PROVIDENCE -- The Fire Department lost five administrative jobs; the Police Department lost none, so far.
But just a day after Mayor David N. Cicilline revealed his proposed fiscal 2004 budget, more changes could follow.
The police chief is reducing the command staff and reorganizing the department. The fire chief is making up for the loss of the administrative chiefs by shuffling some of the workload.
And talk of further job cuts is still in the air at City Hall. John C. Simmons, the acting director of administration, said yesterday that he is continuing to look at further cuts in the Police and Fire Departments.
"Layoffs are still an option," Simmons said. "Workforce reductions are something we have to look at." Other possibilities include closing fire stations, changes in health coverage, and reorganizing the departments.
Together, the police and fire budgets make up 14 percent of the city's proposed spending. The Police Department's budget will increase from $37.37 million this year to a proposed $39.52 million. The Fire Department's budget would also increase from $35.68 million to a proposed $38.60 million.
Both are still under review.
Police Chief Dean M. Esserman said yesterday that he expects to trim the command staff. There are five majors, although two are retiring this month, and eight captains spots, although only four are filled now.
"I will recommend to the mayor the need for fewer majors and fewer captains," Esserman said.
The chief also plans to put more civilians into jobs currently held by police officers. One is Adrienne Newsome, who is taking the personnel director's spot when police Lt. Kenneth Cohen moves over to lead the Providence Police Training Academy. Newsome's salary was still under negotiation last week, according to the mayor's office.
Officers replaced by civilians will be put on patrol and investigative details, Esserman said.
That saves police personnel. The police union offered another plan to save $3 million that includes removing injured police officers from the payroll.
Simmons said he's considering the proposal, which would affect about 15 police officers, but questions whether it would save money. The intent would be to retire the officers, rather than retain them on the payroll, but that would simply push them into the pension system. Some of the officers have had the same requests before the city's Retirement Board for years, without any action.
"If they aren't able to work, and they can't be retired, then the city shouldn't be left in limbo," Simmons said. "And if it's neither [choice], what's the answer?"
The department is planning for 40 new police officers in the 61st Providence Police Training Academy, which is expected to start soon.
There is money set aside for this academy, Simmons said. But, although Esserman said the recruits will be hired upon graduation in the fall; Simmons said there's no guarantee.
An additional academy has also been included in the 2004 budget, but Simmons said that also is under review.
If all 40 recruits in the 61st academy graduate, there will be enough to fill the vacancies in the nearly 500-member department, Esserman said. But attrition, such as retirements, will open up more jobs.
Or not. The Police Department is undergoing a major restructuring this summer that's changing the way the police patrol the neighborhoods.
Starting in June, the department will be decentralized, and officers will be assigned to substations in nine districts throughout the city. The districts will run like mini-police departments, with lieutenants in charge as chiefs. The lieutenants are being assigned their new districts on Monday.
The community-policing concept is meant to have more police visibility and contacts in the neighborhoods. Patrolman Michael Marcoccio, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3, says that'll mean more police officers are needed.
Simmons isn't so sure. The concept is a month away from implementation, so what's needed remains to be seen, he said.
"The question is, do we have the resources?" Simmons said.
The Fire Department lost five adminstrative positions, but just two employees. Steven Day, the automotive superintendent, and Ronald Johnson, the carpenter shop superintendent, were both dismissed Thursday. Day earned a base salary of $57,115; Johnson's annual base salary was $75,115.
Henry Cochrane, who was also an automotive superintendent, was moved to a different job in the department, Fire Chief James Rattigan said Thursday.
Two vacant administrative positions at the headquarters -- assistant to the chief and department safety officer -- were eliminated, he said.
"I'm in the process of reassigning those jobs to existing personnel," Rattigan said.
Meanwhile, the city is in negotiations with the firefighters union, which has been working without a contract since July 2001.
The city is pressing for the unions to change their health-care coverage, including a co-pay system. Firefighter David Peters, the president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 799, wouldn't discuss the negotiations or the question of health care.
The contract holds a minimum staffing clause, which requires 92 to 95 firefighters per shift, Peters said. There isn't a no-layoff clause, but Peters said he knows of no plan to lay off firefighters.
Those who lost their jobs aren't in the union. When asked if he was surprised that the administrative jobs were cut, Peters said, "The mayor has said all along that he was reorganizing government."
Right now, he said, "my main concern is my members and maintaining their welfare."
