SALEM Panel wants explanation of overtime

The use of a large part of the fire department's overtime fund sparked the query.
SALEM -- A city council committee is asking the fire department to explain its overtime spending for the first part of this year.
Council's committee-of-the-whole, consisting of all council members, made the request earlier this week.
The inquiry comes after the panel was told by city auditor Jim Armeni that, so far this year, the department has used $42,500 of its $60,000 allocation for overtime in 2003.
The spending concerns some council members because more than half this year's overtime allocation is expended and less than half the year has elapsed, said Councilman Greg Oesch, R-3rd, and chairman of council's traffic and safety committee.
Fire Chief Walt Greenamyer refused Thursday to comment on the matter.
No one is accusing the department of wrongdoing, Oesch said."We need to get a projection on where this is heading," he added.
Oesch noted that the department has had one member on military duty and another member on extended sick leave, leaving it short-handed.
Those could be contributing factors, Oesch said.
Not counting any overtime, beginning firefighters earn about $25,000 a year. Captains, the department's highest-paid members, earn about $39,000 a year.