Lebanon city to ax 18 to balance budget

The city's budget is about $11 million, and 85 percent of it is consumed by salaries and benefits to about 100 employees.

85% of 11 million is 9,350,000 being dispersed to 100 employees means the average salary would be $93,500 a year. I might be a little more forgiving of that number if Lebanon was becoming a better place to live but its not. Cutting our police force, which is already understaffed is a huge mistake. Crime in the city isn't decreasing, it's increasing and now there will be less manpower on the police force to do something about.

We've already become a welfare refuge, we might as well become a criminal refuge as well. Prison population already at 150%, so drug dealers get probation and then their fines get adjudicated. Slumlords see the same treatment with fines dismissed and ordinance infractions ignored. This city is becoming a very bad joke.

I don't often agree with the nay-sayers who comment here but in this case I do. I used to be upset because WGAL seldom covered Lebanon County. Now I realize there was not much to tell until now. We've become the crime list between Lancaster and York Counties. I realize this is a tough time for everyone's budget, but cutting the police force is definitely not a solution.

Proud to be a Democrat wrote:

I don't often agree with the nay-sayers who comment here but in this case I do. I used to be upset because WGAL seldom covered Lebanon County. Now I realize there was not much to tell until now. We've become the crime list between Lancaster and York Counties. I realize this is a tough time for everyone's budget, but cutting the police force is definitely not a solution.

Can't cut any of the cushy union jobs because of SEUI will show up in thug force and burn the courthouse down.

You dems got her....now deal with her

so your saying that the police department is a cushy union job?
I know i have a lot of respect for what those men and women do! To cut their positions - or any public safety positions - is not in the best intrest of us taxpayers

Morbius wrote:

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Can't cut any of the cushy union jobs because of SEUI will show up in thug force and burn the courthouse down.

Nice try Morbius but the fault is hardly the Mayor or unions. It's idiots like you that voted Bush into office for the last eight years.

I appreciate you coming on this site and showing everyone how stupid you really are when it comes to the blame game.

Morbius wrote:

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Can't cut any of the cushy union jobs because of SEUI will show up in thug force and burn the courthouse down.

You really are a Fox News Glenn Beck diddo head. The City Police Department is unionized and still being cut.

Blame the real people for the economy and job loss. Republicans !!!!!

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Ummmm wrote:

You dems got her....now deal with her

Deal with who ? The person to blame for these job losses is the voter who put Bush into the White House for eight long years. Stand up and accept the blame Repukes !!!!

Merry christmas everyone!

Morbius wrote:

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Can't cut any of the cushy union jobs because of SEUI will show up in thug force and burn the courthouse down.

Union jobs are hardly cushy. Do you know that a case worker at MH/MR gets paid about 25,000 in Lebanon County??? How is that a cushy union job???? Imagine if they weren't involved with the union. They'd probably get paid 20,000 a year.. and that job requires a bachelors degree. The only cushy jobs are at the top.

This is what happens when people don't want to fork over a few extra dollars a year in new taxes. Government services will be completely useless because there won't be enough poeple working those jobs to overcome community challenges.

Does less police protection mean I will have new permission to beat, spray, or punch every idiot or punk who pulls on my back door handle (attempted forced entry) or walks through my yard (trespassing)??

It's all George Bush's fault! You gotta love that. The Democrats have controlled the House and Senate for three years. Before that, the Republicans said the same things. Their problems were because of Clinton. Get a clue. They're all corrupt. They are all controlled by special interests and they are all selling us a bad bill of goods where fat cats get richer and the dollar means less and less.

They all say whatever they have to say to get elected and it doesn't matter what party they represent. All the party bickering deflects from the real problems so we get no real solutions. Stop and look around you. If you live in the city limits of Lebanon you see what's going on. You see the drugs, you see the parental neglect, you see the houses going to ruin because of slumlords and lazy tenants. You see the police in your neighborhoods responding to complaints on a weekly basis. With less police and less enforcement of the safety ordinances, things aren't going to get better. It's going to get worse.

How many times are citations issued and then a judge dismisses the fines? Then we wonder why the police do not issue more citations. What's the use? John Light incurred enough fines to pay the salary of two police officers last year but the fines were dismissed. Why?

Where are these stories in this paper? This sort of thing happens all the time in the city. I know of a person who was arrested on drug charges three years ago with over 3,000 in fines and they haven't paid a dime of those fines. How did they ever get off probation? Why haven't they been picked up? Rather than cracking down on criminals, the city's solution is to cut the police force making it all the easier for the criminals to continue with business as usual. Neither Bush nor Obama has anything to do with this problem, it's our own elected officials.

We need to start holding individuals, regardless of political affiliation responsible. If people like John Light and Howard Dice paid their property taxes, if the city stopped dismissing fines, if we got more of the drug dealers off our streets and if we did something serious about welfare fraud in the city we wouldn't be talking about the need to cut police and safety officials.

property defender wrote:

Does less police protection mean I will have new permission to beat, spray, or punch every idiot or punk who pulls on my back door handle (attempted forced entry) or walks through my yard (trespassing)??

You better get something a bit more effective than pepper spray or your hands to rely on.
Less police = Slower response time.

If Capello is so concerned about the people of Lebanon, maybe she should do the right thing and chop some of her salary to keep the police force intact. Of course, I'm sure it's her neighborhood she will make sure they patrol most often. This city is going from bad to worse and putting Capello in is not going to make it better. She doesn't care about the people, she cares about making a name for herself, nothing more.

Why would anyone stay in that horrible place called Lebanon?

Anyone familiar with Public Safety or the Police Department knows that the City will be in worse shape with such drastic cuts. City employees work hard trying to resolve isues with crime, slumlords, and deplorable living conditions. How will the work get done (to maintain safety, fulfill required ordinances, and bring in funding), on the streets & in the office, with fewer people? Also, there are many residents who have pride in their homes and their City, and wish for Lebanon to be a cleaner, safer place to live.

Concerned wrote:

Anyone familiar with Public Safety or the Police Department knows that the City will be in worse shape with such drastic cuts. City employees work hard trying to resolve isues with crime, slumlords, and deplorable living conditions. How will the work get done (to maintain safety, fulfill required ordinances, and bring in funding), on the streets & in the office, with fewer people? Also, there are many residents who have pride in their homes and their City, and wish for Lebanon to be a cleaner, safer place to live.

Not sure if anyone has ever told you but...wishes just don't come true....

Repukes wrote:

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Deal with who ? The person to blame for these job losses is the voter who put Bush into the White House for eight long years. Stand up and accept the blame Repukes !!!!

Well i see we still have HIOTW aka HIH to contend with... SO wheres the help?

WHeres the 8 % unemployment rate?
Wheres the transparency?
Wheres the non partisan round table health care debate on C Span?

You feel for it Hook line and sinker, Like was said, they are all corrupt!

Repuke...i only have one thing to say to you.....

HOW'S THAT CHANGE THING WORKIN FOR YOU?????

It certainly isn't working for all the unemployed..

You're right, Obama is the answer for everything! Thanks to him the value of the American dollar will decrease so far you won't even want to use it for toilet paper. The world has to be laughing at us. Oh, and we can't forget about his amazing patriotism. Thank God my enlistment ended so I don't have to obey his lawful orders!