Schaitberger Fights Florida Tax Reform, Governor

January 28, 2008 -- IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger inspired a crowd of nearly 200 supporters at a public rally in downtown Jacksonville to get out and vote “No” on Amendment 1, a tax reform referendum that will reduce fire and EMS services around the state, cost hundreds of fire fighters their jobs and eliminate pay raises and promotions for thousands of others. Schaitberger’s spirited speech chided Florida Governor Charlie Crist for not allowing local governments to run their own fire departments.

“It’s not up to the governor to decide what level of services the citizens of Jacksonville will receive,” said Schaitberger. “And it’s certainly a fraud, in my view, that the governor and those who are trying to perpetrate Amendment 1 as a tax savings for individuals, when the truth is really that the only people who are going to benefit by this are the realtors, the builders and a lot of high-end out-of-state homeowners. It is not going to be the citizens of Florida.”

IAFF 12th District Vice President Larry Osborne, Jacksonville, FL Local 122 President Randy Wyse, and Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton also attended the event at Engine 122 outside Jacksonville’s City Hall. Peyton, who was powered into office solely by fire fighters from Local 122 in 2003 and re-elected in 2007, was the first local government leader statewide to openly attack the plan in support of local fire fighters.

“This is a bad policy,” said Peyton. “It violates home rule, it punishes good cities like Jacksonville which have been good stewards of tax dollars year after year after year, and it exacerbates the existing inequities in the system by favoring out-of-town homeowners and diminishes the levels of public safety.”

Leading the fight against Amendment 1 is the Florida Professional Firefighters (FPF), led by President Bob Carver. The FPF has committed more than $300,000 to the effort to defeat the referendum. The FPF has also joined forces with allies including the teachers union and the AFL-CIO. Unlikely allies also include the Florida League of Cities and many of Florida’s mayors who have followed Peyton’s lead on the issue.

Carver and his 11 district vice presidents throughout Florida have taken the fight to the streets, going door to door in a massive grassroots campaign aimed at educating the voters on the amendment at hand. The IAFF has assisted by providing robo-calls and a mailer to urge voters to strike down the amendment.

The latest polls indicate a favorability rating of 51 percent for the amendment. Florida election laws require that amendments to the state constitution, such as Amendment 1, receive 60 percent to become law.

Voters go to the polls to vote on Amendment 1 during the state’s presidential primary on Tuesday, January 29.