Pine Bluff chiefs OK cutting open positions

The police and fire chiefs for Pine Bluff both sacrificed slots for salaries in Tuesday’s public safety budget hearing to fund raises for 2022 during week two of the Pine Bluff City Council committee budget hearings.

However, the sacrifices didn’t come without hesitation from Fire Chief Shauwn Howell.

Public safety committee member Joni Alexander propositioned Howell with a 5% raise for his firefighters if he cut five positions. She also suggested reducing the fire stations from seven to six.

The cuts would come from inactive positions. Currently, the Fire Department has 88 positions filled out of 100 but Howell, in the beginning, was adamant about not giving up those positions.

Howell felt raises were due for his department, but he didn’t feel cutting slots was the answer. He questioned if the revenue to fund those raises could come from another resource.

He also said shutting down a fire station would increase the response time, taking them longer to get to the call

with the potential for a fire to get bigger.

Chairman Glen Brown Jr. still considered shutting down a station and asked Howell to provide him a response map for his review and what the coverage would look like with six stations.

“Cutting five positions is not a permanent thing and we can add the slots back,” Alexander said, adding she didn’t want to use casino revenue to fund the raises because of the uncertainty. “What other options do we have?”

Howell mentioned the money being paid for overtime was coming from the unused slots and the reason for overtime is to keep a minimum staff of 26 per day.

“We’re trying to get to a point where you don’t have to get overtime,” Alexander said. She pointed out the 5% raise would attract firefighters.

“Where is your compromise?” Alexander asked. “There is no way we can outright give you a raise from the general fund. Where can we meet in the middle?”

Mayor Shirley Washington is considering city raises across the board but there are no guarantees. By cutting the positions, Howell would be able to fund his raises directly from his budget, according to the Public Safety Committee.

If city raises are implemented to a higher percentage, the committee said, accepting the offer now wouldn’t exclude the Fire Department from a future raise if the city approves.

After a lengthy discussion and clarification, Howell finally agreed to the deal.

A motion was made and accepted to approve the Fire Department’s budget adding a 5% raise and deducting five positions for the 2022 budget. The proposed budget will be sent to the full council for approval.

Police Chief Lloyd Franklin Jr. was more receptive to his offer as he listened to his “deal or no deal” proposition.

Alexander proposed Franklin cut 10 positions in exchange for a 15% raise for PBPD uniformed officers. According to Alexander, the raise would attract recruits and retain the officers already in the department.

Currently, the Police Department has 100 out of 131 slots filled.

The increase would move the base pay for a patrol officer to roughly $43,000 a year with $33 an hour in a time-and-a-half pay in overtime.

“I could live with that,” said Franklin.

Franklin said the majority of his staff are working hard to change the culture of the police department.

He also inquired about incentives of up to $50 an hour in overtime that he could give to his officers who work special assignments.

The city did not give funding for those initiatives but financial advisors suggested the police department find grants that would provide the extra incentives Franklin was seeking.

“Sure, I’ll give those positions up; we don’t have them right now,” said Franklin.

“The last thing we wanted to do is cut,” Alexander said. “Fifteen percent gets you up there competing. You have my word if you get to full capacity, we are going to make sure you get your slots back.”

A motion was made to accept the PBPD budget with a 15% increase with a reduction of 15 positions.

Other budgets the committee approved included the 911 Communications (MECA); Judge Earnest Brown Jr. Juvenile Court Grant; Judge John Kearney District Court Division II; Animal Control; Federal VIN; Public Safety Building Fund; Captial Projects, Jail Fund, Emergency Vehicle Fund and the consolidated local fire plan retirement fund.