HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-Council Office
CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO - REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
From:Councilwoman Wendy J. McCammack
Subject: Discuss and take possible
action on alternative opportunities/proposals
to prevent drastic reductions to public safety
and other critical city services.
Dept. Council Office
Date: February 11, 2009
Synopsis of Previous Council Action:
During the budget workshop on February 2,2009, the City Manager asked the City Council to
consider closing the 2008-2009 budget gap, and to anticipate closing a looming 2009-2010
budget deficit, by allowing the City's administration to issue pink slips to all affected
departmental employees. With a motion made by Councilman Kelley and on a 5-1 vote,
permission was granted. Mr. Weinberg also asked that the discussion on other budget
reduction measures be continued to the February 16, 2009 Council meeting.
Recommended Motion:
To discuss and take possible action on alternative opportunities/proposals to close the 2008-
2009 budget revenue shortfall and direct the City Manager to direct the Finance department
to make any budget amendments necessary to implement any action taken by the City
Counclllnclud'_O any and a""'''''09 ..u.."... ...._d...~~
Ignature
Contact Person: Councilwoman McCammack
Phone:
5068
Supporting Data Attached:
To be provided
Ward: All
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
Amount:
See attached
Source: (Acct. No.)
To be determined
(Acct. DescriDtlon)
To be determined
Council Notes:
Agenda Item No.
18 D
2-11-6'1
To: Mavor and Common Council
From: Councilwoman Wendy McCammat:k
Date: Februarv 17,2009
Re: 2008-2009 Budl!:et l!:ap: This is not the perfect plan. but a comoromise in c1osinl!: the shortfall.
As part of today's discussion, I ask you to please consider the City Manager's two, very different, recent budget
proposals. The first one was presented to the Mayor and Common Council at the last Council meeting on February
2 which originally slated a loss of 130 positions. The second one appeared on my doorstep Friday evening, and
after working tirelessly for the past three-plus days, this document is before you in an attempt to combine all/or
many of the ideas that have been negotiated up to the very last minute including this moming by the Mayor and
City Manager. The Mayor's editorial piece appearing in yesterday's Sun basically supports the City Manager's
second proposal. Along with all the other last minute information that we are being asked to consider today, I felt it
necessary to put a compromise in writing for all to review with viable alternatives.
The documents I have provided address these two, very different proposals. I will also illustrate, by department,
how we can be in concert with some of their ideas and still close the current fiscal year budget gap without drastic
city-wide lavoffs. reductions in police and other critical revenue l!:eneratinl!: services. closure of most of our
community centers, libraries and the CID or borrowinl!: any money.
Some of the items listed on the Mayor/City Manager's modified budget strategy, can legally be funded by other city
resources. There are also revenue strategies or shifts that have not been publicly discussed yet that are not one-time
funds but ongoing somewhat restricted revenue sources. These budget transfers, which I have discussed privately
with the City Manager, and during budget meetings and other previous discussions, will offset the increase in
critical needs spending without further compromising our fiscal integrity for this year or next. Also, there are some
discretionary spending cuts that have not been proposed, at least not publicly, to date that we should consider
before closing any city facility. This alternate proposal employs employee cost-cutting measures and management
techniques used by many successful business people and other governmental agencies and I respectfully ask for
your consideration.
I. Code Enforcement: At the last council meeting the City Manager proposed promotions of two Code
Compliance Officers from a level One to a level Two. Yet the "modified" budget strategy hefore us tonight
includes vacating two Code Compliance II positions. If these positions are revenue genetating, then it seems
prudent to fund the positions and expect that their revenue generation will offset part of the cost of their
positions. Another positive economic impact of code officers is their ability to force property owners to be
compliant which inevitably means higher property values which means higher property tax revenues and
lower commercial/residential vacancies. We were also expecting revenUe to offset the cost of the Single
Family Inspection Program as a result of Councilman Kelley's efforts and to date it is still not underway in
a manner that he intended. Records show the program is not recovering its costs. Vacating code officer
positions will only make it worse. Combining several departments such as Community Beautification and
Community Services is cost saving and an excellent way to share costs. The 08-09 costs to implement above
strategy before net revenue generation is approx. $81,054.
