Mayor Lamarand Accepts SAFER Grant After Getting Fireman's Union Concessions

By Matthew Worley

City of Taylor Mayor Jeffrey Lamarand has accepted the $8.1 million federal SAFER grant to hire back 32 laid-off city firefighters.

Mayor Lamarand chose to accept the grant after negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the firefighter's union that requires the firefighters to cash out their unused vacation and sick time during the two-year grant period.  This will enable the grant to cover all those costs that would otherwise have been borne by the City. 

Mayor Lamarand had originally objected to the SAFER grant because these costs, estimated at approximately $1,200,000, would have to come out of the City’s general fund, which the City did not have the resources to pay.  The MOU reached last week with the firefighter's union removes this unfunded liability from the City’s general fund.

Chris Frescoln, partner in charge of complex litigation at Fausone Bohn, LLP, is representing the Mayor.

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