Safety concerns warrant city budget revisal

The crime rate in the city of Syracuse is higher than 96 percent of the state’s cities and towns. Yet Mayor Stephanie Miner’s 2013-14 budget proposal includes a provision to remove the 42 vacant positions within the Syracuse Police Department.

The Syracuse Common Council should consider revising this aspect of the proposal, released April 8. Two weeks of budget hearings kicked off April 15, and the budget must be finalized and voted on by May 8.

Miner’s budget proposes no tax hikes or layoffs. But in a city with a crime rate “considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest,” as reported by NeighborhoodScout.com, residents must ask an essential question: Is a zero tax hike worth community safety not being properly addressed?

During the next two weeks of discussion, the common council should highly consider this concept.

The proposal also includes closing Fire Station No. 7, the station closest to Syracuse University, and reducing the number of firefighters on duty per shift.

Common Councilor Pat Hogan and Lonnie Johnson, president of Local 280 of the International Union of Firefighters, are both quite concerned about Syracuse maintaining the ability to respond quickly to emergencies with both the closure and reduced number of on-duty fire fighters, The Post-Standard reported April 8.

A single engine company at Fire Station No. 1 will take on the designated responsibility of responding to the central core of the city, as the downtown area is growing in both population and commercial traffic, according to the article.

Though these potentially hazardous cuts are alarming and should be reconsidered, the proposed allotment of $1 million to Say Yes to Education should stand. This program, in which SU is involved, greatly helps students enrolled in the struggling Syracuse City School District.

Certain aspects of Miner’s budget are commendable, but the potential compromise of safety in Syracuse must be re-examined. Raising taxes may prove more beneficial than reducing the number of fire stations and leaving policing positions vacant.