TONY DORIS
Palm Beach Post
WEST PALM BEACH - A consultant looking for cost-cutting measures says the city could fire 52 firefighters - about a quarter of the department - without compromising safety.
Mayor Lois Frankel was not ready to say Monday whether she would support such a proposal.
"Any options that are presented must be carefully weighed to ensure that the safety of the citizens, businesses and visitors is not diminished," she said.
City commissioners are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Thursday to hear Fire Chief Phil Webb's opinion.
In a report that commissioners discussed Monday, the consulting firm Berkshire Advisors said so much overlap exists in fire department staffing that the city could cut at least 34 jobs with no effect on safety.
Berkshire said the city could let go of 52 firefighters if it persuaded the firefighters union to increase remaining staffers' workweeks from 48 to 53 hours. The higher figure is standard in most departments with around-the-clock shifts, the firm added.
The report comes as the West Palm Beach Association of Firefighters says it has hit an impasse in contract talks with the city.
The 198-member union local's contract will expire Sept. 30.
The city, whose budget year starts on Oct. 1, says the firefighter cuts could save up to $3 million.
Doug Greene, association vice president, said the union would withhold judgment on the consultant's report until it hears the chief's analysis.
Others in the community objected.
Joanne Jaimedes, former president of the Parker Ridge Neighborhood Association, blasted the proposed cuts as the result of unnecessary spending on government projects: from the new city hall to the waterfront renovation.
"Anytime a city government decreases services in favor of whatever the mayor's vision of her city is, it is not the way to go about achieving any progress at all," Jaimedes said. "There will never be a need for less services."
Berkshire Advisors' Michael Walker said the fire department is well-run, but the study found service overlaps that "increase protection hardly at all."
"West Palm Beach fire engines can respond to incidents in most but not all populated areas of the city within four minutes," the report stated. "There are, however, many areas of the city that can be responded to by more than one engine within four minutes. Providing this redundant coverage provides little added protection to the community and significantly increases costs."
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September 1, 2009