So much at City Council this morning, starting with Carole Keeton Strayhorn. The irascible candidate held a press conference outside City Hall this morning, and, while it didn’t approach the performance art of her recent library presser (good, because the Hustle’s cameras weren’t there), it allowed her to further hammer away at the budget and its proposed cuts: this time, the city manager’s decision to postpone the police cadet class six months, which will have “a major impact on public safety.” She also questioned overtime reduction at APD, saying the police department has “more than done its fair share.” When the Hustle pointed out the overtime cuts were made by Art Acevedo, and questioned if she was doubting his decision-making, she replied she had “absolute confidence in the chief,” but that he’d been “put in an untenable position” by the council, who apparently doesn’t get it.
Inside, later, those same budget cuts: pro-library pressure worked, as Marc Ott announced that due to staffing and hiring changes there (holding jobs open and/or filling them with temp employees), the proposed 9.5 hour reduction of each branch’s operating hours was getting canned. Savings offsetting the decision came from a $200,000 cut to the fire department’s overtime costs; fire had no reductions in the preliminary budget projections.
Disaster averted, although Ott was careful to note the library’s was “not a permanent solution,” and not immune from future reductions.
(A note: many of these developments were noted live on Twitter – if you aren’t yet, follow along at http://twitter.com/CityHallHustle.)
This article appears in February 20 • 2009.