Results tagged “budget”

Okay, The Zoo New England saga has become a full-fledged circus and it, fortunately, appears to have a happy ending as Zoo director John Linehan finally confimed that no animals will be killed due to possible budget cuts. Linehan started all of this crap by turning animal goodness into a dirty political prop by suggesting budget cuts could force the Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo to close and some animals to be euthanized. It turned out he was not telling the truth. Last week, Linehan confirmed his initial assertion that animals would die from budget cuts before finally admitting he was incorrect yesterday.

Congressmen John Tierney and Barney Frank like to travel and love that we pay for it.[Boston Herald]

Remember all that MBTA budget brouhaha? It's going to be irrelevant if the state doesn't help the agency. Without assistance, the T will eliminate tons of services: cut service by half on bus and subway lines in the evening and on weekends, get rid of evening and weekend commuter rail entirely, scrap several bus routes, ditch six green line stops, and fire over 800 employees. Maybe we can do without those employees, but those green line stops? Come on! It's really the halving of night service that concerns us: not everybody works 9 to 5, and the cuts could have negative impact on many folks who really depend on the service to get to work. A solution needs to be negotiated, and soon.

Today, Mayor Menino will present Boston's proposed 2010 budget to the city council. The budget balancing magic derives from laying off more than 500 workers, including 212 teachers and classroom aides, 67 police officers, 44 police cadets, 39 community center employees, and 26 library workers. Even horses are being let go: some of the police officers are mounted patrol, meaning that 24 horses will have to find new adoptive homes. Those figures are somewhat prematurely alarmist, though: successful wage negotiations, particularly with unions, could mean reduction in hours or wages rather than layoffs, and resignations can cover some of the teacher cuts. Stimulus money from the federal government might also help out. All is not lost, but there is cause for concern.