City Of FDL Public Safety Items To Be Placed On Ballot Next April

It will now be up to the residents of the city of Fond du Lac next April 6, 2021, as to whether the City will gain approval to exceed the levy limit. Exceeding the limit would be required to add six additional full-time Firefighter/Paramedics and six additional full-time Police Officers. Fond du Lac Fire/Chief Peter O’Leary told Council Wednesday night, that the Fire/Rescue is staffed at roughly 17 members per day, with a max of 20 per day. Those members operate three fire engines, three ambulances, and a ladder truck. And with the number of calls per day increasing, additional staff and equipment is needed to ensure all areas of the city are covered appropriately.

The Fond du Lac Police Department would be adding six additional officers, which would ideally eliminate the need to rely so heavily on overtime hours from current officers to fill those gaps. There was a fair amount of discussion regarding the resolution, with Council member Dan Degner saying he would be voting against the referendum, as he found it not fiscally responsible to add six more officers, while the department currently has seven positions unfilled.

Council passed the resolution on a 5-2 vote, with Degner and Councilmember Donna Richards voting against. The referendum question will now be placed on the ballot for a public vote next April 6.