ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A budget crunch in Ann Arbor means firefighters are losing their jobs, but somehow the city found hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a water sculpture. Some say it's sacrificing public safety for a piece of art.
It's a three piece water sculpture that's no drop in the bucket. Ann Arbor leaders are spending $850,000 at a time when four people in the fire department are being laid off.
"I think, honestly, the city spends way too much on art. I mean, we just built a whole new art museum," said Alyssa Cohen.
When you're losing firefighters, is it time to back off a high price art project and try to use those funds to save those jobs, we asked Ann Arbor Mayor John Heiftje. He answered, "That would be an option, but the reality is that because of the accounting rules, none of these funds could be used to spend on the firefighters."
Accounting rules -- that's one explanation. The head of the firefighter's union calls it something else.
"It is a slap in the face," said Matt Schroeder with the Ann Arbor Firefighter's Union.
We asked Heiftje what he has to say to those firefighters that are now really down on their luck. He answered, "My heart goes out to them and to their families."
"We could've taken it out of our general fund reserve. We don't think that's wise to spend our reserve funds on regularly occurring expenses," he added.
The funding for the new sculpture to go in front of the new police and court building is coming from a special fund designed for art projects. The mayor says there won't be any reduction in response times or firehouses closed, but, again, there's a separation depending who you ask.
"It impacts our response time, our ability to do our jobs in a timely manner," Schroeder said. "We wonder where the priorities of the citizens are and the City Council. Our concern as a local union is the safety of the citizens."
Even though this is a numbers issue, the firefighters say they can fight back. They're trying to get the city to apply for some federal grants. That money could potentially get their jobs back.
