Video: Cleveland Lays Off 123 Officers, Cadets

ROSCOELSE @ 5/16/2011 5:42 PM

The city of Cleveland shouldn't be depending on that much of its budget from the state,maybe if they cut the size of the bloated city council,the largest in the state for as few citizens that they have,stop spending money on pie in the sky improvements in the city funded by the city coffers (TAXES),they would be able to afford their employees.Stop spending sooo much money on large salaries and benefite for department heads,when the population decreases this much there is no need for big salaries,collect monies owed to the city by the obama administration and stop giving them a free pass every time they blow into town,they still owe for several visits,the citizens pay the taxes,not the administration,stop taking from the people.Stop blaming the governors office for bad management of funds in the city,i don't see the mayor in line at the food bank.Stop spending money on projects that don't bring any money into the city,stop giving tax breaks to big businesses,they're not hiring enough people and stop buying forclosed houses and tearing them down and selling the property to campaign donors for pennies on the dollar,isn't it bad enough you kicked people out of their homes.

Ric Walters @ 5/17/2011 6:47 AM

If I live to be 10,000 years old, I will never figure out why fire and police departments are the hardest hit during "budget crises." Dump the libraries, the extra secretaries in City Hall, the "assistants to (fill in the blanks)", reduce garbage pickups to once a week, and just about every other cut that ROSCOELSE suggests!

Leave public safety where it should be - at the very top of budget priority lists.

Morning Eagle @ 5/17/2011 8:20 AM

Good points Roscoelse! Cleveland isn't the only city faced with inadequate budgets, this has rapidly spread all across the country and it seems the first thing the city fathers aim their budget cutters at are invariably emergency services such as law enforcement and firefighters. To reiterate Roscoelse's comments, it is virtually certain there is a lot of fat and waste, not to mention non-essential staff on their city payrolls that could be eliminated with little or no adverse impact on the crucial services expected and demanded by the public.

wmccarty @ 5/17/2011 2:41 PM

Coming to a city near you soon....Cleveland citizens watch as crime rises and spikes due to reduced police coverage and patrols...They need to take a lesson from Camden NJ as to what to expect.

ROSCOELSE @ 5/18/2011 9:45 AM

Layoff the safety director,he is redundant as you have a pd chief,a fire chief,and a rescue chief,you don't need a bike path if people get mugged on it,you don't need a bridge to browns stadium.Stop selling city parking lots that make money to campaign contributors,get rid of the mayors bodyguard detail,teach him how to defend himself.If he didn't hang around all of those celebrities and politicians,maybe he wouldn't need a bodyguard detail,how many is that 4-5?Stop giving bonuses to the department heads,if they can run their departments efficiently,get rid of them.

TIMOTHY REYNOLDS @ 6/6/2011 1:09 PM

WHEN A CITY OF THIS SIZE LAYS OFF POLICE OFFICERS IN THIS MAGNITUDE IT IS TIME TO MOVE...FOR YOUR SAFETY.