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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Ottumwa Police Chief Jim Clark is now the city's first Public Safety Director.

On Tuesday, the Ottumwa City Council took part in a heated debate over whether Chief Clark should be the person appointed to the six-month job. He was approved by a vote of 3 to 2.

Chief Clark said last October, at a meeting of the Iowa League of Cities, he learned that contribution rates to the 411 Pension System, that Firefighters and Police Officers pay into, would increase from 17 percent to 38.5 percent within five years because of economic factors.

And he said that means the City of Bridges will need to come up with $2.5 million.

"There are four things we can do: we can decrease spending, increase revenue, combination of both, or nothing. And I don't believe doing nothing is a viable option at this point," Chief Clark said. "We have to do something if we're going to retain the services we currently have. And that means we really need a combination of increased revenue and reducing expenditures."

Chief Clark stated that this issue with the budget cannot be put off like other projects have.

"We did that with the sewer separation and you see where we are with that. They were told back in the 70s when that law passed, you need to change. No one did. No one took it serious. They kept saying we'll put it off, we'll do it later. Well we have this issue now," Chief Clark said.

Pat Short is the President of the Ottumwa Association of Professional Firefighters, Local 395.

He expresses disagreement with the decision to create a new addition to the city staff during these tough economic times...especially when there are vacancies within the Fire Department.

"I think it was wrong to have it brought forth period. Putting a new management position in a year when you already admitted there's financial restraint, you're going to have trouble with the issues that you have at hand. To implement a new position, costing the city that much more money when you haven't filled the other positions, is, I think, poor management," Short said.

"Are there some bad things coming up in the future? Well the economy has showed that. But I think we can all work together, but if you want to keep on implementing new positions, costing more money, it makes it a whole lot harder," Short said.

Perhaps a sign of unity on Thursday evening: Chief Clark and Local 395 met to discuss the issue. Each organization has pledged to work together to find a solution to the budget crisis.