Some fear Levy's cuts will end services

Some of County Executive Steve Levy's top commissioners warned Monday of the severe impact of his $2.7 billion budget, saying the spending plan would "cripple" their ability to provide services.

Top health and social services officials said proposed cuts, including 710 layoffs, will shut down social service centers, halt water testing at beaches, end pollution investigations and put 3,500 potential child abuse victims at risk.

Robert Tomarken, the Suffolk health commissioner, warned that the department will be hampered in everything from responding to outbreaks of communicable diseases to performing annual restaurant inspections. Tomarken said he was not consulted on the cuts.

"The department has . . . emerged from a period of turbulence due to state aid funding issues and will be entering an even darker period of chaos and uncertainty," he said. "This will be the end of the county health department as we know it today."

Another Levy appointee, Social Services Commissioner Gregory Blass called the elimination of 295 departmental jobs -- 124 through layoffs -- "impossible to absorb" because public assistance rolls and the number of homeless continue to rise. Levy's budget, he said, "will literally cripple this department."

The hearings followed warnings by legislative budget analysts last week that Levy's budget, even with the layoffs, is out of balance by $135.2 million. Levy maintains his budget is balanced and his revenue estimates are sound.

"There would be no need for departmental layoffs if the unions would agree to contribute toward their health plan coverage, as does most everyone in the private sector," Levy said in a statement Monday. "We hope legislators will now pressure the unions to negotiate this reasonable concession."

But County Attorney Christine Malafi, one of Levy's most loyal appointees, called on lawmakers to reverse the layoffs of two attorneys who work in Family Court, "to make sure children don't get hurt." She said Levy had not consulted her about cuts to the office.

District Attorney Thomas Spota testified that Levy's move to cut 27 positions in his office -- including 15 through layoffs -- would hamper the office's efforts to keep up with a growing load of cases, including those involving gangs and drugs. "The bottom line is I need more, not less, investigators," Spota said.