WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- The contract battle between the City of Watertown and its firefighters has emerged this election season, as the three candidates vying for the two open council seats have used the issue as a campaign platform.

The city fire department's current contract calls for at least 15 people to respond to any call.

"You can't schedule emergencies. You don't say everybody be at the station on Thursday, there is going to be a fire," said Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association President Daniel Daughtery.

City Councilor Stephen Jennings, who was eliminated from the ballot during September's primary but is now running a write-in campaign, is looking for change, suggesting a call-in system.

"You look at other cities like Oswego, Jamestown, Saratoga, they have fully-paid forces and they don't have manning clauses in the contract," said Jennings.

"There is a lot of waste in that department and we need to get it under control. The people of this community cannot afford for their taxes to go up," said incumbent Teresa Macaluso.

The union says, this is about more than money.

"It would be unsafe for the firefighters. It would definitely affect the populace not only through their safety but also through their tax dollars," said Daughtery.

It's hard to tell what impact it could have on public safety.

"Until a contract is settled, we're not going to be able to tell what the service levels are in the future," said Watertown Fire Department Chief Dale Herman. "Currently, right now, by being able to maintain personnel and maintain the apparatus we're staffing, there's been no drastic change in the public receiving the service."

City firefighters will remain without a contract until arbitration between the city and the union is complete. After that arbitration is settled, they are back in negotiations for the next contract.