2. Fire Department: The rank and file has offered revenue generating suggestions as well as reductions in
discretionary expenditures without risking the public's or firefighter's safety. Their proposal suggests
savings this fiscal year and larger savings next fiscal year without drastic reductions to first responder
positions but reductions in upper management and discretionary positions. With their revenue enhancement
suggestions and their offer of stepped-up responsibilities by the rank and file, their share of closing the
budget gap is very close to being met. This plan was distributed to the Council last week. Also, closing the
injury cases more quickly can easily save the department $10,000 per month which is an area of the budget
we have not aggressively addressed. Fire and Police rank and file also suggested over a year ago that City
Administration research and implement, as other jurisdictions have, charging insurance companies for
traffic accident reports and HazMat clean up. This revenue source that has not yet been fully implemented,
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although suggested over a year ago. The 08-09 costs to implement above strategy not including additional
net revenue generated or cost saving~ above strategies is approx. $382,952.
3. Libraries: The public outcry to stop the closure or reduction of the facilities, hours and professional
staffing levels should not fall on deaf ears. Mr. Brinker suggested that by combining community centers
with libraries we might realize excellent cost-sharing opportunities. This should be explored further. We
grant CDBG money to non-profits for similar activities. Why can't we grant our own programs some of that
same money? Relying on hundreds of volunteers, as noble as it sounds, is an extremely difficult situation to
manage at the levels being suggested. In the end that proposal does not seem capable of meeting the public
demand for the facilities where critical job search for the unemployed, homework/research, early childhood
reading, computer time necessary to file unemployment claims (as the Employment Development Dept.
directs the unemployed to do) and many other critical services occur at our libraries on a daily basis. A
compromise proposal is to keep all branch managers and existing staff, less pending retirees. Floating
remaining staff and combining parks/community center staffers between all the branches possibly housing
community centers inside the libraries to manage more efficiently a less ambitious volunteer force until they
are properly trained. This also should be explored further. This proposal keeps all libraries open at current
service hour levels. The 08-09 cost to implement the above strategy is approx. $180,600.
4. Police: Approximately 16 of the 20 reductions in PD spending were part of the suggestions made by the
rank and file. The POA also suggested other benefit items that were offered to the Chief and the City
Manager. The dollar amounts the POA offered met or exceeded the City Manager's expenditure savings
while maintaining front-line officers (less only two positions). According to the rank and file, those
concessions were not enough for the City Manager. Please fmd attached a proposal that fully staffs the
current 28 (as well as a 20) beat plan proposal with enough front-line officers to provide quick response
times. The furloughs suggested by the City Manager will in effect reduce the boots on the street by 33.9
officers annually (not including the proposed reduction in front-line officers of 6 positions with last year's
reduction and now an additional reduction of 16). So in effect we could see a net loss of 55.9 front-line
officers at any given time with the modified City Manager's proposal. The most critical crime fighting tool
according to all the recognized and respected sources is front-line responders. Also, please see a letter
written by an officer (attached) which will at least put into an honest and unabridged perspective of the City
ManagerlMayor/Police Chiefs unfortunately unproductive negotiations. Just two weeb-ago we were
originally asked to give pink slips to as many as 178 employees, yet today we are told it is not that bad. It
seems that if eight different law enforcement agencies are willing to hire away from us almost half of our
police force (SB County Sheriffs deputies will be receiving an 11 % raise) than we just wasted a half-
million dollar recruitment investment and hundreds of thousands of dollars in training our crime-fighting
team which mayor may not leave us with the most qualified force. The recruiters say they are offering them
jobs if we don't want them. I also understand the Chief is contacting those other agencies, leaving those
recruiters questioning whether they should make the effort to hire any of our officers. As an aside, the 3% at
50 benefit was pushed by the Chief and the Mayor who touted it as a recruitment and retention tool to
prospective officers and now the Mayor claims it costs too much? We pay thousands per month filling
positions with extra Captains, Assistant Chiefs and Lieutenants while we take our time to close out injury
cases. This waste needs to be addressed quickly and has been suggested almost two years ago. Another
cost-saving suggestion is to close the jail all together. It provides a savings of almost $500,000 per year. See
attached other cost-cutting suggestions totaling approx. another $250,000. That includes selling the
Hummer the PD was to use as a recruitment vehicle. These strategies offer additional revenue of $286,566.
