25, 2010 - The IAFF Local 2067 Firefighters will endorse Hal Ezell and Steve Lucas in the upcoming citywide elections. In very much of the same reason, they both are men of high integrity having served the Public and while agreeing with the IAFF Local 2067 that Public Safety is a top priorities in City Government.

To protect and serve the Citizens of Norman, under whom we are employed, is our highest priority. It is also important that the Honesty and Integrity both of these men have is equally expected of all City Employees; not just Firefighters and Police Officers. City management should be held to this same standard of accountability. This level of trust has been questioned by the IAFF within some of our current Council members.

Therefore we anticipate the kind of change these two gentlemen are willing to bring: Accountability, Honesty and a Sharing of information being important to our learning from each other as well as moving forward in a positive way as a team. We wish to enjoy this cooperation for years with these two candidates. It’s time for Accountability within our City Government and Norman's Firefighters believe Hall Ezell and Steve Lucas can help lead us there.

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