Group calls for firehouse layoffs

[Omaha Steve]

I work for the City of Omaha in the Public Works Dept. I have no comment on this story.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100318/NEWS01/100319552/0#group-calls-for-firehouse-layoffs

Published Thursday March 18, 2010

By Maggie O'Brien
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A group of business people is calling on the city to end "financial waste" in the Omaha Fire Department and lay off 64 firefighters.

Dave Nabity, a financial adviser, former Republican gubernatorial candidate and one of the leaders of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, said Thursday that the Fire Department is overstaffed and "grossly top heavy." He said the firefighter layoffs would save the city $6 million.

"Current leaders in management have allowed the employment ranks to swell to numbers clearly not needed to maintain public safety," Nabity said at a press conference.

Nabity said he hopes Mayor Jim Suttle's administration will take his group's ideas to an independent consultant hired by the city to find ways to improve Fire Department budgeting, as well as to the Nebraska State Auditor's Office, which is reviewing the department.
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Suttle spokesman Ron Gerard said the mayor was open to suggestions for improving Fire Department finances, so long as they are "legal and realistic."

Fire administration and fire union representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

FULL story at link.