Council Cuts Budget
posted 11:09 pm Mon May 12, 2008 - Roanoke, VA
reporter:
Amber Davison
posted by:
Webteam
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City Council members made it official Monday: they approved a budget that means a lot of cuts for the Roanoke Fire & EMS Department. The city has asked all city departments to scale back, but police and fire had the biggest cuts since they have two of the biggest budgets.
The Roanoke Firefighters Association is unhappy with the proposal their chief put together, and members were at today's council meeting to show their disapproval.
Rodney Jordan, Roanoke City (web) Firefighter - "We're here and we're here for one reason only, if they're going to jeopardize our lives and safety, if they're going to jeopardize the public's lives and safety, then we want them to look us in the eyes when they do it."
Much like the way they report to a fire call, 40 of Roanoke's finest arrive ready for a fight. Though they have a pretty good idea it's not one they can win.
Jordan - "They're going to vote to go ahead with this budget as is."
They were right.
"Vice Mayor Trinkle? Eye. Mr. Fitzpatrick? Eye. Ms. Mason? Eye. Mr. Nash? Eye. And Mayor Harris? Eye."
And just like that -- it's over.
Dr. David Trinkle, Roanoke Vice Mayor - "This was probably the most difficult part of the budget. Absolutely."
Vice Mayor Trinkle says council discussed this part of the budget the longest during their work session...asking Fire Chief David Hoback repeatedly about the concerns of his firefighters.
Trinkle - "He reassured us numerous times that this would not impact public safety."
Firefighters tell me they're already short-staffed now. And they say an example of this was last week when they were called here to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for an elevator fire. Several crews responded, in addition to the several calls that were going on else where in the city, that left only one truck to cover the entire city of Roanoke.
Jordan - "The harsh reality is we don't have calls that just happen one at a time. If we did, we would be fine."
But despite the concerns, council feels confident their budget is a good one. No one with the fire department is going to lose his or her job. One engine will be taken out of service, and, of the six uniform positions that will be cut, five are already vacant.
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