charlesrsamuels.com

Friday May 1, 2009

Councilman Charles R. Samuels releases statement regarding funding Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services

(Richmond, Virginia) – Richmond City Councilman Charles R. Samuels today released the following statement:

“The Richmond Firefighters Union is passing out flyers in the Fan District and North Richmond which are misleading.  The proposed City of Richmond Budget, submitted to Richmond City Council by Mayor Dwight Jones on March 26, 2009 includes monies to fully fund the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services and its 648 positions.

As Vice Chairman of the Richmond City Council Finance Standing Committee, I have supported and continue to support fully funding the budget of the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services and its employees.

While council fully funded the request from the Fire Department it appears that no funding was requested for overtime hours.  This may have been done due to a shortfall that was caused by declining revenue for the City.  All departments had to make choices and sacrifices so that the Mayor and Richmond City Council could avert a disastrous financial crisis for the coming years without raising city taxes.

I am sure Fire Chief Creecy made the most prudent and careful decisions in determining his budget in order to protect the citizens of Richmond.

While grass roots efforts such as this flyer spur discussion, it is important to understand all the facts before making a decision.  I invite the Firefighters Union, the administration of the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services and the City Administration to meet with the Richmond City Council Finance Standing Committee to discuss this matter further.”

CONTACT      For more information, please contact Councilman Charles Samuels, at 804.646.6532, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it