5. Parks Recreation and Community Services: We just spent $200,000 on the Parks Master Plan and now it
gets thrown to the wind? As is the case with the last hired, the newest should go, so should Operation
Phoenix centers instead of the older established and successful community centers. The older centers have
been successfully providing critical youth and senior services to our community for years. The libraries
have also been safe havens for many of our youth and can be combined to serve as additional community
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centers combining expenses yet providing all the critical resources our Operation Phoenix centers cannot.
This combining strategy, again, suggested by Councilman Brinker may have real possibilities. Our youth
should be hanging out in Libraries. Yet, as both Libraries and Parks are provided less and less annual
funding, under the direction of Kevin Hawkins, they can co-function fiscally responsibly. The other Parks
and Recreation programming in many cases is supported by the customer. Programs that pay for themselves
should not be unfunded or disbanded and some may need a little more funding help than others. There is an
obvious need and customer demand to many of the services we currently provide, and most importantly the
CID. But what is being overlooked is that many of the non-profits we fund through CDBG funding can also
be funding our own programs and frankly should be, before we fund fly-by-night programs with no history
or empirical data showing the success. See the news article attached. This proposal is to close all the
Operation Phoenix centers and combine their assets and staffers with the Libraries. Some staffers have
mentioned that usage has dramatically reduced and it has become more of a free babysitting service instead
of a youth-diversion tool meant to provide educational/recreational resources. Libraries may be able to do
both. We should leave open Nicholson, Casa Ramona, the CID (without exhausting private funds and
keeping the director) and the Norton Center as it has paying customers (which according to the Park's
Director is the best facility we have). Until we are able to more accurately identify 2009-2010 funding
sources, outsourcing park maintenance is premature, in my opinion. We have always received better service
by holding employees accountable than through contractors who have provided mediocre service and do not
get fired until the end of their contractual term. That just further exposes taxpayer-owned assets to further
deterioration. We are money ahead to keep the maintenance in house for the most part. There is some
expertise that should be contracted out, but only in limited cases. There was no savings slated this fiscal
year for this piece of the PRCS plan. The 08-09 net cost over City Manager's modified proposal is $87,986.
We, as a council, also not in possession of a crystal ball but aware of state revenue-raising ideas, may very well
receive a larger share of the sales tax and VLF revenues in the next 6 to 12 months. So for us to enact measures
today in anticipation of the 2009-2010 budget may be dangerously premature. There are also other sources of
revenue as explained below, that we either currently have or may have with voter approval that will also lessen the
fiscal hurdle we must overcome for 2009-2010. The above alternative proposal costs approx. $446,026 more than
the Mayor/City Manager's proposal for 2008-2009 but please find below revenues that may be able to offset those
expenditureswithout borrowing or raising revenue projections, but simply transferring monies from funds to which
the city currently has access. In my humble estimation, for this fiscal year, it is approximately 4.25 million, and
next year double that in revenue to which we currently have access or will by the next fiscal yeilf other than the
Finance Director's projections.
Revenue su!!:!!:estions: Some or all of these ideas need further eXDloration re!!:ardin!!: timin!!: and
aDDrooriateness,
A. If the State is to pass legislation that increases the sales tax that could mean (if we still receive 12% of the total)
an additional 4 million may be realized based on calculations from Finance's current budgeted sales tax, (probably
09-10).
B. If the increased VLF is to occur, that will provide us with another increased pro-rata share of a revenue source
we currently receive (again probably 09-10).
C. There is approximately 3 million in one-time Tax Increment monies left unspent. We were able to use 1.6
million last year to close a gap and we avoided spending all the reserves. Currently there are several non-essential
projects on the wish list including 738,000 and 1 million to cover performances at the CA Theatre (they were
supposed to be self-supporting) 1 million for a sewer line for the courthouse (not sure why would the CitylEDA pay
for a State project?), a $100,000 bus stop (isn't Omnitrans responsible for that?), and $300,000 to 1.8 million for
the Woolworth tenant improvements. These items require further Council exploration.
D. There is currently approximately $250,000 in 08-09 unspent CDBG revenues.
E. There is approx. an additional I million due the city from the violators who run red lights. The enforcement-end
of this citation is not being aggressively pursued in the court system. Through vendor and City elected official-
pressure. asking for full enforcement of the law would go a long way to receiving revenues the taxpayers are owed.
