The Racine Fire Department’s reduction in personnel can be managed, but it will take a coordinated effort with dispatch.
This was the message from Fire Chief Steve Hansen, who was before the city council on Monday to discuss the 2021 proposed budget.
Since 2010, the city has reduced its budgeted personnel by 65 positions. Until now, public safety was excluded from those reductions.
However, facing tough budget constraints, the city proposed eliminating 12 positions from the Police Department and nine from the Fire Department.
Paraphrasing comments made by Police Chief Art Howell, Hansen said he understood the math of the 2021 budget.
“It’s a challenge,” he said. “It’s going to cause us to rethink and develop new ways of dealing with emergency responses in the city of Racine.”