SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- A state-controlled financial oversight board agreed Monday to rehire some laid-off Springfield police officers and firefighters.
The unanimous vote came after the control board's executive director warned the city's financial situation might be worse than expected.
Executive Director Philip Pucci, who was hired two weeks ago, called his figures ``very preliminary.'' He provided few details, but estimated that the shortfall in the city's $400 million operating budget might prove to be double the $22 million cited by city officials when they sought state help.
Police Chief Paula Meara called the control board's vote to rehire 47 public safety workers an ``important first step.''
Meara said 17 patrolmen would be rehired along with 17 civilian workers and six police cadets. The board also approved the rehiring of seven laid-off firefighters.
The additional civilian workers and cadets will allow her to free officers, who had been doing dispatch duty, for patrols, she said.
Still, the chief said the additional officers will bring the police force back to only the level after massive layoffs in February 2003. More than 200 city workers, including more than 70 police officers and 35 civilian dispatchers, lost their jobs in the cutbacks.
The city of 160,000 people currently has 377 police officers, down from 547 in 2002.
The five-member control board, established as a condition of a state bailout that could include up to $52 million in no-interest loans for the state's third-largest city, also voted 4-1 to hire Boston lawyer Philip Boyle as a labor consultant at $200 an hour. Boyle recently handled the city of Boston's negotiations with its police, Pucci said.
City Council President Dominic Sarno cast the lone dissenting vote after questioning why the board did not seek proposals from lawyers in the Springfield area. Sarno and Mayor Charles Ryan are the only city representatives on the control board.
Pucci, of Andover, said he also planned to hire consultants to examine the operations of various city departments, including police, fire, tax collections, and payroll. The board also authorized him to seek proposals for a $60,000 contract to monitor time missed from work by police and firefighters because of work related injuries.
