With the issue of whether to build a new jail hogging the headlines in Denver’s municipal election, the union representing the city’s firefighters has spent $12,000 on mailings in an effort to inform voters about ballot question 1B – the proposed merger with Glendale’s fire department.
The trouble with 1B, union officials fear, is that many voters won’t understand the ballot question’s language when they go to vote Tuesday.
“Nobody is figuring out that 1B is about the Glendale merger,” said Lt. Mike Rogers, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 858. “The city’s ballot question offers no explanation about 1B and what it’s about, no pros or cons. But there are five pages of explanation on the jail issue.”
As part of the deal, Denver would provide fire protection to neighboring Glendale in exchange for an up-front payment of $1 million for 2005, and an additional $1.8 million a year for the next six years.
1B’s wording is a request for a simple change to the city’s charter. The change would allow Glendale’s firefighters to join the Denver Fire Department – a major condition of the deal between the two cities.
“From the beginning we said we were going to protect our guys,” said Chuck Bonniwell, a Glendale city attorney. “These people have dedicated their lives to protecting our city, and we’re not going to abandon them if the vote doesn’t go the way we had hoped.”
The fire protection deal has been considered a win-win for both cities.
Glendale, an enclave of Denver that covers a half-mile square, can no longer afford its own fire department. Denver, in turn, would be allowed to use Glendale’s centrally located fire headquarters for a $1-a-year lease and scrap plans to build a new firehouse to serve strips of neighborhoods around Glendale.
In addition, Glendale would be under the umbrella of a more formidable firefighting force, proponents say. And Denver would avoid providing free backup to Glendale’s firefighters, which it has done in the past on major fires such as the fatal blaze at the Spanish Gate apartments in December 2003.
“We’re concerned about firefighter safety, and anytime you have a fire like Spanish Gate, you’re talking about a disaster where firefighters from both departments had limited ability to communicate with each other and coordinate their efforts,” Denver fire spokesman Lt. Phil Champagne said.
Over the past nine weeks, 18 veteran Glendale firefighters have gone through fire academy training all over again – a condition of their joining the Denver force.
Their last day in the academy was Friday, but their future hangs on Denver voters.
“Our biggest worry is that if 1B doesn’t pass, then all those Glendale firefighters could be out of jobs while we go back to the drawing board,” Rogers said.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1173 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
