WARREN — City council on Wednesday rejected a fact-finder’s report aimed at resolving a contract with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 204.

Council members went into an executive section and took no immediate action following the rejection of the 28-page report and declined to comment afterward because of the pending negotiations.

The fact-finder’s recommendation states the union sought a 5.59% equity adjustment effective Jan. 1 2026, followed by a 5% general wage increase over the term of the contract.

In its arguments, the union discussed lagging compensation for Warren firefighters.

The report states that firefighters received cumulative wage increases of about 21.5% between 2010 and 2025 compared with cumulative cost-of-living adjustments of approximately 39.6% over the same span.

The union also cited data from the State Employment Relations Board showing lower cumulative increases for Warren firefighters than for other Ohio municipal employees, other firefighter units statewide and the city’s own police bargaining unit.

REDISTRICTING

In other business, council advanced redistricting legislation to a second reading, approving new ward boundaries intended to bring the city into compliance with population equality standards.

The proposed maps show the following populations:

• Ward 1 — 5,662

• Ward 2 — 5,502

• Ward 3 — 5,890

• Ward 4 — 5,354

• Ward 5– 5,583

• Ward 6 — 5,356

• Ward 7 — 5,854

The city was last redistricted in 1991 and had reached a 41% deviation between the most and least populous wards, which is well above the typical 10% threshold.

Trevor Martin, program coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said the issue came to light during research on wards across the state.

“It’s all about representation,” Martin said. “The League of Women Voters believes voters come first in everything democratic. This is about council representation, one person one vote, 14th Amendment equal population, so it’s just we need to make sure everyone’s vote counts the same and is equally weighted.”

Martin said that while some cities need only minor street or block adjustments, Warren required more significant shifts because of the long delay.

Ward 6 was highly underpopulated and needed to gain about 1,300 residents so it took voters from Wards 1 and 7.

“You’ll see around the peninsula area…a lot of that will shift toward 6 from wards 1 and 7,” he said.

Ward 3 was overpopulated by about 900 residents. He explained that portions north of Elm Road, including the area with the Giant Eagle Plaza, will shift to Ward 2 while the area west of Laird Avenue near Warren G. Harding High School will move to Ward 4. Some of the Trumbull Homes area also will shift from Ward 5 to Ward 4.

Martin said the process involved public input with meetings in all seven wards, community surveys and multiple map options that were combined into a final proposal.

After the meeting, Councilman Greg Thumm D-at Large, and legislative committee chair where the legislation was drafted, said he believes council has reached collective acceptance.

“I believe that we’ve got a collective acceptance on all counts. We’ve had a couple of spirited conversations that ended up with the concessions just like in a negotiation,” Thumm said. “The wards that needed to be tweaked… you know I use the phrase ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ because you can’t choose. It has to be a border street.”

Thumm said the process focused solely on equalizing population with no political gerrymandering involved, noting Warren’s diverse makeup means shifting a border street provides no advantage to any group.

He added that the vast majority of residents will see no change because only those on bordering streets are affected.

Thumm also said the Peninsula project move from Ward 1 to Ward 6 was a “positive step” for an underserved area with potential ties to future development near Lordstown.