3
F. There is approx. $110 million in the special revenue funds. More detailed research needs to be done to legally
transfer in additional revenues that will N01: drain those funds but be appropriate.
G. There are over 21 pages of EDA owned property that could be sold over time to replace revenues transferred
from the agency to the General Fund.
H. This past Saturday evening Congressman Baca spoke of retention of existing or creation of approx. 8,200 jobs
(30% of which could come to SB) in his district alone, slated for in the Economic Stimulus bill being signed today
by the President. He also spoke of infrastructure money in that bill for his district, like the Mount Vemon Bridge,
our roadways and other capital projects. 2500 retained or new jobs could be our 30%. See attached other expected
windfalls.
I. Sponsorship revenues sold by placing advertising on City-owned assets (similar to Arrowhead Credit Union
freeway sign idea) has been proposed over and over again, yet still no action. Mr. Hawkins revisited this issue in a
proposal months ago.
J. 20 percent set aside monies can be used for services that relate directly to low and moderate income populations.
There are millions in those pots through EDA and IVDA just waiting for us to request.
K. As a VERY LAST RESORT, there is approx. $31,000,000 in uncollateralized city-owned property that could
(in an emereencv) be borrowed against before selling city assets for less than their highest potential value
including the sale of the city-owned asset Refuse Department. In speaking to a commercial lending institution
(Union Bank) and after a long complex conversation, I gathered the following information: As an example,
borrowing within the next 60 days $25,000,000, I was quoted a one year rate of anywhere between 2.1 % and 4.5%
depending on several criteria. If we were customers, it was on the lower end. If we had enough Tax Increment to
pledge or assets to collateralize, the rates were also on the lower end. There are no huge start-up fees to this type of
loan. The end result? It is cheaper in the long run to borrow the money then to sell an undervalued city asset for
one-time revenue as the value of those assets will grow beyond your debt.
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4
A. Support for Reduction of a Battalion Chief:
1. Question: Is it not true the reason we want to have 4 person engine company's ideally, is
so we can comply with the standards for 2 in and 2 out allowing the firefighters to go in and
start putting the fire with just that one unit initially? Answer: YES! Question Cont: So if an
engine company shows up to a fire with only three firefighters on it and then the next unit on
seen is a Battalion Chief can the firefighters make entry into the structure to fight that fire or do
they have to wait for another unit to show up before they go in. Answer: should be NO! The
fire devartments policy is that the B.C. can not be counted as DOrt of the 2 in 2 out, therefor the
three man unit must wait until another unit arrives before initiatinfl the inside attack. This
auestion illustrates the need or Drioritv for the four oerson emzine companv more then the
Battalion Chief!
2. Chief Conrad's snpport ofa non-reduction ofa Battalion Chief: Chief Conrad will
state that Command and Control is vital part of public and firefighter safety and that the
earlier a B.C. is on scene of an incident the better the incident will run therefore limiting the risk
of injury or death to the public and our firefighters. For the most part this statement is correct.
What everyone needs to know is that every fire engine and truck company has a Company
Officer.
These Company Officers have the training and experience to manage an incident especially
where there is multiple units responding. In fact. prior to a Company Officer getting promoted
to this position he or she must have several hundred hours of classes that train them to take
command of an incident and at least 6 years. of firefighting experience with the San Bernardino
City Fire department before they could test for this position. At the time when these Company
Officers get promoted the fire department administration is signing ofIthat he 01 she has the
qualifications to manage personnel and manage emergency scenes.
The span of control in any Command and Control setting is I commander to every 5 to 7 units
with 5 being optimum. Question: What happens when an engine company gets to a emergency
scene first when there are multiple units responding, before a chief officer? What does the
captain do first? Answer: The company officer will name the incident and establish command.
The captain becomes the incident commander. The captain maintains command of the scene
until the B. C. arrives and proper transfer of command is initiated by a face to face conversation
between the company officer (the 1. C.) And the B. Coo At that time the B. C. becomes the incident
commander.
3. Question: What percentage of the total calls for service that the fire department responds
to require a Battalion Chiefs response? Answer: Less then 5%. The San Bernardino Citv Fire
Deoartment resDonds to aDproximately 26,000 calls for service a Year. Approximatelv 80 % of
the 26,000 calls are medical aids or traffic collisions. Battalion Chiefs do not resDOnd to
medical aids. Battalion Chiefs only resDOnd to traffic collisions reQuirinfl rescue or extrication.
