CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - Twenty-six St. Louis County employees will be losing their jobs as the county continues to deal with a difficult budget environment.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that County Executive Charlie Dooley announced Wednesday that 20 full-time employees in the Parks Department and six in Public Works will be laid off. Other cutbacks will include closing the county’s three public swimming pools two weeks earlier this summer.

The moves are part of an effort to trim $3.6 million out of the Parks Department. But they also angered some, including County Council Chairman Mike O’Mara, who said Dooley promised there would be no layoffs this year.

Dooley says he never made such a promise.

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