Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
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City council members approved 9-1 an ordinance ratifying a collective bargaining agreement with Firefighters Local 37, but not before the issue of legal use of cannabis was addressed publicly.
Beth Rogers of Springfield, who in the past spoke out against the city’s opting-in for cannabis dispensaries, said firefighters’ use of recreational marijuana was “a public safety issue.”
Corporation counsel James Zerkle said it was a negotiated term of the agreement.
A provision in that agreement, Zerkle said, states that firefighters “may not be under the influence or otherwise be under the effect of that legal product on duty or while performing any services.”
Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, who voted “no,” said the agreement moved the city into “dangerous territory.”
Because council members can’t negotiate contracts, they only had the options of rejecting or accepting the agreement as a whole.
Support for Ukraine
With all 10 members as sponsors, the city council passed a resolution in support of Ukraine against the Russian invasion three weeks ago.
The city “stands with the Ukrainian people and the mayors of Ukraine in defense of their sovereign nation, its democratic values, their freedom and their very lives.”
The city “will take all possible actions…to support the nation’s leadership in bringing awareness to their plight and an end to the Russian government’s violent assault on the people and leadership of Ukraine.”
Mayor Jim Langfelder, sporting a lapel with the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, said the invasion is “a heart-wrenching, tragic situation.”
“You would hope the takeover of another country, especially a democratic one, would not be recreated in history, but that’s what’s going on before our eyes,” he said.
Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, Ukraine, who was allegedly kidnapped by armed Russian soldiers Friday, was part of the U.S.–Ukraine Foundation Open World Delegation that visited Springfield in February 2018.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 