Bethlehem Firefighters’ Association, IAFF Local 735, is calling on the city to fund additional firefighter positions and company officer coverage in the 2027 budget. The union says its own study and the Center for Public Safety Management study reinforce staffing needs it has raised for years.

“We advocated for additional staffing last year and made our needs clear,” said Lou Jimenez, president of IAFF Local 735. “Our own study documented those needs. The city now has another study reinforcing them. It is time to act and invest in our department.”

Jimenez has requested a meeting with Mayor J. William Reynolds and remains hopeful it will take place before the mayor presents his proposed budget. Local 735 wants that discussion to produce specific funding and implementation commitments.

The union is asking the city to increase budgeted staffing through the 2027 budget so the department can begin implementing a plan for three-person staffing on every engine and ladder company, including an officer on each company. Local 735 recognizes that implementation takes time, but the city must commit to beginning the work now. Given Bethlehem’s continued development and the success the city continues to report, waiting another budget cycle is not sufficient. The union wants a clear plan identifying the positions funded, hiring dates, and when additional personnel will be on duty.

Local 735 points to staffing reductions, a four-and-a-half-year period without hiring replacements for departing firefighters, and heavy overtime as reasons action is overdue.

“Our members have continued serving this community through all of it,” Jimenez said. “Overtime cannot serve as a permanent staffing plan. Our firefighters and their families cannot keep carrying the burden of doing more with less.”

The union also questions whether Business Administrator Eric Evans’s Oct. 20 presentation gave residents a complete explanation of CPSM’s recommendations.

For example, the administration’s slides highlighted CPSM’s recommendation on proper EMS call categorization, but did not include its recommendation that firefighters be dispatched simultaneously with Bethlehem EMS to all Priority 1/high-acuity medical calls. Local 735 believes residents should have heard that recommendation and the City’s response to it.

“In our view, the presentation gave residents a skewed and incomplete picture of CSPSM’s assessment,” Jimenez said. “Residents paid for an independent study. They deserve to hear its recommendations directly from the experts and understand what the City intends to do about them.”

Local 735 continues to request a public presentation and question-and-answer session with CPSM. It is also asking the administration to identify which recommendations it will implement and provide funding commitments and timelines.

“We are ready to work with Mayor Reynolds and city council on practical solutions,” Jimenez said. “We expect the mayor to demonstrate that commitment by funding the first phase of staffing improvements in the 2027 budget. Local 735 will continue advocating for our members and residents until these documented needs are addressed. The upcoming budget must begin turning these findings into action.”

Sources: CPSM study; City presentation.

Contributed article