AUBURN - Six have got to go, but two are on their way.

That was the verdict of the Cayuga County Judicial and Public Safety Committee Monday night, when its members voted to decommission six Cayuga County Sheriff's vehicles. In a separate resolution, they then voted to purchase two new ones.

Should the first resolution pass on the floor of the Legislature tonight, Sheriff Rob Outhouse will have to choose which six get the boot by July 15.

Outhouse was not happy.

"We would be looking at digging into patrol cars," Outhouse said, noting that there are other vehicles he would rather decommission. "I can meet my six vehicles and I would still be able to have a ... fleet in tact so that the public safety network isn't affected."

But David Pappert, R-Auburn, said that the newest version of the resolution doesn't require the sheriff to focus solely on patrol cars.

"People were reading that it had to be marked patrol cars, and that would be misleading," Pappert said. "All this does is broaden the pool of cars he can take out."

An earlier version, which had been passed at a committee meeting two weeks ago, stated that the vehicles decommissioned had to be "patrol vehicles."

The new resolution reads "Sheriff's vehicles (SUVs or automobiles)."

Legislators are looking to cut six of the sheriff's approximately 40 vehicles to scale down expenses, but critics argue that such actions may jeopardize public safety and limit deputies' abilities to respond quickly.

After agreeing to get rid of some vehicles, the committee then turned to buying new ones.

Legislators passed a resolution to buy two fully-marked sheriff patrol vehicles on New York state contract.

The purchase, which was authorized by the Legislature earlier this year, would use funds that were appropriated in the 2005 county budget.

The two cars would replace current marked patrol vehicles with extremely high mileage.

Pappert said this measure might help alleviate some public safety concerns.

"At the end of the day, it's really going to be a reduction of four cars, which really shouldn't be that much of a hardship," Pappert said.

In other news:

The committee passed a resolution to fill the position of Public Safety Answering Point administrator on a temporary basis. Current administrator Ed Laraway requested a leave of absence for medical reasons, said Steven Netti, R-Auburn.

"I think Ed does a tremendously good job," Pappert said. "I would definitely want to get him back."

Legislators asked Lori DeBois, who was at one time the interim 911 administrator, to consider the $42,633 position, and DeBois accepted.

The resolution will go to the floor of the Legislature tonight.

Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net