Connecticut Mayor Announces Firefighter Layoffs

May 18, 2012
Twenty-five members of the New London Fire Department will be issued layoff notices in June.

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Twenty-five members of the fire department and 10 police department employees will be issued layoff notices in June, according to a written release from the mayor's office.

"The city must tonight announce multiple lay-offs in the Police and Fire Departments to meet budget constraints," Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio said.

Notices will go out on June 1, he said.

"It is unfortunate that balancing the budget requires this drastic action," Fire Chief Ron Samul said of the budget. "We have looked for reductions in every area where savings could be found. We simply ran out of other options."

City police asked for 12 additional officers last year; the department has 11 vacant positions.

"These additional staffing reductions are particularly painful, but the police department will do all we can under current fiscal levels to provide the city with the public safety services required," Police Chief Margaret Ackley said.

Copyright 2012 - The Hartford Courant, Conn.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

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