After nearly a year and a half of negotiations, the city of Santa Maria voted to approve a pay increase for its firefighters.
In a 4-1 vote, the city's council approved the long-awaited pay raise.
The approved agreement is for two and a half years, and firefighters will have a 14% base salary increase. There will also be a one-time payment of $2,000 to every member employed by the city, and improvements to health insurance.
The new package will last through June 25, 2027.
"I'm ecstatic right now," said Santa Maria Fire Department fire captain Matthew Chircop. "This is wonderful."
Chircop is the president of the Santa Maria Firefighters Union Local 2020, who has been leading the charge.
"It's been really tough. A lot of highs and lows," he says. "We started organizing and going public back in December of '23. We believe we weren't being treated fairly, and we decided to vocalize our concern."
Councilmember Carlos Escobeo voted no, and voiced concerns over the cost these changes will have on the already existing $20 million budget deficit.
"Now with this," he said prior to the vote, "we add $1.3 million more."
Chircop says the benefits to the community outweigh that.
"We weren't asking to be the highest paid, we just didn't want to be the lowest paid," he said. "While it was a big lift, it was a fair lift. In 13 years, we've lost close to 37% of all new hires that have come on board, it's been a revolving door. We are thankful that the council and city hall, and everyone, have recognized that."