Basically the rule of thumb is, a B. C. only resDOnds if the emerflencv requires three or more
units to resDOnd. A$lain. all comoanv officers have the trainin$l to maintain the command and
control of an incident until a chief officer arrives.
4. Question for fire admiD: In general, is it more beneficial for the citizens of this
community in need help, to have a 4 person engine company or truck company respond or a
Battalion Chief. Answer: 4 firefighters on the engine or truck company is providing the
best service to the community and is the safest for the employee. Battalion ChiefS don't
normally en$la$le in fire suooression activities and thev don't DUll hoses or use anv of the tools
to extricate victims from cars. the firefl$lhters and comrxmv officers are the ones ohvsicallv
workin$l on emergency scenes.
B. Support For Reduction Of Fire Prevention Officers:
1. Question: How many fire inspectors did the fire department have 7 years ago. Answer: 4
Seven vears a$lO the emzine and truck comrxmv 's did all the Q1Xl11ment and commercial
oermitted OCCUlXlflC\1 insoections. At that time we did not char$le the fees we char$le now. The
insoections can $l0 back to the ensrine and truck comrxmv's and the city can still charrle the
same fees with the same results and a silmificant savinilS while maintainin$l DUblic safety!
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Inl!ram Branch estimated ooerational c~st (iiJ, 30 hours oer week:
Full time staff - 2 @ 30 hours per week
Branch Manager I $55,914 (salary & benefits)
Library Technician II $39,582 (salary & benefits)
Subtotal: $95,496
Part-time staff:
Library Pages/Part-time - 30 hours per week@$8.25 x 50 weeks = $12,375
Total Personnel Cost: $107,871
Annual rent charges:
Materials/Supplies:
Internal Services:
Operating Cost:
$43,000
4,000
600 (telephone)
$48,500 (All other services are included in rental fee)
Total Estimated Operational Cost: $156,371
Villasenor Branch estimated operational cost (iiJ, 30 hours per week:
Full time staff - 2 @ 30 hours per week
Branch Manager II $64,980 (salary & benefits)
Library Technician II $40,422 (salary & benefits)
Subtotal: $105,402
Part-time staff:
Library Pages - 30 hours per week @ $8.25 x 50 weeks = $12,375 Total Personnel Cost: $117,777
Materials/Supplies:
Internal Services:
Subtotal
$ 4,000
$ 8,000
$12,000
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Total Estimated Operational Cost: $129,777
Rowe Branch estimated operational cost (iiJ, 30 hours oer week:
Full time staff - 1 @ 30 hours per week
Technology Librarian $55,380 (salary & benefits)
Subtotal: $55,380
Part-time staff:
Library Technician I $23,205
Library Pages - 30 hours per week @ $8.25 x 50 weeks = $12,375 Total Personnel Cost: $90,960
Materials/Supplies:
Internal Services:
Subtotal
$ 4,500
$ 8,000
$12,500
Total Estimated Operational Cost: $103,460
Redeulovment Effieiencv Plan
-
Current Configuration 2009 Reorgani7"tion based on 350 Sworn Officers
Total First Responders: 120 (+5 current vacant slots)
Northwest: 30
Northeast: 30
Southwest: 30
Southeast: 30
120
Total First Resoonders oer 10 hour shift
Shift 1: 24
Shift 2: 19
Shift 3: 35
Shift 4: 13
Shift 5: 29
Deolovment Hours
0700-1700
1100- 2100
1700 - 0300
1900-0500
2200-0800
Redeployment based on 310 Sworn Officers through attrition
Total First Responders: 118
Total First Resoonders oer shift Deolovment Hours
Shift 1: 24 0700-1700
Shift 2: 19 1400-2400
Shift 3: 42 1600- 0200
Shift 4: 33 2200-0800
Redeployment of Resources to maintain 118 First Responders (net loss -2)
. Minimal impact on current front-line staffing
. Minimal impact on DlOber of calls per officer
. Maintllin.. maximum. deployments during peak hour
. Necessitates redeploying 38 officers to patrol beat function
Corridor Patrols 16
crr 10
Homeless Coordinator 1
CTIP 1
Recruiter 1
GTF 2
BMET 2
Operation Phoenix 3
Akl 1
Commercial Enforcement ..l
38
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Current 28 Beat Plan
. 2007 Calls for Service:
. Calls per beat annually:
. Calls per officer annually:
96,155
3434
801.2
Redeploy to 20 beat Plan
. 2007 Calls for Service:
. Calls per beat annually:
. Calls per officer annually:
96,155
4807
814.8
Page 1 of 1
Subj: A police officer writes:
Date: 2/15/20098:04:10 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: Mackel\Qr~
To: MacK"'~Qr~s
I am a sworn officer with the San Bernardino Police Department and a member of the SBPOA. I am not on
the Board and cannot speak for the association as a whole. I do speak for myself and my observations.
