By Kevin Johnson
Mayor of Sacramento
This week brings the City of Sacramento deep into its annual budget process, an effort that has become a painful exercise in crisis management and cutbacks.
The Police budget is up for discussion tonight (Tuesday, May 17, 2011). Convention, Culture and Leisure and Community Development departments will be reviewed this afternoon. Last week was Parks and Recreation. Next week is Fire.
None of the news is good. And nothing about the process is pleasant. The financial distress won’t let up, even after four years of cuts totaling about $200 million.
Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and his associate, Betty Masuoka, were working on their budget only a few days when they recognized the truth: the City’s structural deficit for the upcoming fiscal years is $39 million.
It can’t be papered over. It can’t be resolved by moving dollars from one bucket to another. It can only be resolved by cutting our spending.
And as the City cuts its spending, it must remember that a government's principles and priorities are embodied in its budget allocations.
Last week, as the City Council discussed cuts to the parks and recreation budget, residents spoke with heartfelt sincerity about the importance of various programs, from senior centers to community centers to wading pools.
At the dais, council members were visibly moved. Wheels turned as members tried to silently calculate where $1 million could be found and restored as a patch for parks.
But money isn't hiding under a seat cushion. Patches won’t work. The City has used up its patches. Cuts must be made. Our goal of being a full-service city is in jeopardy.
We have become accustomed to doing more with less, to eliminating wasteful practices, to capitalizing on efficiencies, to making sacrifices to provide the service our residents expect and deserve. No department in the City has exemplified this spirit better than the Police Department.
The Sacramento Police Department is doing what all great law enforcement agencies do in crisis – leading the way. From concessions made by rank and file to strategic deployments designed by command staff, Sac PD has been a "best practice" example of finding ways to maintain top-level service levels despite disappearing resources.
Now we face the worst options – laying-off key members of our law enforcement work force. This is a true crisis.
When I ran for mayor in 2008, I said public safety is a “core function” of City government and would be my top priority. For three years, I have fought for grants to bring money to Sacramento while we manage this crisis. I have fought to preserve the budgets of our public safety departments.
The choices we must now make are not easy. There are no good options. But when we are done, our principles will be made clear to everyone who looks at our budget.
Before anything else, a city must protect its citizens, with full accountability and without making excuses. I can't predict when this budget crisis will end. But until that day and afterward, public safety must be our top priority.
As we move forward, Sacramento can’t afford services, programs and staffing levels that lumber along without measurable goals and accountability. Every department must be 100 percent efficient, not 60 or 80 percent. Every program must have a measurable benefit to residents and taxpayers.
With a $39 million deficit, plus another $23 million deficit estimated for the 2012-13 fiscal year, we can’t afford to assume anything about the allocation of City services. If we can’t prove the worth of every penny in our budget, it’s a bad penny.
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