By Jonathan Graham
Sentinel & Enterprise
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Mid-States Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
FITCHBURG, Mass. — The fire and police departments will have a much reduced presence in the city because of cuts proposed in Mayor Dan H. Mylott’s budget, the departments’ chiefs said Wednesday.
“We’re just definitely not going to have the same presence that we had, that we’ve been able to roll out the last three months,” Police Chief Edward Cronin said.
The police department is losing nine officers, six of whom started at the police department in February after months of training.
Cronin estimated the department had invested about $100,000 in salary and training into each new officer, whose departures he called “incredibly disappointing.”
Mylott said he hadn’t expected he would need to lay off the police officers when he hired them, and that he hopes he can rehire the officers in the future.
Cronin said the cuts will affect things such as foot patrols, which would not be eliminated but would be much reduced.
"(The budget) allows us to provide the core services,” Cronin said.
Fire Chief Kevin Roy said Wednesday that the department’s staffing levels are low enough to present a danger to the city.
“We are getting so far below what we say we need, and what the standards call for,” he said, citing the expected loss of nine positions.
He noted there have been 12 fire-related deaths in the last 12 years, mostly in multi-family homes.
“That tells you we’re not handling those very well, and we’re getting to the point where we might not be able to even handle a single-family home,” Roy said.
The police department is losing $95,232 from what was allocated in 2007, while the fire department will lose $304,846 compared to 2007.
Mylott still needs to cut a further $760,000 from his budget after city councilors rejected his trash pickup fee proposal this week. Before those cuts, the fire and police departments were expected to receive about $6 million and $7.7 million, respectively.
But even if the budget levels stay similar from year to year, contractual annual personnel raises give the departments less financial room to maneuver, the chiefs said.
Mylott said he understood the cuts are difficult, but that he tried to avoid cutting the public safety services by approaching them last.
“We tried to minimize it as much as possible,” Mylott said.
But he said neither the police nor fire department could afford any more cuts.
Three fire lieutenants will be reduced to just regular firefighters, and another five firefighters will be laid off under the proposed budget, Roy said.
An empty lieutenant position will not be filled as well, Roy said.
This will leave 14 firefighters on each shift where there are 16 firefighters now, he said.
One of the department’s four engine trucks will be taken out of service, Roy said.
Roy said the city should have a minimum of 17 firefighters on each shift to handle a single-family house fire. Having 22 firefighters would allow the department to take on larger structure fires, Roy said.
Mutual aid from other cities and towns will help with those shortfalls, but that can delay the response, Roy said.
The department already lost nine positions when the budget was cut in 2003, Roy said.
“That’s 18 positions in four years. That’s a lot, especially for a public safety agency,” Roy said.
Mylott is encouraging Roy to resurrect the department’s ambulance service as a way for the department to make additional money.
Roy estimated he would be able to keep the five firefighters he is losing while making an additional $200,000 in profit with an ambulance service.
The police department’s budget also removes the animal control officer’s $36,123 position along with that position’s $20,000 budget.
Mylott said Wednesday he did not know what the city will do about animal control, but that he needs to discuss it with the Board of Health and the police department.
The police budget includes $125,000 for new police cruisers, which Cronin said he needs to get this year.
The Department of Public Works faced less cuts than the police and fire departments, but Commissioner Denis Meunier said residents will probably notice a reduction in services.
“We will have to prioritize our jobs, and it will impact our ability to maintain city streets and parks and cemeteries,” Meunier said. “We will do the best we can.”
Meunier said there will be an increased focus on day-to-day problems, and less on long-term projects.