Lynn City Council OKs $280M budget

LYNN – Public safety took a significant hit while the School Department saw a 10 percent increase when City Council approved Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy’s $280 million budget Tuesday.”Our FY15 budget compared to the FY14 budget is $1,550,000 less,” said Police Chief Kevin Coppinger. “We will have to make up for those cuts, which will mean less cars on the street.”And less bikes. Coppinger said the bicycle riding officers who make up the Community Liaison Teams will be taken out of the neighborhoods and put back in patrol cars. He also cut the school liaison officers, but after meeting with Kennedy and Superintendent Catherine Latham, it was decided the School Department would absorb the cost of the six school-based officers.Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr asked if there was any way they could keep the CLTs, which everyone agreed have made a difference in the city.”It’s tough to lose them, but if I retain them, then I would have to cut the number of cars, which would mean there would be less cars to respond to the people who call 911, and I can’t do that,” Coppinger said.Coppinger noted that crime has dropped 10 percent over the last several years and an additional 10 percent in the first five months of this year, but he doesn’t want to give anyone any false hope that those numbers will continue.Fire Chief James McDonald said his budget has increased $1.2 million over the last five years, but he is projecting more than a $300,000 shortfall overall, nearly half of which will be in overtime. The result will be closed firehouses and cuts in training and public programming.”Our budget is like the coffee can buried in the backyard that you dig up every time someone needs a few thousand dollars,” he said. “Well, our backyard is a mess. I ask for our budget to be restored and implemented and for someone to fill in our backyard.”The Department of Public Works also took a $180,000 cut, which councilors each expressed concerns over, but most cryptic discussions focused on the Law Department budget, which was cut 7 percent and includes one contracted employee who will not be returning.City Solicitor Michael Barry told the councilors his budget was cut $50,000, but they should not despair because there was still a collective 85 years worth of experience in the office. Cyr, however, questioned why Barry’s budget took a significantly larger hit percentage-wise than any other department. He also worried that a particular employee would be let go but was very careful not to call him out by name.”I think we both know who I’m talking about,” Cyr said to Barry. “He’s been working there a long time.”Barry, who was equally cagey, said he couldn’t say enough good things about the person, including the fact that he recently settled a suit that ended $700,000 in the city’s favor.”He is actually making money for the city,” Cyr said.Kennedy defended her budget, saying it was tough to figure out how to meet state school spending targets without layoffs, but she managed.Cyr said he would support the budget, but he still has concerns regarding DPW cuts and the loss of the unnamed attorney in Barry’s office.