Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun was the first to report about a Buy Local campaign organized by the Chamber of Greater Springfield and members of the UAW Local 402. The paper has also provided extensive coverage of Navistar’s recent investments in its Springfield facility and the plant’s impact on the region’s economy.
By the numbers:
$20,000 — Amount Springfield Twp. trustees say they saved by buying a Dodge ambulance
1,500 — Approximate number of workers at Navistar’s Clark County plant
$447,000 — Cost of Sutphen firetruck
More than 60 people, many of them current Navistar workers and retirees, crowded into the Springfield Twp. office this week to argue against a controversial decision by the trustees to purchase a Dodge ambulance produced in Mexico.
The dispute stems from a 2-to-1 vote earlier this month in which the trustees voted to purchase a Dodge ambulance as opposed to a Navistar unit produced in Clark County.
Springfield Twp. firefighters recommended the Dodge because it included a four-wheel drive option the Navistar version didn’t offer, and because, at about $266,200, it was roughly $23,000 cheaper.
Opponents argued the four-wheel drive option wasn’t necessary and an automatic tire chain system would be less costly.
Two of the trustees who approved the decision said they stood by the recommendation of the township’s fire department, and wanted to save taxpayer money. But opponents argued the money should be spent on a vehicle produced locally.
Trustees Jim Scoby and Dean Wells voted to buy the Dodge, while Trustee Tim Foley voted no because it wasn’t a Navistar ambulance.
“You let Navistar get out of here and you’ll be scrambling for money because you’ll see house values go down,” said Paul Smith in support of Navistar.
But Wells said he based his vote on the firefighters’ recommendation and because he couldn’t justify spending an additional $23,000 in taxpayer money for a Navistar ambulance.
“I don’t in good conscience feel that I can do that,” Wells said.
The dispute stretches back to last fall, when township officials voted to purchase a Sutphen fire truck for roughly $447,000. After talking to the UAW, the trustees voted to buy the truck body from Sutphen, but use a Navistar chassis to spread the benefits to both companies. Sutphen is based in Amlin, Ohio, and employs several workers at a facility on County Line Road in Clark County.
Jason Barlow, president of Navistar’s UAW Local 402, argued firefighters weren’t happy with the Sutphen agreement, and pushed for the trustees to buy the Dodge ambulance in retaliation.
“I believe in safety, too, but I also believe in American workers,” Barlow said.
But firefighters argued neither the fire truck nor the ambulance options offered by Navistar met the specifications they needed as well as the Sutphen and Dodge options, respectively.
Barlow, A Springfield Twp. resident, countered he spoke to other area townships and said the four-wheel drive option isn’t necessary. He also argued the township has purchased another ambulance and a brush truck in recent years that were made in Mexico, and said he doesn’t believe township tax dollars should support products being produced outside the U.S.
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