The Associated Press
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Police and firefighters facing layoffs will keep working for at least another week in Cleveland while their union leaders and city officials continue negotiations.
Mayor Jane Campbell said Thursday that progress was being made, but she declined to offer specifics.
“We’re deep into negotiations, trying to understand every possible savings to bring jobs back,” she said.
More than 260 police officers and 150 firefighters are scheduled to be let go Dec. 22. Campbell initially planned to let the safety forces go last week, temporarily with pay. But the unions asked a Cuyahoga County judge to issue an order blocking the job cuts. The two sides agreed that the forces would keep working while negotiations continue.
If negotiations bog down, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle is expected to hold a hearing next week.
Campbell also said that she wants to create an endowment that would keep the police mounted unit from disbanding. As part of its budget cuts, the city plans to reassign the seven officers in the unit and give the 13 horses to farms.
But Campbell first wants to meet with leaders of the Cleveland Mounted Unit Charitable Trust, a nonprofit organization formed 20 years ago to cover incidental costs, such as horse trailers. The goal is to determine if enough money can be raised in private donations to keep the unit.