Mansfield Mayor: ‘This Is Just The Way The Budget Is’

MANSFIELD, Ohio—First it was Mansfield’s police force; now it’s the community’s firefighters who will see pink slips.

NBC 4’s Matt Alvarez reported from Mansfield where local taxpayers had a lot of say about the layoffs.

Twenty Mansfield firefighters are to lose their jobs Monday, July 13.

Eight fire captains are to be dropped in rank, and one fire station on the Southwest Side of town is to be closed.

“It’s going to be very disappointing. It’s very close to home. If there’s ever an emergency, they’re right there,” resident Shaun Jordan said.

“We aren’t very pleased about it because obviously we’re at the end of the street. We feel like our safety might be compromised,” resident Michelle Ballinger said.

according to assistant fire chief steve strickling –

Mansfield Fire and EMS takes on 8,000 emergency runs every year, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Strickling said.

With a 25 percent cut to personnel and a station closing, though, Strickling said response time will be affected.

“By closing, response times are going to go up. Trucks will have to come from a further distance away from a station that’s no longer located in that area,” Strickling said.

“There’s other things they can do. Budget cuts on police, fire, schools—these are the things most essential for the city of Mansfield,” one resident said.

NBC 4 took the complaints to Mayor Donald Culliver who declined an on-camera interview Sunday.

He gave this short statement later: “I’m not taking sides. This is just the way the budget is,”

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