On 2/10/09, we were scheduled for a meeting of our general membership. Just prior to that Chief Billdt called
for a meeting with sworn and civilian members. He told us that he had come up with a new plan that would
save more jobs and promotions. He assured us that this plan would be working backward from the minimum 29
number we had been told, not the potential 49. All we had to do was agree to a 10% pay cut "across the
board". He would not, however, give us any specific or general numbers of jobs or promotions saved. He would
not even answer our questions as to how the 10% was to be calculated. Many cliches were used repeatedly
such as "substantially mitigate", and "you'll have to negotiate thar'. When pressed for details, he said this new
plan was a "work in progress". This, even though he was taking it to an ad hoc commitee the following morning.
No one belived it. He said "you'll just have to trust me". Well, we don't. He's proven time and again he is not
trustworthy. Who would trust that offer?
At our general meeting, we were told by our President that he had just met with the interim City Manger. The
City Manager basically gave him the same pitch. Let me see if I can summarize there offers: we're in a fiscal
crisis. I want 10% of your money, but I can't tell you yet how that will be calculated. In retum, I'll try not to fire as
many of you. I can't tell you how many. Just trust me, even though I've been squandering money for the last 1-2
years in the face of this crisis.
I went to those meetings hoping for a credible solution. I don't want to give up 10% of my pay. It will hurt. I
was willing to vote yes for a credible chance to help my fellow officers and non-swom employees. They all
matter just as much to me, from the ones with seniority to the new ones whose name I haven'tleamed yet. I will
never get to leam some of those names because of the mass exodus we are now facing. What a shame. There
are some who will never agree to a cut because of mistrust and anger. I don't know if the majority would have
voted for a credible offer, but I would have. I have heard several officers say that they would have also. The
resounding no confidence vote is a reflection of how we've been treated, and it appears since then that it's
going to get worse. I don't know if another offer would be considered, but it would have to be from a credible
scource. That can't be the Chief, the Mayor, or the City Manager. The first two have proven that they can't be
trusted in these matters. The City Manger is an overpaid hired gun who doesn't care about us and has no stake
here. I am sick and scared for my city, my department, and my proffession.
y
A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps I
Tuesday, February 17,2009 AOL: Mackexpres
Page 1 of 1
Subj: Other possible PO cost savings
Date: 2/17/2009 2:19:15 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: Ma~k~Jgllil~
To: Ma~kexpr~s
PERS
either do fresh start or underpay for this quarter. Some cities have done both. You have to pay it back later,but
gives you relief now. IF you want more info on that, call Dave Swim in Magstani{SP) law office. You could
easily save the whole amount you were talking about.
Close the jail temporarily.
Look for license fees, one time annual costs and find out if they can be put off.
Cut all contractors
Get all pending medical retirements off the books (Taack, Moyer, Blackwell, Barlies, etc) by keeping the
vacancy you get salary savings each month, probably 5k plus per person a month in savings, plus they don't
keep accruing time.
Calculate savings of all people who will retire before lime period (ie Viola leaves May 01) saves 5K per person
per month
Bring one sergeant back from admin leave, decertify a sergeant, save 1500 (?) a month
If Mitch retires this month, keep AC spot open till July (saves 65-70K)
Decertify Paterson, move Boom to investigations, use patrol LIs to assist Ernie each week, provides succession
planning, saves 55K (mar-June)
Offer Golden Handshake (cost can be spread over lime) to 7-8 people, saves layoffs, provides salary savings,
5k plus per person.
