Why Firefighters Are Getting Raises When the City Is Doing Layoffs
City Council is meeting today to debate amendments to the mayor’s proposed budget for 2026, and it could get spicy! Because Mayor Mike Johnston been facing a lot of criticism for the way he’s handled the city’s $250 million shortfall lately. He laid off workers. He asked every department to look for cuts. Clerk and Recorder Paul López even said the mayor’s proposed cuts represent ”a threat to democracy.” And as López and other critics have pointed out, the mayor did not ask police or firefighters to delay raises. Producer Paul Karolyi gets the rare chance to hear directly from the chief of the Denver Fire Department, Desmond Fulton, about why his department’s proposed budget for 2026 is actually increasing and what that has to do with the past few years of political upheaval inside his department.
Paul referenced CBS reporter Brian Maass’s ongoing investigation into Chief Fulton’s comp time scandal, which Brian came on the pod to talk about in March after the firefighters’ 64% no-confidence vote. Maass also reported on the contract negotiations in May that resulted in the firefighters getting 10% raises over the next two years. Paul also mentioned the recent reporting from the Denver Post on how the city’s elevator permitting process is letting some broken elevators slip through the cracks.
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