Publication Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Cracks in the community
Cracks in the community
(May 25, 2005) City budget cuts will decrease quality of life in small ways
by Bill D'Agostino
Browner playing fields. More graffiti. Louder neighborhoods. Messier tennis courts.
In 1987, writer Susan Faludi described Palo Alto as "the Bay Area's perfect city," citing city leaders intense focus on noise and traffic issues and noting that "a person can go to jail for six months for jacking his leaf blower above 82 decibels."
But this suburban haven will lose some of its luster in coming years -- the much ballyhooed but little understood budget for the City of Palo Alto includes numerous cuts to the high quality of life residents have come to expect.
Notwithstanding that reality, and despite months of warnings about budget "crises" and the projected $5.2 million shortfall, the city's proposed spending plan for 2005-06 has generated little community discussion this year.
"Most residents have no clue," community activist Bob Moss said. "I'm just not seeing any reaction from anybody."
The city's union leaders have frequently complained at meetings about the 18 proposed layoffs, but the general lack of interest is surprising given Palo Alto's reputation for political activism -- especially since the document will affect everybody who lives, works or plays in the city.
As of last Friday, the only budget item that received much attention was a proposal to eliminate the Wingspread summer theatre program for local young adults. After receiving scores of e-mails in protest, the Finance Committee removed the proposal from the budget May 10.
Moss, the only member of the public to attend most of the committee's budget hearings this month, was flabbergasted the cut was suggested in the first place.
"It's typical," he said. "They put something out there they know the public is going to get upset about; meanwhile they slip other stuff through that the public doesn't have time to get excited about that is just as important."
As Moss suggested, the proposed $121 million spending plan will impact Palo Altans if the City Council approves it on June 20.
Although city officials praised the plan for reducing such impact, there are several changes residents may notice if approved :
* building permits will take longer to process;
* the city's parks, fields, tennis courts and golf course will be less well maintained;
* fire Station 8 will only be staffed on high fire alert days, approximately 20 days a summer, as opposed to 120 days a year;
* Palo Alto will be a louder, since there will be only one community services officer available to respond to noise complaints;
* there will only be three, not four, K9 dogs on patrol; and
* Graffiti will take longer to be cleaned.
Although the Police Department is facing, percentage-wise, one of the smallest hits of any department in the proposed budget, Police Chief Lynne Johnson noted its staffing levels will be at its lowest since the early 1970s. During busier times, officers will not be able respond to complaints about non-emergencies, she said.
Under the proposed plan, the city will also be expecting more from residents' and businesses' pocketbooks.
Gas and electricity rates will rise 15 and 19.5 percent, respectively. A new daily $5 fee will be expected from anyone who parks their automobile in the city's three nature preserves. A new $1 fee will also be passed along to theatergoers attending performances at the Community Theatre.
Many other increases in fines and fees are also under consideration.
Perhaps one reason the budget isn't producing much controversy is that some of the potentially affected groups haven't been informed of its details.
Until a reporter called her for comment, Kay Carey, the president of the Palo Alto Tennis Club, thought city spending on maintaining tennis courts was actually increasing, not being slashed.
The current proposal calls for the city to end a contract with a company that steam-cleans the courts every month; instead, the courts will be cleaned "as needed."
"That sounds completely unworkable," Carey said.
Former Mayor Gary Fazzino has for years advocated greater public involvement in the budget process by holding forums on the cuts and reaching out to neighborhood groups.
"It's still too much of an insider's game," he said last month.
Even Finance Committee members agreed residents probably are uninformed about what is being proposed.
Councilwoman and committee member Dena Mossar, however, argued the cuts are only modest changes to the rich array of services the city offers, and thus wouldn't significantly affect the average person's life. It's true, she said, some groups would be required to help the city maintain its athletic facilities. But, she added, it's good for the community to partner with the city.
The city manager and his staff, she said, "have put together an awesome package."
This is the fifth consecutive year of budget cuts for the City of Palo Alto.
