FORT PIERCE, Fla. — I spoke to Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson Tuesday afternoon about what’s being done to address the issue of gun violence. She said at the end of the day it comes down to money.
Her response came just a few hours after U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., personally asked the mayor the following question in a statement to WPTV: “Did the police department request more officers in the last fiscal year, and did the city fund that request?"
I took that same question to Hudson who told me the following:
“I’m not going respond to what he said, OK. About the specific question about the police, yes, we increased the funding for police and the police chief is always trying to fill spots, because what happens a with our police department, is they come to work for us, we train them but then they go someplace else. That has been a perennial problem and we’ve been trying to get their salaries up, so that doesn’t happen.”
Hudson also told me she would not respond to part of the statement where Mast claimed, “[The city] has to be told about a problem at least 10 times before it decides to do something about it.”
Hudson told me that maintaining police is one of the biggest parts of the city’s budget.