Benjamin vows to make first responder funding tops

Columbia mayoral candidate Steve Benjamin is making one of his first major policy stances this week, calling for the city’s first responders to be considered first for funding during the budget process. Over the past couple years, Columbia’s police, fire fighters and paramedics, et. al., have been getting hit hard and the City Council deals with financial mismanagement in city government, added to the hard times everybody is going through.

Recently, a proposal came down to close two fire engines. For those of you in Shandon, that doesn’t look good, since the Devine Street station has one of those slated to be shut down. About $9 million is supposed to be eliminated from public safety funding, as it stands right now.

“Every society’s most basic organizing principle is safety and it has always been understood that the city’s most sacred duty is to protect its citizens. Unfortunately, by neglecting our police and fire services, Council has abandoned that duty. As a result, we are all in harm’s way,” Benjamin said in a statement.

While he doesn’t plan on raising taxes to restore funding, the idea is to do budget-streamlining things like, “eliminating waste, limiting non-essential spending, instituting a hiring freeze, and … the consolidation of several services with Richland County.”