WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Fire and Police Relations Act was officially adopted by the Wichita Falls City Council this week.

The adoption marked the first step toward opening up negotiations with the local firefighters’ union, where the president of our area firefighters' association said it’s been years in the making.

“This is a great deal. The citizens of Wichita Falls sent an overwhelming message with a vote of over 74% that they wanted these things to happen for the fire department. The city council and city management under McKechnie’s leadership is moving forward in a really positive fashion, “Wichita Falls Professional Firefighter Association president, Al Vitolo said.

This comes after voters approved Wichita Falls Propositions 1 and 2 back in the 2024 November Election, granting firefighters collective bargaining rights and the option for arbitration if they are unable to agree.

On a personal level, Vitolo is grateful that the move helps his team obtain things that citizens already thought they had.

“We’ve talked about it from the beginning. We want a fair wage. We want a concrete step plan. We want cancer screening. We want a job physical. We want more staff. And the citizens have said unequivocally, those are things that they want for us, “Vitolo said.

He believes this will increase recruitment and retention for first responders.

“I think what we’re doing now is making sure both sides are in our collective bar and lets everybody have a fair seat at the table and have a voice. I think the city is integrated. They want to work with us. We want to be reasonable and have a thing. The message that the citizens sent through this election was clear, fix the problems that we’ve discussed. I think we’re on a really great positive path, “Vitolo said.

The city is aiming to enter into the negotiation process by April 1, 2025.

Once those negotiations are complete, the city council plans to factor the process into next year’s budget.