Budget Talks Continue

Wednesday was supposed to be decision day.  Instead, the question of whether cops and firefighters could lose their jobs is still up in the air.  More than 100 in each department are on the chopping block.  But as Fox 23’s Douglas Clark reports, there is progress. 
 
The mayor had asked the police and fire unions for a decision Wednesday about whether they wanted to take the layoff or pay cut option.  But it looks like a compromise could be in the works.
 
Both the police and fire unions met with the mayor and his team on Wednesday to negotiate a potential deal that cuts the $10 million from the budget the mayor needs and avoids layoffs.
 
“We want to do what we can to keep the citizens of Tulsa safe.  And we’ve found a considerable amount of money to do that with,” says police union President Philip Evans.
 
That money comes in the form of additional concessions from the police union.  For the fire union, it’s pay cuts.  But with talks between union leaders and the mayor continuing, the challenge is the timeline.  Days after the mayor originally intended to have a decision made, the deadline and the figures are moving targets.
 
“It’s slow going because the budget numbers are hard to nail down.  The economy is changing so fast it’s hard to come up with a solid number.  But I think we’re almost there and we’re trying to work through the proposals,” says fire union President Stan May.

But both groups say budget talks will continue until an agreement is reached.
 
“You don’t need to make those kinds of life-changing decisions on the spur of the moment.  They need to be thought out, reasoned, slept on, and slept on again.
But we’re moving in a positive direction,” says Evans.
 
“We want to keep as many police and firefighters on the street as we can.  That’s what our goal is,” says May.
 
But it's a different story for members of the municipal employees union, or AFSCME, the city's public service employees.
 
They were given the choice of layoffs or pay cuts, just like police and fire.  So they took an informal poll Wednesday, asking members to choose between the two.  Final tally: 73% were in favor of layoffs.
 
But unlike the police and fire unions, AFSCME's president says he has not had the chance to sit and talk with the mayor about other options.
 
And he got a fax from the mayor Wednesday, asking for a counter-proposal by Wednesday or he would impose layoffs anyway.  As a result, 65 city workers will likely lose their jobs.
 
Mayor Bartlett hopes to implement the budget cuts February 1^st.