
Two firefighters who requested to stay on the Manitowoc Fire Department had their requests approved but with some opposition from some Manitowoc Common Council.
The firefighters who requested to stay live outside of the city’s 25-mile primary residence limit.
Three of the aldermen believe that firefighters who work for the Manitowoc Fire Department need to live in the city including 9th District Alderman Steve Czekala.
He said the council has a hard time saying no especially when there are homes and apartments available for firefighters to move in.
“I’m sorry I can’t feel for you,” he said. “This is coming up on two years, I mean really. Every single person behind the scenes and every single department head lives in the city of Manitowoc, why? Because we obviously like it here, we’re all here.”
He also said in February he would “beat the hell out of” anyone who came back with a request again.
Alderman Bill Schlei, who supported extending the requests, said the price for a home costs way more now than it did back in the day.
And with the fire department already understaffed, “We can’t afford over contract language to cut two hard-working firefighters out of a job,” he explained. “I favor the extension and in fact I favor the notion of getting rid of these limits completely and making us competitive with other fire departments.”
Alderman Czekala, Sitkiewitz, and Reckelberg voted against the requests but were in the minority.
Both firefighters will stay with the department for another year.