SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield City Councilor and mayoral candidate Justin Hurst is calling on Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno to fund the board of police commissioners for the 2024 fiscal year budget.
Hurst claims that for the second year in a row, the board of police commissioner’s have been left out of the budget. According to Hurst, the board is asking for basic resources and says that this prevents the board from being able to do their jobs. Hurst says commissioner’s have been putting in requests for a PO Box, cell phones, an attorney and access to computers connected to the Springfield Police Department servers.
“We need to get it in the budget, someone needs to be held accountable. We need to make sure our board of police commissioners have the resources to be successful,” said Hurst.
22News looked into the Fiscal Year 2024 budget and did not see anything for the board of police commissioners. Mayor Sarno told 22News he had no comment on the matter.
22News also contacted the city’s finance department which said, “The city has never appropriated funds or created specific line items for any of our boards and commissions. The needs of the boards and commissions are met through the overall appropriation to their respective departments. In this case, the police commission can request supplies, materials and other needs through the existing police or law department budgets. This is the same for the Parks Commission, Traffic Commission and all other boards/commissions in the City.”
Sarno and Hurst are both running for Mayor of Springfield, some of the other mayoral candidates are State Representative Orlando Ramos, City Council President Jesse Lederman and Dr. David Ciampi.