Comments by BeachFan
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Posted on May 16 at 10:43 a.m.
"By 2014-15 the deficit will jump to $13.7 million"
CEO Chandra Wallar explained, “We have become an organization poised to navigate toward a stable future with a sustainable level of service.”
What am I missing?
Posted on May 13 at 2:55 p.m.
The Energy Division, like all County Departments, need to be reevaluated and reduced. There simply is not enough money to go around. And I disagree, from a dollar standpoint, enforcement fines do not cover cost for enforcement in this area. In fact, if there are other agencies that do the same thing, wether, it's state or federal, then it is a duplication of services and should be revamped. Again, I don't like Adam at all, but if we can reduce duplication of services, thereby reducing staff and long term pension obligations in this and other departments, then we need to take a long hard look. The County cannot continue business as usual.
Posted on May 13 at 8:59 a.m.
All this being said, cuts need to be made or areas contracted out. This will be the 5th year the County submits an upside down budget, well, they will tell you it's balanced on paper, but once adopted, revisions constantly are made quarterly to "adjust" imbalance. Watch the circus unfold.
Posted on May 13 at 8:56 a.m.
Fines pay for the entire cost of Energy Department staff? Wow, folks above need to do their homework. Where do you take into account long term obligations for pension/retirement benefits? One enforcement position, with benefits for mid level staff is close to $130,000 per employee, upper management is closer to $180,000. So unless we are collecting annual fees in excess of $1,000,000 to offset 6 positions for example, we aren't coming anywhere near close to recouping costs. So in essence, revenues do not offset expenditures. The County contributes a percentage for retirement out of the General Fund, which is where these positions are. And Nathan, there is a HUGE difference between FTE's (which included unbenefited positions such as part time, contracted positions) and Full Time Regular employees. Unlike you, I had family in both City and County government, so I'm intimately familiar with how they work. Also, like you, I have attended meetings. I encourage folks to tune in and actually see how messed up our County finances already is.
Posted on May 10 at 11:02 a.m.
Nathan obviously doesn't understand how County government works. First, if you have an enforcement complaint, you have an enforcement officer, if hazardous materials exist, then you pull in Fire Haz Mat, then administrative direct costs for the writing of the reports, review and final determination. These are County government employees with salaries, pension obligations and benefits. How on earth is this "revenue neutral'? I guarantee if a cost benefit analysis was done, fines would come no where near covering expenses for these staff hours.
That being said, Adam is an extreme tea party boy, however, he does have a valid point. Cuts need to be made and pet projects need the axe first. $10 million upside down needs to come from somewhere. This groups of Supervisors have shown to be complete failures in addressing the long term problems, unlike most communities in CA that have made the hard decisions and are at least treading water instead of sinking.
Posted on May 6 at 11:25 a.m.
Of course Salud supports him. Salud always supports those who kiss his rear end. I don't think they can fire a sargent, they are union backed and not at will. Although she should watch her back if she loses.
Posted on April 25 at 11:30 a.m.
We've been losing for a while. The pinnacle was in 2009 when enviros for hire Enviromental Defense Center (EDC) was caught making backroom deals with PXP in exchange for payola through a 3rd party, for attorney fees as reported in this paper. Next UCSB used to be a bed of environmental activism most recently replaced by the Deltopia/Floatopia crowd who would rather party and trash the place and beaches (which is why they were closed) than concern themselves with the environment.
Posted on April 11 at 1:31 p.m.
Wow, with the County projected to be another $10 million upside down, this is the best they can do? They can save 5 times that if each supervisor would reduce their staff to one aide. But then again, Janet, Salud and Dorreen aren't known for intellectual thinking or long term solutions. What do you have again Salud??? 3 Janet? 3. Joe Centeno had ONE.
Posted on April 11 at 1:28 p.m.
Some good points Willy. But it's the cops that have the biggest pension liabilities for the City. Their ability to pad their salaries with outrageous overtime hours, and have their ending pension based on this inflated salary is what is killing the system.
What's left? City streets and infracstructure deteriorate and you start closing pools, parks, libraries. Which is why you let the votes decide. If they support, ok, if not, well, cuts eventually will need to be done to offset the long term pension liabilities. Of course, long term thinking is severly lacking in this County.
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Posted on May 23 at 8:44 a.m.
No new funding required???? Two full time positions with benefits and a new temporary position are being offset by the cost savings of one department head that is paid $160K+??? Ah, the BOS must mean, no cost now, but when it comes time for quarterly budget adjustments, watch the numbers grow. Noble goals, cost money, County in the hole for millions (for the 4th straight year) and back to spend, spend spend.
On Mental Health Services Deemed Disconnected and Dysfunctional