Two furlough days a month to chief and AC (they can take off Fridays with no impact - you can calculate daily
savings), this should be in addnion to the 10% they already took, you create the problem you help solve the
problem.
Get tow yard up ASAP, could easily generate the amount you discussed
Don't order any more ammo this year (Vince should have a big enough stock pile till June) You'd have to check
to see what that would save I'm guessing 25K
Fund Operation Phoenix through private donations, reduces whatever we fund for them.
Look at Measure Z budget, cut out stuff, use only for officers
Get Billdt to stop calling other agencies and let those who are ready to leave go, salary savings generated.
If SWAT trainings costs us OT, cut it until July, they have enough hours this year to meet standards.
Contract vehicle services
If we have surplus equipment, sell it. (if we have two commercial enforcement vehicles sell one, sell Hummer
we were going to use as recruitment vehicle)
A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. Sl1eY9u1'lLin just 2 el!s~stl1P~!
Tuesdav. February 17.2009 AOL: Mackexpres
Page 1 of2
Subj: letter
Date: 2/17120092:22:12 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: Mackexpres
To: Mackexpres
Dear City Council,
I want you to be aware that there is a COPS grant coming in the federal bailout as well as state money
targeted for local government Mayor Morris knows this full well. It is curious to me that he is in such a
hurry to rob law enfon:ement before the details of the bailout become public. Then, when the money
comes down, he can continue to fund his efforts to self-promote his way to stale and national office.
Further, there is a huge duplication of services going on with the community center/recreation and
parks aspect of Operation Phoenix. Each high school in San Bernardino is the recipient of an ASSETS
Grant, that was a voter-approved state initiative and thereby immune from budget cuts at the state
level. In plain terms, every youth program at the parks and community centers is simply stealing kids
from the programs at their schools, where they can be helped by professionals. It is a foolish waste of
money.
Every school in the district has an after school program as well as sunvner programs. There is plenty
of money for this and it's not going anywhere. The dlslrict is scheduled to receive an addilional11
million in federal money from the bailout to fund after school and off track tutoring. The city needs to
get out of the youth dcMllopment/babysitling business. All it does for the city is give Mayor Morris
something to write on his awards applicalions.
.. The city is paying for Mayor Morris to build his political career.
Volunteers wiD staff the Iibraty and CID. This town has a rich history of voIunteerism and retirees are
waiting for the chance to pitch in.
I am writing this message to urge you not to balance the budget and fix Mayor Morris' mislakes on the
backs of the men and women who have sworn to protect you with their very lives. His irresponsible
leadership has cansed this crisis. How can you look yourselves in the minor while you sit and do
nothing as he ruins the lives of so meny people just to hide his irresponsible leadership?
You know that the voters desire increased police presence in San Bernardino more than anylhin6" else.
How can you even consider Mayor Morris" attempt to gut the police departJ,l8nt? It is clearly contrary to
the will of the voters. Mayor Morris still has his son on staff and he still has Kent Paxton on staff.
How long are you going to tolerate his games? The money is in the budget. Pl[lOpIe don't care about
city hall. People don't care about community centers at the rec and parks department
When you continually remove the possibility of promotion, young officers know that this city is not a
good place to build a career. My fervent hope is that they select cities with better management,
because in this town the possibility of promotion is so remote that they could sit forever as a "boot on
the street" with no chance of career advancement You can't remove hope from a young person and
expect that they'll stay. They're better off in cities that offer viable opportunities for advancement. Both
San Bernardino and Riverside County ShenifI's Departments offer much better opportunities for
advancement, as do departments in the East Valley and the Palm Springs area.
Further, with insufficient sergeants, the young officers are not safely supervised. With insuflicient
detectives, cases will backlog, so it won't matter if bad guys get arrested, they'll never be prosecuted
Tuesday, February 17,2009 AOL: Mackexpres
Page 2 of2
anyway.
This mayor has ruined San Bemardino in a matter of a very short period of time. He tries to blame the
economy, but you know the truth. He proved as a judge that he has no respect for law enforcement
and does not believe in crime suppression as a deterrent to crime.
Are you going to stand up to him or are you just going to let him continue to flush this city right down
the drain?
