Union urges study commission to keep fire director in charter; working group seeks budget data

Dec 16, 2025

At the Dec. 15 study-commission meeting, Local 96 urged commissioners not to replace the charter's director of fire services with a 'fire coordinator' and cited an ESCI study recommending three staff in inspections/investigations; the fire working group asked the fire director and volunteer chiefs for four years of budget detail to inform charter recommendations.

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John Bridal, president of IFF Local 96, used public comment time to oppose a proposed charter change that would replace a "director of fire services" with a "fire coordinator." "It is our understanding that the replacement of the director of fire services with a fire coordinator was suggested to bring forward to a vote of the citizens of Butte Silver Bow in 2026," Bridal said. He pointed to a 1996 ballot in which citizens removed a 'fire coordinator' role and warned the commission not to "go backwards."

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