Earlier this year, the Memphis Fire Fighters Association and the city got into a legal debate, which led to the association suing the city for allegedly going back on a promised 5% raise.
In October, Mayor Paul Young announced the 2% raise, but that was denied by the council.
During Tuesday’s discussion, Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton compared the request to “raping the city.”
“We keep doing business with the same people and the same players sitting in the same seats doing the same thing, all the time,” Cooper-Sutton said. “Everybody just wants, wants... to rape this city. The same players, the same faces come here and you rape, and you rape, and you take and you take and you take from this city.”
“...Y’all gotta come differently next year. Because you’re coming back next year. You’re coming back for some more money.”
In a statement released Wednesday, the Memphis Fire Fighters Association condemned that language, saying that the comparison was “shameful, reckless and unethical.”
You can read their full statement below:
“She called every firefighter in this city a rapist. There’s no two ways about it,” said Thomas Malone, Memphis Fire Fighters Association president. “I know she might have misspoke, but what she said was, in fact, a slap in the face to every person in this fire department.”
Malone said while the council continues to debate raises, more Memphis firefighters are leaving the department for higher-paying jobs with smaller workloads.
“When people walk out the door, they’re walking out with taxpayer dollars, and we’re having to pay to train more people,” he said. “They’re constantly, constantly spending our tax dollars bringing people in, instead of spending our tax dollars keeping them here.”
Cooper-Sutton issued a statement on the matter on Wednesday afternoon:
Memphis City Councilwoman and Chairwoman-Elect Jana Swearengen-Washington also issued a statement condemning the remarks made at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
