LATHROP – It’s penny-pinching time and everybody should share the pain and not just a few people.
That was Lathrop Vice Mayor Martha Salcedo’s premise when she suggested that council members and city employees should either dig deep into their pockets and not into the city coffers to pay for training, travel and membership dues, or hold off on that League of California Cities or One Voice trip for now until the economic climate gets better.
And for that matter, any non-mandatory expenses, she added.
“I think we should pay for them – anything other than mandatory, we should pay for them,” she said.
“These are crucial times. The people that we laid off – they are hurting,” the vice mayor argued during the second day of budget discussions on Wednesday.
“We should tighten our belts for now, do everything we can to do things that are only necessary” and put on hold the things “that can wait for next year when the economy is better,” Salcedo further qualified.
For the record, she said, she attended a League of California cities conference one time. Based on that experience, “it wouldn’t have helped the city” whether she went or not, she said.
“But when I went, the economy was fine,” she rationalized.
A budget of $5,000 was included in the new $79.2 million spending plan to pay for the council’s travel to this annual get-together of cities. Other staff members receiving similar expense allotment for this purpose in the fiscal year starting July 1 are the city manager ($1,500), the city attorney ($2,500) finance department ($1,500), and public works administration ($1,500).
“Is it crucial?” asked Salcedo, directing her question about the importance of attending the League of Cities trip to City Manager Cary Keaten.
“It’s a tough call,” the city manager responded.
But on a scale of 1 to 10, “in my opinion,” it’s an 8, he said.
The league offers different forums every year that provide vital information for the city manager, city attorney and other key staff members. The conferences “talk about the most current issues,” Keaten said.
“From my perspective, it’s a modest investment for a very big return – bringing information back that we can use.”
In the end, a compromise offered by Mayor Kristy Sayles prevented a long drawn-out discussion, maybe even a stalemate, which smoothed the way for the quick approval of the city’s fiscal year 2009-10 budget in what the mayor described as record time – two days instead of three as scheduled.
The compromise was to leave alone the budgeted “mandatory” expenses plus those for safety training ($4,000), San Joaquin Partnership contribution ($15,500), Lathrop Chamber of Commerce membership ($150), and newspaper subscriptions ($400) and have the rest go to a discretionary fund.
Sayles considered the San Joaquin Partnership contribution a “must” because “without San Joaquin Partnership we wouldn’t have the businesses we have now,” she said. As for maintaining the chamber membership at a cost of $150, “it’s always good to support the chamber,” she explained. She also did not think that the city should scrimp on the newspaper subscriptions. “We keep that,” she said of this budget item.
The 2009-10 budget that the council approved Tuesday night, with Councilman Sonny Dhaliwal absent, does not reflect the savings goal of $1.2 million that the city still needs to shave off following the recent layoffs and elimination of unfunded positions to cover the anticipated $2.5 million budget deficit. That does not include the $430,000 property taxes that the state will “borrow” from the city on a one-time basis. Further cuts to be taken, either by more layoffs or furloughs, or both, will be reflected in the mid-year budget adjustment.
That was Lathrop Vice Mayor Martha Salcedo’s premise when she suggested that council members and city employees should either dig deep into their pockets and not into the city coffers to pay for training, travel and membership dues, or hold off on that League of California Cities or One Voice trip for now until the economic climate gets better.
And for that matter, any non-mandatory expenses, she added.
“I think we should pay for them – anything other than mandatory, we should pay for them,” she said.
“These are crucial times. The people that we laid off – they are hurting,” the vice mayor argued during the second day of budget discussions on Wednesday.
“We should tighten our belts for now, do everything we can to do things that are only necessary” and put on hold the things “that can wait for next year when the economy is better,” Salcedo further qualified.
For the record, she said, she attended a League of California cities conference one time. Based on that experience, “it wouldn’t have helped the city” whether she went or not, she said.
“But when I went, the economy was fine,” she rationalized.
A budget of $5,000 was included in the new $79.2 million spending plan to pay for the council’s travel to this annual get-together of cities. Other staff members receiving similar expense allotment for this purpose in the fiscal year starting July 1 are the city manager ($1,500), the city attorney ($2,500) finance department ($1,500), and public works administration ($1,500).
“Is it crucial?” asked Salcedo, directing her question about the importance of attending the League of Cities trip to City Manager Cary Keaten.
“It’s a tough call,” the city manager responded.
But on a scale of 1 to 10, “in my opinion,” it’s an 8, he said.
The league offers different forums every year that provide vital information for the city manager, city attorney and other key staff members. The conferences “talk about the most current issues,” Keaten said.
“From my perspective, it’s a modest investment for a very big return – bringing information back that we can use.”
In the end, a compromise offered by Mayor Kristy Sayles prevented a long drawn-out discussion, maybe even a stalemate, which smoothed the way for the quick approval of the city’s fiscal year 2009-10 budget in what the mayor described as record time – two days instead of three as scheduled.
The compromise was to leave alone the budgeted “mandatory” expenses plus those for safety training ($4,000), San Joaquin Partnership contribution ($15,500), Lathrop Chamber of Commerce membership ($150), and newspaper subscriptions ($400) and have the rest go to a discretionary fund.
Sayles considered the San Joaquin Partnership contribution a “must” because “without San Joaquin Partnership we wouldn’t have the businesses we have now,” she said. As for maintaining the chamber membership at a cost of $150, “it’s always good to support the chamber,” she explained. She also did not think that the city should scrimp on the newspaper subscriptions. “We keep that,” she said of this budget item.
The 2009-10 budget that the council approved Tuesday night, with Councilman Sonny Dhaliwal absent, does not reflect the savings goal of $1.2 million that the city still needs to shave off following the recent layoffs and elimination of unfunded positions to cover the anticipated $2.5 million budget deficit. That does not include the $430,000 property taxes that the state will “borrow” from the city on a one-time basis. Further cuts to be taken, either by more layoffs or furloughs, or both, will be reflected in the mid-year budget adjustment.
