06/24/2026
The money was allocated. The resolution passed. Now the administration has to act.
At the June 11 Kenner City Council meeting, the Council unanimously approved a larger budget amendment that included $250,000 in additional funding for Kenner Fire Department personnel, along with other funding items in the amendment.
The Council also passed Resolution No. B-17517, supporting the reinstatement of the long-standing two 2% raises for all members of the Kenner Fire Department and requesting current information on the status of the Firemen’s Cancer Screening Program.
All but 2 councilmembers voted in support for this resolution- this distinction matters.
Voting for the budget amendment made funding available. But Resolution B-17517 was the Council’s specific request to use those funds to reinstate the long-standing 2% raises for Kenner firefighters. That resolution passed, but Councilmembers Branigan and Brennan voted against it.
According to the NOLA.com article, Mayor Michael Glaser stated: “Unless the administration moves on it, that money is going to sit there and collect dust.” He also referred to the resolution as a “feel-good political commitment.”
KFFA strongly disagrees. There is nothing “feel-good” about trying to retain experienced firefighters. There is nothing political about restoring long-standing pay protections, and there is nothing symbolic about requesting transparency on cancer screening protections for firefighters. Kenner firefighters should not have long-standing raises held hostage because they exercised their legal rights, and the City should not use unresolved litigation as a reason to delay action on firefighter retention. The lawsuit should be handled through the legal process. The need to retain experienced firefighters, protect career pay, and address public safety should not be put on hold while allocated funding sits unused.
The current pay plan may have increased starting pay, but it also reduced long-standing cost-of-living and longevity protections that helped firefighters build a career in Kenner. A pay plan can raise starting pay and still hurt long-term retention.
The Council has done their part in identifying the money and passing the resolution, so now the public deserves to know whether the administration will use those funds to support the firefighters who protect this city — or whether that money will, in the Mayor’s own words, “sit there and collect dust.”
