NEWS

Gregory to seek veto override

Yann Ranaivo
The News Journal

Wilmington City Council will cut $511,000 for eight vacant firefighter positions next week, if members vote to override Mayor Dennis P. Williams' veto of their initial vote, the council president said Tuesday night.

Council's initial vote on the proposal was 8-5, one vote short of the nine needed for an override. Council President Theo Gregory said he is confident that members will support a veto override.

Gregory said some council members who went against the cuts nearly two weeks ago have changed their minds, but he would not name the members who moved to his side.

In fact, he said there may be 10 votes in support of the override.

Gregory said some council members have realized that no department can be overlooked as the city tries to check its spending. He said the council will look at other departments as the year progresses. He said the fire department was first because the cuts were recommended in the Berkshire report, a controversial study done in 2012.

"It was shovel-ready," Gregory said. "The mayor, I asked him on more than one occasion if he would implement the Berkshire, and he said no. And I respect that, but that doesn't mean I and city council can't move forward and implement Berkshire. Why can't we move forth and try to implement Berkshire?"

The council members who voted against the cuts were Robert Williams, Sherry Dorsey Walker, Samuel Prado, Justen Wright and Trippi Congo. Williams, Dorsey Walker and Prado attended the mayor's veto ceremony last Friday and said they don't plan to change course. Congo could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

The Wilmington City Council will try to override Mayor Dennis P. Williams’ veto of its 8-5 vote to cut $511,000 from the budget for eight vacant firefighter positions.

Wright said Tuesday that he found it hypocritical that council targeted the fire department before looking at itself.

"I just believe you got to look at yourself first," Wright said. "At the inception of this session, council increased its budget with salaries and adding positions, things of that nature. And that's just scratching the surface."

The mayor, Fire Chief Anthony Goode and top fire union officials also couldn't be reached Tuesday night, but have repeatedly voiced worries that the cuts would pose a risk to public safety.

Goode has said that not having the option to fill the vacancies would significantly speed up the rate at which his department spends its limited overtime budget. The department last week announced it was seeking applicants for a new academy class.

Gregory, however, countered arguments against the cuts by saying that such statements "are intended to frighten citizens and prompt an emotional response."

"The truth is that the time it takes for firefighters to respond to a fire scene, which is among the best in the country, will not be affected, nor will the responsibilities of the firefighters at an incident scene," Gregory said. "City council will not play politics with public safety, and will always ensure that our public safety departments are properly funded and staffed."

Councilwoman Loretta Walsh, who voted for the cuts, said she doesn't think Gregory would have called a special meeting if he didn't think the votes were there.

"We're on a summer break, so there would be no reason to call a summer meeting if the president wasn't confident," Walsh said, referring to the council's plans to not have a regular meeting until late August.

Gregory said other departments will be looked at later this year. He said the fire cuts were attached to legislation giving the city's administration $100,000 to perform a study of its public works and finance departments.

Contact Yann Ranaivo at (302) 324-2837, yranaivo@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @YannRanaivo.