9:21am | The Long Beach City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to scratch the city’s police and fire academies scheduled to be offered later this year.
City Manager Pat West said that calling off the 2011 academies would save the city roughly $2.5 million. The savings will aid in chipping away at the city’s projected structural budget deficit of more than $50 million over the next three years.
Councilwoman Rae Gabelich and Councilman Steven Neal cast the dissenting votes. They both cited concern over the shrinking number of public safety employees in the city.
Two years ago, the Long Beach Police Department was 1,022 strong. Today, its ranks number 884. Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said last night that as cuts continue, the city should expect to see response times increase.
The Long Beach Fire Department has thus far not had to lay anyone off, though it has been forced to take a fire engine and an ambulance out of service, officials said.
The Council last year backed the use of proportional budget cuts, which cuts funding to departments proportionally based on the percentage of general fund dollars used to fund them.
The proportional budget cuts are aimed at ensuring that the city is able to maintain adequate funding for parks, libraries and public works activities, which would otherwise likely experience drastic cuts in order to spare public safety from experiencing a decrease in funding.
Gabelich said she can’t support proportional budget cuts any longer if it means the city will have to “put our community at risk.”
The police academy cancellation will yield about $1.5 million in savings, which is expected to maintain 10 current police officer positions that were not included in the upcoming fiscal year budget because 10 officers are scheduled to retire.
The fire department will realize a savings of just under $1 million. That money fire officials plan to use for fire station improvements, including renovations to ensure each fire house can accommodate both male and female firefighters.