More than 150 people came to Monday’s City Council meeting to offer a rebuttal to the city’s recent mailing about the Public Safety Officer program.
People in red shirts signifying opposition to PSO program filled City Hall. Council chambers could not hold the crowd, which overflowed into nearby rooms.
Members of the group “Stand Up for Safety, Cedar Falls” organized the turnout and have been distributing signs, shirts and stickers calling for the city to hire more firefighters and seeking a public forum with city officials on the issue.
A recent “special edition” of the city newsletter Currents was dedicated to defending the PSO program and included data on the cost of firefighting that angered many PSO opponents.
During the meeting 21 people spoke about the PSO program, some for it, most against it. Several were rural Cedar Falls residents, who live outside city limits.