Tag Archives: atlanta

Fighting for firefighters

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Some of the most vital jobs in local communities are being threatened daily by budget cutbacks and the struggling economy – including firefighters and police officers. While the White House says the stimulus bill saved thousands of these kinds of jobs from being taken away, some local stations are reporting that these types of jobs are still falling victim to state budget cuts.

Michigan Radio this week reported on some steep cuts in Flint.

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling says the city will lay off 57 police officers. According to the Flint Police Officer’s Association, that will leave the city with fewer than 100 officers for a population of around 113,000. That is less than one officer for every thousand people.

The U.S. average is three officers for every thousand people.

The mayor says 23 firefighters will also get pink slips. The Firefighters Union says that will leave just 65 firefighters for the city.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., cost-cutting measures have already slashed firefighting and police coffers, and now even keeping the streetlights on and park restrooms open, are line-items, NPR reports:

All the restrooms have been closed. There’ll be very little watering, and crews will mow just once a month instead of weekly.

The city even trimmed its police and fire budgets and is auctioning three of its police helicopters on the Internet. Still, that’s not enough.

EconomyBeat wrote yesterday about the mounting conservative movement in Colorado Springs to prevent raising taxes at the same time that city services are being cut.

Colorado as a state is facing overall budget woes, and Governor Bill Ritter recently spoke about his cost-saving plans for the state.

In Atlanta, Mayor Kasim Reed addressed the Atlanta Press Club in January and outlined his fiscal plans for the city, including the choices he’s had to make in securing pensions for police and firefighters (watch his segment on the General Fund, around 8:00).

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What are the most vital needs in your community? Would you be willing to pay more in property taxes to keep the status quo?

Hurricane economics

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Credit: Flickr user leh4

Four years ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and threw the economy of the Gulf Coast into a tailspin. While national coverage has largely moved on, local broadcasters in these areas are still grappling with the storm’s lingering effects.

Radio news program Mississippi Edition at Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson spoke with former Mississippi Governor William Winter and Richard Nathan of the Nelson A Rockefeller Institute of Government about how recovery is faring four years on.

Back in March, MPB analyzed the progress of where federal recovery money has gone and how it should be spent.

In 2005, David Lee Simmons left New Orleans following the hurricane and flood. Now’s he’s the Arts Contributor at Public Broadcasting Atlanta – one of thousands who moved to Atlanta after Katrina. PBA show City Café’s John Lemley program spoke with Simmons about his life has changed since the move.

There are several investigative projects that are looking at the Katrina recovery in various fields. ProPublica recently partnered with the New York Times to take a deeper look at health care after Hurricane Katrina. The Greater New Orleans Data Center is analyzing how New Orleans is faring in the national recession, by tracking neighborhood recovery indicators, and making local, state and federal policy recommendations. This piece from WWNO in New Orleans further reports on the GNODC’s work.

For more on the Hurricane Katrina anniversary, PRX has a playlist featuring stories ranging from how pets are faring since Katrina to the state of levees four years after they were destroyed.

Tonight on Tavis Smiley, historian Douglas Brinkley talks about his hometown and the recovery efforts in the context of other disasters in American history.