There is an upcoming election on October 3 that is very important to the Memphis Fire and Police Department.  I’m sure if you have read or seen ANY kind of news, you are recognizing this topic.  With all of the rederic going back and forth, it really is simple. Who do you trust?

I trust a man or woman that is going to run into a burning building to save my children.

I trust a man or a woman who has been coughing for years due to the smoke they have been exposed to for me.

I trust a paramedic or firefighter who knows the names of the regulars and tries to help them on the side, only to get the call on Christmas Day that they are frozen to death in the parking lot.

I trust a paramedic who calms a pregnant woman in the back of his or her ambulance while she gives birth before they arrive at the hospital.

I trust a police officer who would come to the aid of an elderly lady being mauled by a pit bull while paramedics try to save her.

Can I give you more? Of course I can. But honestly, I want to know that the fireman that is being called on the other end of that 911 call is more concerned about ME than the fact that when he turns 65 (or has his 25 years in), he will have no benefits.

Plain and simple – if my husband retired today after 25 years, he would have no health insurance.  He has paid in NO Social Security – only Pension.  Now, they have taken the pension away from new hires and given them a hybrid plan.

So, Jon Stewart, I say thank you.  Thank you for what you did for the NYC 911 firefighters, paramedics and police.

City of Memphis, will you stand behind those that serve you or those that make promises under the table? VOTE YES.

Referendum: Local Option Sales Tax
(vote for or against)

Shall the ordinance to increase the sales and use tax in the City of Memphis by 0.5%, from 2.25% to 2.75% become operative?
The proceeds of this 0.5% tax increase shall first be used to restore and maintain the health care benefits for Public Safety employees (employees and pre-65
retirees of the Memphis Police Services and Fire Services Divisions) to the levels in effect as of July 1, 2014, and to restore and maintain the pension benefits of said employees hired prior to July 1, 2016 to the levels specified in the 1978 City of Memphis Pension Plan. Any remaining proceeds shall be used for street maintenance and/or pre-kindergarten education. All funds must be spent for the purposes designated above. These funds are to be used in addition to, and may not be used to replace or supplant, any current funding for the above purposes. Such tax shall be collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. A lawsuit for recovery of any tax illegally assessed or collected shall be brought against the City Treasurer of the City of Memphis.

Kemp Conrad? No. Sir.

One-half cent?

• Will not matter when your husband grabs his chest and his eyes roll back in his head.
• Will not matter when you smell something from the kitchen, hear the smoke alarms, and realize your children are at the other end of the house.
• Will not matter when you receive a call from the MPD that there has been a car accident and your 16-year-old has been involved.
• Will not matter when you see your neighbor’s car being broken into for the second time.
• Will not matter to the mother when her child gets ahold of the gun in the house and shoots his sister.
• Will not matter when they call you from the assisted living and tell you the paramedics have come to take your mother to the hospital because she has been in the bathroom floor for four hours and is bleeding (ask me).
• Will not matter when the ambulance and paramedics arrive at the airport to transport your son to St. Jude for his final week of life.

I would give a million dollars to change that final ride to St. Jude.  I guarantee one-half cent will not matter to the next parent.

Bottom line – We all need the MPD and MFD – so don’t take them for granted!