Bremerton’s City Engineer Mike Mecham was dismissed from his post last month in a move to cut city expenses.

Mecham, who had been city engineer for five years, was paid for remaining vacation time, sick leave and three months’ severance pay. His last day on the job was Nov. 30. His dismissal will save the city $119,972 in annual salary.

Mayor Patty Lent said the decision was made while hiring Public Works and Utilities Director Vincent Akhimie in June. Akhimie, as a licensed professional engineer, is qualified to oversee the city’s engineers as Mecham did, making his position no longer necessary, Lent said.

“With our budget restraints, we didn’t want to duplicate what we didn’t have to,” Lent said.