Mpls. City Council Votes To Keep Firefighters On Job

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minneapolis City Council voted to keep a number of firefighters on the job.

The council voted 8-5 on the stopgap measure Friday. The measure would keep 31 firefighters on the job using money from contingency funds.

The council also voted in favor of keeping another 10 firefighters facing layoff on the job using funds from other city departments' vacant positions.

Fire Chief Alex Jackson said losing those firefighters could increase response times by several minutes at several stations, because it would mean rotating closures of fire rigs.

Mayor R.T. Rybak said he planned to veto the council's measure to keep the 10 firefighter positions, but did not refer to vetoing the measure that would keep the other 31 positions.