Atlantic City Says Hoped-For Federal Grant Should Avert Fire Department Layoffs
by David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- Firefighters in Atlantic City, NJ may be resting easier, now that the possibility of dozens of layoffs has been taken off the table.
The city's mayor says he plans to seek a federal grants to cover the cost of keeping the fire department fully staffed.
Mayor Don Guardian has been looking to cut costs anywhere he can. Now, 85 firefighters' salaries are covered by a federal grant.
"We know that we have a lot of support in Washington and Trenton," Guardian said today, "and I do anticipate that we will receive a SAFER [Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response] grant, so this will save all 85 positions of the fire department."
Guardian is awaiting specifics from an arbitrator's binding decision that the mayor expects will save the city millions of dollars a year in fire department salary and benefit costs.
