Sioux City councilors spent the bulk of their meeting debating a memorandum of understanding for firefighter certification pay and a proposal to create an EMS training officer position meant to address recruitment and pay parity within the department.

Neil Paulson, president of Local 7 Firefighters Association, told the council the union signed a tentative agreement on the understanding pay would be handled one way, then discovered "it wasn't what we thought we had negotiated" when the full document arrived. He urged the council to review the MOU publicly and to ensure the final wording matched the parties' understanding.

Finance Director Tricia Fitch said staff’s original goal was to "clean up the salary schedules" so the city would not maintain multiple pay schedules for similar roles. Fitch explained the city budgeted for the current calculation and that, during negotiations, an "ad pay" approach would have changed how overtime and deferred‑compensation calculations applied.

Fire Chief Ryan Collins described recruitment difficulties tied to the existing job classification. Collins said the department "can't find anybody that would fill that position because they're gonna take a significant pay cut," and described how the lead medic positions were historically lumped under a single job description even though some worked substantially more hours and earned overtime, creating pay inequities.

Staff presented two alternatives: (1) create a dedicated EMS training officer within the EMS division to meet state continuing‑education standards, or (2) reclassify a deputy training officer as a firefighter position that includes EMS duties and could be filled immediately from the promotional list. Staff said the deputy‑role option would increase recurring costs by about $22,000 annually but could offset some overtime expenses; staff estimated roughly $10,000 in live‑fire overtime that a dedicated position might reduce.

Human Resources Director Janelle Bertrand asked for due process if council deferred the item, saying, "If we defer this, I think it's only fair that we give the AFSCME ... union representative an opportunity to come to present information as well." Bertrand and staff discussed drafting an alternate resolution or attaching an alternative to the council report so members could swap in the preferred language when the item returned.

Rather than vote on the resolution, a councilmember moved to pull item 8c and bring it back next week with both alternatives drafted and with an opportunity for union and AFSCME representatives to present. That motion was seconded; council discussion ended with direction to staff to prepare both options and associated cost implications. No final vote on adopting the position or the MOU was recorded at the meeting.

What happens next: The council directed staff to return item 8c with both alternatives and supporting documentation; the position and any associated budget changes will be considered later in the operating budget process.