Oak Lawn OKs budget; cuts 3 firefighters
Trustees voted 4-2 to approve a revised budget for this year, laying off three firefighters as part of an effort to deal with a projected deficit that has swollen to $1.7 million.
The decision came at a sometimes raucous four-hour meeting attended by scores of firefighters from Oak Lawn and around the region. They packed both floors of village hall, spilling down the front steps all the way to the street.
Hundreds of firefighters spent much of the weekend distributing thousands of fliers opposing the cuts. But that only seemed to strengthen the resolve of trustees, who denounced its message that the layoffs put the safety of residents at risk as a misleading scare tactic.
The board majority said the cuts will not jeopardize safety and even after the layoffs the department will have proportionately more firefighters than most similarly sized municipalities.
Trustees Jerry Hurckes and Steve Rosenbaum cast "no" votes.
Nathaniel Zimmer can be reached at nzimmer@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5994
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