Sheriff Rutherford wields his axe

[Ralph W]

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-10-03/story/sheriff-starts-horrific-cuts-meet-jacksonville-budget-reductions

Sheriff John Rutherford said he has started making cuts to the department that at one point faced the loss of dozens of jobs.
“We’re implementing the plan,” Rutherford said Monday afternoon but declined to provide details.
He called the task “horrific.”
Union attorney Paul Daragjati said that he saw about 20 officers being told they were laid off, a process that began about 6:30 p.m. at a drill hall in the Police Memorial Building.
There is supposed to be another group today, Daragjati said, but he doesn’t know how many.
“It really is a difficult situation for the guys,” he said.
Some officers came from surrounding cities and had left good jobs, Daragjati said.
Nelson Cuba, the union president, said there will be as many as 46 to 50 total layoffs and, with vacancies, as many as 70 positions lost.
Most of them are younger officers with two years or less of service.
Cuba said he spoke with Rutherford after Monday’s layoffs and the sheriff said he would rehire all of the officers if the union would agree to savings, such as the 2 percent pay cut that the union has not accepted.
Cuba said he also made proposals to Mayor Alvin Brown’s office but wouldn’t say what they were.
“I’ve given them some possibilities of things we can do to put some money back,” he said.
A news release from the Sheriff’s Office said Rutherford will not comment until Wednesday, when the reductions are complete.
“There’s a lot of rumors flying around,” Cuba said.
Last week, the sheriff learned the department was not getting a $3.4 million grant that would have paid for about 50 officers. The impact was expected then to mean the layoff of about 25 actual employees.

[urbanlibertarian]

This is no more "horrific" for JSO than it is for COJ or private businesses that have been forced to lay off people.  It's very tough for everyone.

[mtraininjax]

All Cuba had to do was get the officers to take the 2% paycut that all the other unions and departments had done so. He chose to play chicken with the City Council and now he is playing the fear card, saying the city will be less safe.

Cuba is a crazyman!

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Cuba said he spoke with Rutherford after Monday’s layoffs and the sheriff said he would rehire all of the officers if the union would agree to savings, such as the 2 percent pay cut that the union has not accepted.

Are you f'ing kidding me?

A 2% pay cut on 40K/yr is $15/week - how much are their union dues I wonder?  Oh yeah!  Not a dime - they're unemployed now.