The City of Buffalo has requested, and received, the resignation of a deputy fire commissioner based on what it calls a failure to rein in overtime costs. Vincent Gugliuzza is a nearly 30-year veteran of the fire department whose job, until Tuesday, included managing overtime for department personnel, a cost that Mayor Byron Brown says has been escalating in recent months.
Brown says concerns over overtime have been an issue for years.
"Those concerns had been expressed over a period of time and had not been addressed to my satisfaction," Brown told reporters Tuesday morning.
Gugliuzza was appointed deputy commissioner in 2010. He had been with the department since 1985. Brown says he does have a civil service position he can return to.
The Buffalo News reports Gugliuzza was one of Mayor Brown's biggest campaign donors among city employees, having contributed $5,700 to Brown's last mayoral campaign.
A representative from the local union was unavailable for comment.
