By Phil Fretz5 :43 AM on Monday, Mar. 8, 2010
City Councilman Jack Webb, I keep hearing, says he won't run for reelection if he is unable to get meaningful pension reform passed after he becomes council president this summer.
That isn't exactly true.
Webb tells me that he plans to run, but he isn't going to let the campaign interfere with his duties as council president.
If pushing reforms means he loses, Webb says, he loses.
Let's be honest. The police and fire unions don't want anybody messing with their very lucrative pensions - and it can get pretty messy for those opposing them.
Remember a few months ago, when the police union president announced a boycott of the mayor's family business?
And, because the unions have so much money and manpower, it's hard to win a city election without their support.
Notice I said hard, not impossible. Webb didn't get their endorsement three years ago.
And he won, anyway.
It's a good bet that he won't get it again this time.
Webb's a fighter. That's what this city needs during these tough budget times.
