City Council Thursday voted to freeze hiring in city government.

The motion passed unanimously. The freeze means that Butler will hire no one, “unless a need arises,” until the city’s financial situation stabilizes.

The freeze was suggested at Tuesday’s forum meeting by councilman Michael Walter as a way to save money so the city doesn’t run out of cash before the end of the year. After the council’s meeting to discuss finances on July 14, Walter estimated that the city could run out of money by mid-November.

The amendment of “unless a need arises” was added after Mayor Tom Donaldson and Butler Police Department Deputy Chief David Adam expressed concerns about the police department being understaffed.

“I am in favor of stabilizing the city’s finances; I don’t disagree with you,” Donaldson said to Walter during discussion of the motion. “I think if we can (hire a police officer) before the end of the year, we need to.”

Adam addressed the council during discussion. He explained that he had 17 officers on patrol, and two of them are in a probationary period. He said that leaves 15 officers patrolling the city, and with vacation and sick time, that sometimes leaves less than that.

“We strongly oppose the freeze at this time,” he said before the amendment was made. “I understand the city is under a lot of stress, running out of money and things like that.”

Adam explained his primary concern.

“My men’s safety are of grave concern to me,” he said. “The community’s safety is of grave concern to me.”

Adam said that with the process of finding applicants and the civil service testing, the hiring process would take months.

“It’s probably going to take us a while to hire them anyways, but we would like that flexibility,” he said.

He also said that he currently didn’t have any new candidates to be hired.

After councilwoman Kathy Kline assured that creating and populating the hiring list has nothing to do with the city’s budget, the amendment to add “unless a need arises” was made.

The hiring freeze also will affect the Butler Fire Department, which hasn’t had a fire chief since Nick Ban retired in April.

Kathy Kline, the director of public safety, commended the work of the fire department in the absence of a fire chief.

“They’re doing just wonderful,” she said.