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Warren police chief: 10 layoffs will cripple detective and street crimes units
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Warren’s police and fire chiefs painted a bleak picture Thursday of how their departments will operate without a half-percent income-tax increase.
They spoke at a Warren City Council finance committee meeting to give the public a second chance to speak on legislation under consideration to put the increase on the November ballot.
Police Chief Eric Merkel said the loss of 10 officers would reduce his detective division to a point of investigating only serious felonies such as murders and gun crimes. The department operates with 57 officers, which is five fewer than it had three years ago, according to Vindicator files.
“We would probably have to close the street-crimes unit,” he said of the group he formed after he became chief to combat drug crimes and put the worst criminals “on their heels.”
It would mean losing the youngest officers, who shoulder much of the road-patrol duties, and putting “the more experienced officers on the road.”
Likewise, Fire Chief Ken Nussle said his department has an average age now of 46 or 47, which is “pretty old,” but that would get higher if he lost another 10 of his youngest men.
The department can staff three pieces of equipment now, but that might have to drop to two with 10 fewer people.
But Councilman John Brown challenged the assumption expressed by the chiefs and Safety-Service Director Enzo Cantalamessa that all of the cuts would have to come from the safety forces.
“Out of the 400 people we employ in the city, only police and firemen are subject to layoffs, and that’s the kind of thinking I don’t understand,” Brown said.
Brown’s comments referred to a section of a handout from Cantalamessa that said a $1.3 million to $1.7 million budget shortfall projected for 2017 and afterward “can only be filled through the layoffs of police officers and firefighters and at the expense of infrastructure, especially roads.”
Brown’s comments triggered a comment by Councilman Al Novak: “We definitely need to look at management positions for layoffs.” And he added, “We have to downsize.”
“There will be layoffs across the board,” Mayor Doug Franklin said, and specifically to Brown: “I challenge you to bring me your recommendations for how to make that work.”
As to downsizing, Franklin said, “We have 81 fewer employees [since 2008]. We’ve been downsized.”
In the public-comment period, Warren resident and former Councilman Ron White said he’d like to see the tax be approved as a temporary measure, not the permanent one being proposed, because of contract negotiations that will be coming up soon.
“Because when you have money, everybody wants money,” he said.
Resident Greg Greathouse said he urges council to vote no on putting the measure on the ballot “because I don’t believe the administration has done enough to cut costs before asking for a bailout.”
He implied that the city administration is playing on people’s fears by focusing only on police and fire.
“It gets a visceral response from us because they [police] are the ones who stand between us and the bad guys.”
Commenting on Niles Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia deciding to take a 50 percent pay cut, Greathouse asked, “Anybody here willing to take a pay cut to help out the city of Warren?” There was no response.
Resident Deborah Magos said Warren had a more than $1 million carryover in 2012.
“Where did the surplus go?” she asked. Why didn’t someone make the cuts necessary “like I would if my expenses were larger than my income?”
She wants to see pay cuts in all departments, a hiring freeze and Warren using the Ohio treasurer’s “Open Checkbook” to provide the public with more information on the city’s spending.
Council will meet at 3 p.m. Monday to vote on the issue.