Island budget stresses public safety

$253 million spending plan boosts police, fire services while cutting elsewhere

By Susan McDonough, Alameda Times STAFF WRITER, posted July 23, 2004

Police, firefighters and parks emerged as priorities in the city's intense budget process, which included seven public workshops and two City Council meetings in the course of just a few months. And that was reflected in the $253 million budget adopted Tuesday by the Alameda City Council. The budget includes $69 million for general city services.

"In all my years on council, we've never worked as hard on a budget as we did on this one," Vice Mayor Tony Daysog said.

The city will boost police and fire services and put more recreation employees in its 10 parks, while asking other departments to cut staff and reduce services to offset an $8 million revenue shortfall.

The city's budget took a significant hit when the California Public Employees Retirement System endured $2 million in investment losses, which cities across the state are obliged to subsidize.

Alameda must increase its contribution to the retirement fund by $5 million to a total of $11 million in fiscal 2004-05, City Manager Jim Flint said.

The added expense and anticipated state budget cuts are the biggest factors driving the shortfall, he said.

The city had originally considered asking each of its eight departments, including police and fire, to cut costs by 5 percent. But the City Council vetoed that plan upon learning it would have left a West End fire station severely short-staffed and would have essentially grounded one of the department's two ladder fire trucks.

Public safety is clearly a priority for a community that Flint boasts has some of the shortest emergency response times in the county.

"Invariably when you define quality of life ... a key component is the idea of personal safety," he said. "That (relates) directly to police and fire."

With council approval Tuesday, the Alameda Fire Department will begin filling nine vacancies, fire Chief Jim Christiansen said.

Although library hours may be trimmed and lines for business licenses and building permits could grow longer, Chief Financial Officer Juelle-Ann Boyer said reductions to other city services will be modest.

"We did hear what the council said about not affecting service delivery," Boyer said.

City Hall departments, including the City Manager's Office Finance Department, Human Resources and Public Works are expected to shed costs and possibly staff.

Meanwhile, the city will try to fill two police officer positions and add two police dispatchers and a telephone operator.

"Public safety has been given primary focus because people's lives are involved," Councilwoman Barbara Kerr said.

Daysog was the only member of council to vote against the budget.

"I felt that the budget didn't address the gap between spending and revenues in a sustainable way, and reluctantly voted against it," Daysog said.

He has proposed closing City Hall one day a month to save money, an idea Flint said the city is seriously investigating.

The city also is considering placing a monthly $2 surcharge on every residential phone line to pay for its emergency communications system.

The so-called 9-1-1 fee would have to be approved by the City Council.

City of Alameda - Historical Data on Finances

Journal Article On December 04 Review of Budget

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Last modified: July 23, 2004

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