Mayor Preston Gondola confirmed Monday that Cinniapolis will indefinitely defer pension payments owed to former Cinniapolis Fire Protection Services (CFPS) firefighters who transferred to the Walesburg Fire Department, citing an old municipal law affecting the eligibility of city employees who abandon their positions.
The announcement follows weeks of questions surrounding pension accounts belonging to former CFPS personnel, many of whom have continued to seek payment of retirement benefits they say were earned during their years of service to Cinniapolis. Mr. Gondola said the city is not refusing to honor legitimate obligations but has a responsibility to investigate whether the circumstances surrounding the firefighters’ departures trigger provisions of an existing municipal law.
According to the Mayor, the law, which predates the city’s recent transition to automated firefighting, addresses the treatment of employees who voluntarily abandon their municipal positions before the completion of their contractual employment obligations. The City Council has been tasked with review of the statute to determine whether it applies to the former CFPS personnel. After the review is complete, they will establish whether frozen pension payments should be released at a later date or entirely forfeited. There is no stated timeline for a target completion of this review.
Mr. Gondola defended the decision as a matter of fiscal responsibility, arguing that the city cannot distribute public funds simply because former employees claim they are entitled to them. “We have a responsibility to every resident who pays taxes in this city,” Gondola said. “These are not abstract dollars sitting in an account somewhere. They belong to the people of Cinniapolis. Before we begin issuing payments, we need to know whether the law permits us to do so. Our responsibility is to our citizens, not to the defectors.”
The Mayor was particularly critical of the suggestion that the city should immediately release pension funds while the legal question remains unresolved. He argued that Cinniapolitans should not be expected to absorb additional financial obligations without a complete review of the circumstances.
“If an employee decides to leave their position and accept employment in another municipality, there are measures that need to be considered,” Gondola said. “We cannot simply ignore the law because it is old. The taxpayers of Cinniapolis should not be asked to financially support people who chose to leave Cinniapolis.”
Former CFPS firefighters have responded with incredulity, arguing that the Mayor’s explanation does little to address that the pension benefits were earned during their employment in Cinniapolis. Several former firefighters interviewed by the Chorus said they were never informed that accepting employment with Walesburg would jeopardize their retirement benefits. They also questioned how the city could characterize their departure as abandonment when Cinniapolis had already voted to discontinue the CFPS contract and replace its human firefighting operation with an automated fleet.
“We didn’t abandon anything,” said one former CFPS firefighter now employed by Walesburg. “The city decided it didn’t want a human-driven fire department anymore. They abandoned us and replaced us with drones. We found jobs where our experience was still needed. Now they’re telling us that because they chose to replace us and then we went to work somewhere else, we might not get the pension we earned. It’s the lowest of lows.”
The dispute traces back to the summer of 2024, when CFPS and the City Council reached a restructured agreement that included improved compensation, expanded healthcare coverage, and increased pension contributions. At the time, the agreement was presented as an important step toward preserving the city’s fire protection services.
That arrangement ultimately became unnecessary after the City Council voted not to renew the CFPS contract beyond December 31, 2025. Cinniapolis subsequently completed its transition to the EyeSky automated firefighting fleet, while many former CFPS employees accepted positions with Walesburg.
Mr. Gondola said the circumstances surrounding the transition make the current pension review more complicated than a routine retirement disbursement. He noted that the city must determine whether the old employment statute applies to personnel who left their positions as part of the broader restructuring of municipal fire protection.
Mr. Gondola also has not indicated when deferred payments might resume. He did, however, insist that the administration would not be pressured into releasing funds before the review is complete. “People can call it withholding if they want,” Gondola said. “I call it the ultimate fiscal responsibility. It takes incredible courage and bravery to enforce the law. No one is above the law, and it would be tantamount to theft to continue to spend our tax dollars on outsiders. We respect them and their service but Cinniapolis isn’t their personal piggy bank.”
Walesburg officials have continued to support the former CFPS personnel, maintaining that the firefighters should not lose benefits earned during their service to Cinniapolis. Although, the neighboring municipality has not indicated that it intends to assume responsibility for the disputed payments and has again asked Cinniapolis to resume pension payments as soon as possible.
