Parade of Pain Begins

The City Budget Office needs to look at the figures clearly.
Not only will they be cutting a great service but also they will actually increase the cost to the city and the taxpayer. First in police overtime and second in booking fees. The bottom line is that we the taxpayers will have to pay the booking fees, the court costs, and the overtime. The City will be undoing a smart thing they did years ago just when other cities are opening Sobering Centers to save money.

Is it finally coming down to us versus them (govt employees)? Will they watch their co workers in these programs go down before sacrificing some pay? Will we be ultimately left with the most senior employees in the most valued services receiving their same old pay check while services suffer?
Since unions take market forces out of the picture why do we always get the argument that a given position gets paid a certain amount in Visalia or Santa Maria so we need to pay the same here?

Clearly we have a revenue problem. There have been calculations proffered stating that if recalled governor Gray Davis's vehicle license fee (VLF) had been accepted by the populace Carifornia's budget would be balanced, even today. But the Idiocracy prevailed with a recall and elected a Terminator. The terminated fee would have been a return to the historic 2.0 % of the vehicle's value, up from a mere 0.65%.

But Mayor Schneider should not be too concerned about school children crossing Las Positas Road. City administrator Tripp-Jones declared Las Positas Road technically safe way back in the 1990's at a time when residents expressed safety and environmental concerns. I am also not certain why it is necessary to be concerned about Samarkand and Stanley Drive resident's own school children's crossings of Las Positas Road when the school children who live on Las Positas in their single family residential homes are given no consideration as to their safety or health.

Still I can't help but wonder what safe street advocate, Tallant Rd resident and council member Michael Self thinks about this.

While president of a safe streets organization council member Self was always a furious challenger of every proposed safety infrastructure proposal but I do not recall her ever actually advocating for anything. When two people were killed recently on her Tallant Road and Las Positas Road intersection, 2 and 1/2 blocks from where our expert Self lives, I thought I would have at least heard Self publicly and as furiously questioning the safety of this antiquated and ill planned intersection that also borders Adams Elementary School.

Council member Self's 'safe streets' organization was her springboard to the seat on the council. So I can't help but wonder what conservative Self and those who support her would advocate for in place of the crossing guards. Anything? Nothing? I am assuming that some of Self's Samarkand neighbors might consider Las Positas and San Onofre unsafe for their own sanguine Samarkand and Stanley Drive sensibilities.

And let us have our safe streets expert and council member Self also make suggestions for the Calle Real and Las Positas intersections since school children may have some safety problems crossing there also. Council member Dale Francisco cloned Self and I think was past president of the same 'safe streets' organization. Council member Frank Hotchkiss, seemingly cut from the same cloth also needs to start making suggestions. There doesn't seem to be any money around for more police enforcement. Are dead children the only options.

Mayor Schneider is correct. It's just "nuts."

(another suggestion: a cocktail tax to pay for all the boozing problems)

113 fire dept positions. 19,000,000 in salary paid out in the 2010 budget. So that's roughly $168,000 per fireman. Are you joking me?!! I'm all for paying those guys but that is a ridiculous amount to pay when you think about it. I hear any open positions are routinely over applied for many times over. So there is high demand for the position and we still can't cut salaries? How about reducing the overtime rate?

How is this happening when our budget is in dire need of cuts?... and that's just stats from one department.

GREED. When will the police and firemen admit to ripping off their communities with unsustainable compensation and retirement benefits that they expect their friends and neighbors to sacrifice and pay for? Do these guys and gals really need to retire in their early 50's? Is everyone else supposed to pay more taxes and retire at 75 to support this nonsense? Will anyone in uniform speak out?

I'd gladly give up the new brick sidewalks to save the crossing guards.

What is going on in this town -- and who are making these crazy trade-offs.

Raise taxes.

My idea is to cut retirement vesting for a single year. If I recall, with regards to the police budget, this would have solved the problem immediately. Retirement funding is a luxury for any industry and private sector 401K was hit badly. However, once the companies survived, they went right back to matching. The city should take a lesson from private sector and chop that retirement NOW!

Forget all that smart talk; how about we crack down on illegals?

No doubt our city, county and state are in dire financial straits. That being said we need to find a way to keep our firefighters, police, crossing guards, etc. compensated and the Sobering Center open. For example I believe those firefighters deserve every penny of the supposedly 168K they earn a year, which I doubt is an actual figure. I know I would pay that price to save my Westside home (or my homeowner's insurance would) if it were burning down. Think about what the Tea Fire and Jesusita Fire cost this town just not financially, but psychologically. I also believe the police/EMT's etc. deserve a good salary. These people lay their lives on the line for us.
The Sobering Center NEEDS our support, in the long run it saves the city, county, local hospitals etc. enormous amounts of money. Granted they may see some of the same inebriates over and over again but what about the person who has made one foolish mistake, or the person who might finally figure out they have a problem and need help from AA/NA or other rehabilitation program?
I can forgo the fancy brick cross walks, flags on State St. and many of the decorative items Santa Barbara is so concerned about presenting to the tourists.
Sometimes I think this town just needs to "get over itself" looks in more ways than one are not all they are cracked up to be.

Gardengirls' argument for high fireman salaries makes no sense. 'Pay them a lot because having your house burn is so terrible'. Should restaurants charge more to people who are extra hungry?

@gardengirl. The figure is not in dispute. Look up the budget yourself on the city website. You certainly are allowed to have your opinion as to what a city worker should be paid and I respect that. However I think you miss the point. The brick sidewalks are paid for with federal highway dollars. The city must use those funds for road work. (crazy I know) As for cutting flags and other decorations, would that it were that easy to make the budget balance. Unfortunately hard decisions need to be made. Would it be so terrible for a fireman to make $140,000 a year!? That's still a great yearly take home. All I'm saying is that there are some fairly fat salaries being paid out across the board and everyone needs to make some cuts so we don't cut crossing guards and services like the sobering center.

Aren't the brick sidewalks paid for by the Redevelopment Agency?

@pimms Yes, but I *think* the money is from the fed stimulus with strings attached. I could be wrong.

I think the firemen deserve every penny - they're the ones out there, away from their families, risking their lives many days. As for the necessary cuts, I would take away from a sobering center over cutting cross guards for our school children. I understand alcoholism can be viewed as a "disease", but these people still have a choice to make, as others do not.