7:32 p.m.:
Interim City Manager Kevin O’Rourke is back in the chair, and the budget study session is starting.
Deputy City Manager Laurie Montes is going to talk about City Charter-mandated functions.
She is presenting mandated functions by the charter: The City Council and planning and civil service commissions, city manager, attorney, auditor, clerk, fire chief, police chief and various other functions. Also, other regulations require financial reporting, budget, street maintenance, a general plan and buiding permits, for example.
“If we shut down everything – this is the absolutely absurd alternative – if we shut down everyting,” you could solve the problem, but there would be nobody to write payroll checks to police officers and firefighters, or gas for their vehicles, etc.
“There would be no more city council, as well.” He said, “There would be no paper.”
Councilman Dale Fritchen said nobody would be around to process tax revenue.
O’Rourke said that if library and recreation funding was eliminated, and public works drastically reduced, “what’s important here is that if you adopted that in July, you could see where you would begin to get some benefit.” However, he said that the deficit margin would begin to increase again in later years, because labor contracts are the driver of the city’s budget problem.
By eliminating recreation centers and libraries, the city would lose access to outside revenue sources, too, O’Rourke said.
He said, “I’ve actually considered … if labor groups are interested” in trusting our numbers more than they currently do, they could help pay for the city audit this year.
7:46 p.m.:
Regarding proposed police reductions, O’Rourke is asking if there are comments.
Councilwoman Leslie Baranco Martin is looking at the proposed police reductions on a PowerPoint and says, “The concept of that happening is just unpalatable to me.” The PowerPoint includes the same eight line item reductions in PD proposed last week.
Councilman Elbert Holman Jr. said, “As I look at what we have going here, this is really going to affect your Police Department, and I mean it’s going to affect it big time.” He said, “When you look at, like, reduced investigations … You have to be able to investigate and prosecute even those cases (misdemeanors), because they seriously affect the overall effectiveness of your Police Department.”
Holman said, “I really don’t think they can do it.” He said, “Something for us to think about as we go down this road.”
Martin said, “You can’t do it.”
Mayor Ann Johnston said it will only be necessary if employee negotiations are unsuccessful. She said it is a “worst-case scenario.”
Vice Mayor Kathy Miller said, “When I look at this, what I see – and this is my concern - I understand the mission, the core mission is to respond. But what we’re doing with this plan is we are funnelling all of our resources into only being reactive.” She said her concern is that the plan eliminates preventative police work.
She said, “I think the plan itself really needs to be analyzed.” She said, “I don’t see it being the least bit viable.”
Councilwoman Susan Eggman said, “People don’t want to go down this path.”
Councilman Dale Fritchen said, “Nobody wants to make any of these cuts anywhere.” He said the council at the same time must be “responsible” and decide where to cut.
Councilwoman Susan Eggman said, “I think you’re going to continue to get these kind of responses.” Eggman said, “Most of all of this is in services.” She said the city has to put other things on the table. At least explain, she said, the city’s involvement in Stockton Asparagus Festival and the Washington Mutual Building, for example.
O’Rourke said, “A $14 million cut, remember, even if we were successful with labor groups to get all the concessions to be continued … we’re talking about a range of no more than $8 million.” He said the city still would have $6 million or more to cut.
