Why on God’s Green Earth would the HFD Firefighters support Dwight Boykins?

I’d imagine most Big Jolly readers, and voters, along with the opinion of Mr. Jennings via twitter were not in favor of the Houston Professional Firefighters early and outward support for Councilman Dwight Boykins.

Every article I have had the privilege of getting posted in Big Jolly reflects the same core values. Firefighters are shocked when confronted with disloyalty, and will fight against those that prove themselves disloyal. From the decimation of our pension, and promised benefits for the 125th highest paid department in the country, to the current push by Sylvestor Turner to demote 450 members of our department who have tested up and are making life or death decisions when it is your family member.

Supporting Dwight Boykins is natural to us because loyalty is all we have in our profession. When you find yourself inside someones burning house, almost every time you cannot see. You are a liar if you say that it does not scare you a bit. But, you will always have someone there with you. Firefighters follow a rule called 2 in, 2 out. You do everything in your power to stay with the man next to you. If you separate, a lot of times you die.

If you die, its firefighters that raise your family from the depths of tragedy. We take care of our own. They will send your children to college, walk your daughter down the aisle at her wedding, attend your son’s sports events. We do this job for the citizens, but we do not always expect them to revere us as heroes. We want fair pay and a retirement. Everything else is an added bonus.

Councilman Boykins has stood beside us through the depths of tragedy. At firefighter funerals, riding with us daily at stations. He took on a rogue vindictive Mayor that has bankrolled our tax revenue in Houston to spend where he deems necessary. This is a man who cares less about more homes flooding, or the possibility it can happen again, picking up your trash, fixing infrastructure, and providing core city services. Almost every deal he has done involves a family member or friend taking our money, and fighting anything he opposes, even if it was voted in by a larger margin that the vote that elected him.

Houston Firefighters are Bipartisan. We crossed the aisle to get a firefighter cancer bill, SB 2551, passed this state legislative session. A majority of support came from the right.

If you know a Houston Firefighter, you may know his political views, many including myself are conservative. Candidates King and Buzbee will undoubtedly receive voting support from some of us who are Houston voters. I HOPE everyone here votes. and if you are drawn to either of those candidates, I like many other firefighters support the decision you will make for yourself and your family. Both of these candidates support Firefighters and we will have a good relationship with either one. I like both of their platforms. One thing that ALL who read this must realize is that if you support either of these candidates you MUST vote in this election. I am not just talking about firefighter issues, but I can say convincingly that i cannot imagine the financial ruin, increase in taxes, and further ruin of our core city services under this current mayor. 15 years as a city employee and 37 as a resident of Houston, I have never seen it this bad.

Our support for Councilman Boykins comes from a proven track record of both promised and backed up support for us and our families. He is running a campaign on the priorities of 1) Public Safety and 2) Infrastructure over vested personal interests like Sylvester Turner. He has stood by us during our darkest days, and more so day to day. We owe him support because, like it is when you find yourself in the middle of a House Fire, the person who has stood next to you is all you have. This is not intended to sway anyone here, this is just the facts. Houston firefighters support the will of you, the voter. I hope all of you vote for your favorite candidate, and recognize the consequences of 4 more years of this current mayor.

(Editor’s note: the writer of this post did not want his/her name published. We have verified that this person is a captain in the fire department.)

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