PRESS RELEASE: Yonkers City Council Democratic Caucus Issues a Joint Statement Over Mayor Mike Spano’s Proposed FY 2017-2018 Budget

YONKERS, NY — May 30, 2017 — “As we continue to negotiate to pass the Mayor’s proposed budget for the City of Yonkers, we, the Democratic Caucus of the Yonkers City Council, feel that the proposed budget cuts for the Yonkers Fire Department and Yonkers Police Department are not in the best interest of the City of Yonkers.”

“It is imperative that we reinstate the positions within the Yonkers Fire and Police Departmentsthat were eliminated in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2017. In the interest of public safety, these restorations would provide the consistency necessary to keep services at a safe, maintainable level in order to adequately respond to emergencies throughout the city in a timely manner. As Council Member Christopher Johnson states, “a budget is a document that shows your priorities. We need to make sure that preventing the loss of life and property is our highest priority.”

“As a growing city, it is so important that we staff our fire and police departments adequately. In a perfect world we would be adding manpower. Today, however, we demand that we at least keep both departments as they are, and not eliminate any positions”, added Council Member Corazón Pineda-Isaac. Minority Leader Michael Sabatino agrees that this is a good thing for the City of Yonkers and would like to see the fire and police department positions reinstated in the 2018 budget.”

Honorable Christopher A. Johnson Council Member, 1st District

Honorable Corazón Pineda-Isaac Council Member, 2nd District

Honorable Michael R. Sabatino Minority Leader, 3rd District

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Yonkers City Council Minority Caucus Press R.elease