Indiana City Proposes Laying Off 22 Firefighters

ANDERSON, Ind. -- According to city controller Sam Pellegrino, 22 Anderson firefighters could be without a job after the city passes its 2013 budget.

Pellegrino was in Madison Circuit Court 6 Tuesday afternoon to testify for the city in its lawsuit against Local 1262, which represents Anderson firefighters.

A contract signed at the end of former mayor Kris Ockomon's administration guaranteed no layoffs from the department through 2014, but Pellegrino said cuts are necessary as the city is facing a $2.8 million deficit.

The city, according to Pellegrino, is also looking at cutting seven police officers.

Pellegrino said costs such as insurance for city employees are going up while revenues such as federal grants, are going down.

While public safety is a priority, Pellegrino said the city would have to completely cut funding for the mayor's office, the city court, city council, and the city clerk in order to keep all its firefighters and police officers employed.

It's not a possibility, but Pellegrino said it illustrates his argument.

Fire chief Phil Rogers testified the department is taking steps to prepare itself for the cuts, which would reduce the department to 104 firefighters.

Rogers also said the department is looking at closing one of its fire stations and possibly eliminating its ambulance service.

Rogers admitted the loss of manpower will slow down the department's response times, but overall he said it will not adversely effect public safety.

"We'll maintain, our firefighters will rise to the occasion as they always have," Rogers said.

Several statements by Pellegrino and Rogers were met with critical remarks from members of the fire department who were in attendance.

Local 1262 President Jon Smith said the cuts will create situations where the department will have to make a difficult choice about which emergency call they respond to first.

Firefighter Drew Hall, who was hired in 2002, testified he would likely be among the cuts, as he does not have seniority. Hall argued that the city would be wasting money it spent training him to become a firefighter.

Carroll said he would not make a decision on the suit Tuesday, as he would need more time to sort through the legal issues. Chief among them is whether the case should go to an arbitrator, which the fire union wants, to determine whether their contract with the city is illegal.

Find Sam Brattain on Facebook and @SamBrattain on Twitter, or call 640-4883.

Copyright 2012 - The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.