In past years, the city eliminated 40 positions through attrition, not layoffs. Some programs, especially libraries and special events, were also trimmed or eliminated.
The root of the city's ongoing financial difficulties is twofold: a continually sluggish local economy and skyrocketing employee-benefit costs.
"You cut and cut and cut but what keeps popping up again and again is the benefit costs," Councilwoman and Finance Committee member Yoriko Kishimoto said.
The city's workers get their pensions through the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Since CalPERS is tied to the stock market, Palo Alto paid little or nothing for most of its employees during the boom years. But since 2003, those costs have jumped from $5.7 million to $10.7 million, according to city figures.
Meanwhile, the city's health care costs grew by more than 50 percent in the last four years. This year, it will cost approximately $10.8 million.
Although the city's financial analysts expect pension costs to stabilize in coming years, health care costs are predicted to continue increasing dramatically, doubling by 2015.
All of the benefits are regulated by negotiated union contracts.
"What we need to do eventually is have staff look at ways to cap or slow the growth of benefit spending as a percentage of the budget," Kishimoto said.
The city manager has continually reminded the Finance Committee that if the city cuts the $5.2 million deficit this year by dipping into reserves, the city is projected to face similar budget shortfalls for the next nine years.
But even with the proposed cuts, numerous other programs will rely on outside funding.
To keep them going, the city will seek sponsorship for the Dog's Best Friend Run, Twilight and Brown Bag concerts and the Family Resources program, which maintains and kiosk and Web site listing community resources. Also, long awaited upgrades to popular city facilities, such as the Art Center and the Junior Museum and Zoo, will also require help from the groups that support them.
"More and more we're going to be depending on these partnership with these friends' organizations," Kishimoto said.
Other new buildings, including an upgraded police building and central library, will require new funding, possibly from an increase in the city's tax on hotel guests or a new business license fee. And the city will explore requiring residents to contribute to sidewalk repairs later this year.
There are numerous beloved programs that will not face significant cuts, including the city's libraries, junior museum and zoo, art center and shuttle. "I think it speaks highly of the administration, plus the cooperation of the staff itself, to have been able to achieve that," Councilman and Finance Committee member Jack Morton said.
Still, within the next decade the city is scheduled to run out of money set aside in its reserves for maintaining its aging infrastructure, such as buildings and streets.
The Finance Committee, despite eight long meetings this month, has only made a few changes to the budget as the city manager initially proposed in late April. (The final hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday night, May 31.)
In addition to reinstating Wingpsread, the committee agreed to not lay off a park ranger, thereby keeping a number of public education programs. And the committee also asked that the city consider reinstating a contribution to an outside wildlife rescue program.
By making those tentative changes, though, the projected surplus for the year dropped from $100,000 to $17,000, a razor-thin margin.
In addition, most of the committee's votes have been unanimous, another sign of the council's increased civility. Meanwhile, the committee has seemingly not responded to numerous requests from the city's unions to consider options other than layoffs.
"It appears that the Finance Committee is not listening to its employees and they're not asking any questions," said Tony Spitaleri, the firefighters' union president. "And Frank is pushing his agenda through."
The city manager's agenda, according to Spitaleri, is to lay off employees "no matter what" in order "to pacify the community."
Councilwoman Mossar called that comment "outrageous." The city manager, she said, is a "people person" who finds the layoff process "disheartening." She said the unions' sole idea floated publicly -- incentives for early retirements -- wouldn't save money because the jobs of the people who would retire early would still need to be filled.
If the union had other ideas that would permanently reduce the city's expenditures, Mossar said, "I'd love to see it."
The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce is worried about a proposed layoff to an employee in the city manager's office who helps support economic development, especially since the city is working to keep businesses in Palo Alto and bring new businesses into the city.
But Chamber CEO and President Sandra Lonnquist had compassion for Benest, saying he's in a "very, very, very tough position." The chamber even supported the large proposed utility rate increases.
"In general, we're not going to throw stones at Frank," Lonnquist said. "He's between a rock and a hard place."
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.
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