ATLANTA --
More job cuts in the city of Atlanta were announced Friday. The mayor said she is cutting another 190 positions and shes closing a fire station in southwest Atlanta. The mayor is blaming the city council and one councilman is calling the mayor vindictive.
It is with deep sadness that I make these cuts, said Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
Franklin announced Friday that she will cut 190 city jobs 78 of them filled and 112 vacant. Four-point-seven-million in cuts is going to the Atlanta Fire Department. The west ends Fire Station Number Seven closes Monday.
Station sevens firefighters will move to other areas of the city and some will be demoted. Thirty-four firefighters that are now in training will lose their jobs.
The cuts are going to hurt the service of the fire department, said Stephen Hill with the Firefighters Union.
Overtime pay for firefighters is also gone.
They will have reduction in their overall income anywhere from $5,000 to $9,000, said Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran.
The mayor is laying the blame at the feet of the city council. Two weeks ago the council refused to pass the mayors proposed property tax increase.
I did not agree with the councils action. I still do not agree with it but I am bound by my office and my authority to implement them, said Franklin.
The mayors cuts go above and beyond what the council recommended. Besides the cuts to the fire department, more than 50 vacant positions in the Atlanta Police Department will go unfilled.
This is very vindictive, said Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin. It just seems to be a demonstration of power.
Martin and council president Lisa Borders said the mayor ignored the councils advice to make cuts in areas that would no affect public safety on the street.
To indicate that the council mandated personnel cuts specifically in public safety is disingenuous, said Borders.
The fire chief told Channel 2 College Park has 20 vacant spots and is already talking to some of those Atlanta recruits. DeKalb County also said it will set up a job and recruitment fair.
