Fall River councilor, mayor clash in effort to fix fire department’s fiscal 2015 crisis

Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 17, 2014

FALL RIVER — City Councilor Michael Miozza rolled out a financial plan last week he believed would avert mass layoffs expected in the Fall River Fire Department in the next fiscal year.

“I think the money’s in the budget,” Miozza said.

Not so fast, Mayor Will Flanagan said on Sunday: the money Miozza suggested to return to the firefighters has already been earmarked to fund their budget in 2015.

“He gave the firefighters false hope because the money’s already allocated,” Flanagan said.

“If Miozza thinks the money’s in the budget, Flanagan said, “then show us where it is.”

Last Tuesday, Miozza told City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros and John Nunes, treasurer and director of financial services, that he wanted to give back to the fire department a portion of the $14 million SAFER grant the department received two years ago that was transferred to the stabilization account.

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