London's proposed budget took another step toward passage Tuesday, but not without heated discussions between city council members and Mayor Randall Weddle.
Weddle warned the plan would result in 51 layoffs, including an entire department of first responders.
"We'd like to put on the record here that (in) the current budget you're about to pass the fire department will automatically be busted. So at this point, if this budget passes through here today, we'll have to fire everybody at the fire department," the mayor said.
Yet council member Judd Weaver placed the blame on Weddle, claiming the amended budget was the end result of improper hires made by the mayor.
"I know that there's a lot of upset people here. God knows, I spent 16 years working beside most of you and wanted nothing but the best for you, supported you all I could," Weaver said. "But here we are with all these new employees that were hired illegally, it was up to this man right here. He's made it clear. He does all the hiring and firing."
The back-and-forth is only the latest confrontation in a long-running feud between the council and the mayor, who was briefly tossed out of office by city leaders before a court decision cleared the way for him to return.