Wednesday, September 16, 2009
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — More than 200 Akron city employees have been told they’re being laid off, including 38 firefighters and nearly 100 police officers.
The northeast Ohio city had kept hands off safety forces in earlier rounds of cuts, but Mayor Don Plusquellic says an up to $8 million budget hole can no longer be filled without reductions in the police and fire ranks.
The layoffs take effect Oct. 1.
At a news conference Tuesday, the mayor said the 96 police department members who received layoff notices include 21 high-ranking officers who’ll be able to bump down into lower positions.
He also expressed hope that Akron would soon find funding to quickly rehire some of the others, so he expected the city would effectively lose only 34 officers.