Bahnken Given 4th Term At '2507' Wheel

By ARI PAUL

Running unopposed, Patrick J. Bahnken has been re-elected to a fourth three-year term as president of District Council 37 Local 2507, which represents Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics.

PATRICK J. BAHNKEN: Seeking pension equity.

Also re-elected without opposition were Vice President Israel Miranda and Recording Secretary Donald Faeth.

'A Team Effort'

"I'm very humbled that the members support me," Mr. Bahnken said. "The rank and file recognize that this is a team effort and I am only as effective as the team that's with me."

He said the biggest issue as president in the next term will be settling a contract for EMTs and Paramedics that increases wages significantly, either through arbitration or negotiations.

"We are still aggressively pursuing pension equity," Mr. Bahnken said. "That's something we have been fighting for."

While the top leadership of the union ran unopposed, one of Mr. Bahnken's allies on the union's executive board, EMT Oren Barzilay, is being challenged, the president said. The ballots for that election will be sent out at the beginning of April.

Mr. Bahnken expressed confidence in Mr. Barzilay's leadership abilities.

"The union is simply a corporation," he said. "We serve at the pleasure of the shareholders, and that is the rank and file."