Allison Adams 909-583-7305
A Good Credit Score Is 700 or Above. Slljlyoul'Sinju.$t ~easy steps!
y
Tuesday, February 17,2009 AOL: Mackexpres
Feb.4. 200Q
To the Mayor, Council and Citizens of San Bernardino:
Rcccntly a cost cutting proposal has been brought to the attention by the interim City
Manager, Mark Weinberg, and voted for by our Council.
In this proposal, the entire Parks and Recreation Department is on the chopping block. We here
are writing on behalf of the Parks Maintenance Division.
Most of us have been with the Parks Dept. for many years, yet regardless of tenure, it is
understood cut backs need to be made in order to stay afloat, we all understand the seriousness of
the economic crisis that affects each and every citizen in our city. For many years we've done
more than our part to provide services with a very minimal budget and a continually broadening
scope of responsibilities and expectations, this has been well documented by our Director in the
San Bernardino County Sun.
The proposal for laying off an entire Department will not only affect those members of
the Parks Department, but have a far reaching impact in our local economy. Whether it's
purchasing gasoline, T.V.'s, lunch, or groceries at Stater Bro.s, or even an automobile. In addition
to this there are many local vendors that will take hard bits also, due to the fact tbat their products
will no longer be needed for the many unrecognized duties of the Park Maintenance Division. In
our humble opinion the rippling effect of this proposal has not thoroughly been thought out and
how it will impact the residents and vendors of our community.
Most of the "non resident" employees live within reasonable proximity to San
Bernardino. In an actual head count, not including supervisors of the "Park Maintenance staff" is
25 employees who maintain an area of around 600 acres including parks, ballfields, playgrounds
and memorial facilities 48 sites in all. This includes irrigation and plumbing, vandalism and
graffiti, construction projects, parade and event support along with special interest projects that
arise. In our opinion the city in which many of live and work is getting more than their money's
worth for what little we have to work with and the level of senrice that we provide.
Of the 25 Park employees, many were born and raised here, 16 reside within City limits.
18 of the 25 are homeowners, and 21 of the 25 live in San Bernardino County (Fontana, Loma
Linda, Bloomington, Rialto etc.) v
Ironically the people making these life changing decisions for the members of our
Department as well as the rippling effect that it will have on our locaI economy, take their
paychecks, which consists of our tax dollars to far away cities to support their families and local
economy there. Furthermore it is obvious, that interim City Manager Mark Weinberg, and his
remaining city staff have no real lDlderstanding of the realm of responsibilities and services that
the Park Maintenance Division provides for the community in which WE live.
Thank YOll for your time signed:
Mike Gomez, Steve Rouchleau, Greg Wallace, Lany Monk, Hector M. Garcia, Lori Hayes,
Gary Powell, Richard Duncan, Rafael Vela, Gilbert Villasenor, Jesse Hernandez, Don Stubbs,
Tim Sapien, Fulton Lee, Brian Lozano, Louie Cisneros, Joseph Sandoval, Mike Gonzalez,
Carla Velarde, David Frichtel, Charles Moore, Santiago Irene, Emerald Pelaez, Shane Zeman,
Sean McClintock
During our meeting with Kevin Hawkins on Feb 41h 2009. He stated that his budget
proposal consisted of 14 pages and that it was submitted to the council, of that proposal
only the worse case scenarios made it through for the council to go over.
Our question is as follows;
Did the council receive and look over all 14 pages and if not. What happened to the
remainder of Mr. Hawkins budget proposal.
The current proposal is to layoff the entire Department and in lieu of this to
replace the services provided with contract services. If this be the case where would the
money come for to pay for contract services and Who will be writing the contracts, and
Will this proposal be consistent with what the current Parks Maintenance Division
already provides in service.
It is to our understanding that according to the MOV that the City of San
Bernardino cannot layoff personnel with the intent of replacing them with contract
services (section 3 pg.9)
We as city of San Bernardino employees and residents of this city understand the
brevity of the economical situation, but stand firm in our convictions that something else
can be worked through instead of eliminating an entire Department. We strongly
encourage our Council, Mayor and Parks Director as well as other Directors to take
another look at where cuts can be made. We know this can't be an easy task, but we're
confident that both jobs can be spared as well as cuts being made, while providing some
security to the overall impact on this great city of ours.
Thank you sincerely;
The entire Park Maintenance Staff.
y
=EB-17-2009 09:52
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