June 16, 2005


BALANCING THE BUDGET

S.J. mayor, council to provide seven-day library service at all branches

Seven firefighter jobs, two fire apparatus saved as more than $60 million cut to balance budget

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

The jobs of seven firefighters and two pieces of key firefighting apparatus were saved Tuesday afternoon as well as many other critical programs residents begged San Jose city officials to save.

It was a standing-room-only audience Monday evening during the last budget public hearing at San Jose City Hall. Many attendees held signs in their hands asking for their respective programs to be spared. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and members of the San Jose City Council listened Monday evening to impassioned residents at a public meeting and somehow juggled money from various pots, making cuts to other less critical programs—street lighting and maintenance—unanimously approving a balanced $745 million operating budget for 2005-06 fiscal year. The cuts closed a $60 million deficit faced by the city due to less sales tax revenue, a declining economy and money being taken from the state government.

“One last thank you to our friends in Sacramento who took $10 million from us this year to make this a lot harder on top of the $30 million from previous years, just in case anyone forgot,” said District 4 San Jose City Councilman Chuck Reed, sarcastically.

Monday evening, the council and mayor listened as more than 60 people spoke against the cuts amid the presence of more than 50 firefighters who donned blue T-shirts and were accompanied by San Jose Fire Chief Jeff Clett and Randy Sekany and Mark Skeen, president and vice president, respectively, of the San Jose Fire Fighters Local 230.

The firefighters crowded the back wall of the council chambers and lined up to speak at the podium to beg the council not to further stress an already understaffed department. They had collected nearly 200 signatures of firefighters who were working during the meeting.

Many residents, including seniors, parents and children, a large percentage from the Willow Glen and Alum Rock communities, supported the firefighters’ demonstration as Fire Station Six and Fire Station Two were being targeted for reductions. Saved were the popular “hose wagon” and the “water tender” truck used to irrigate areas with no fire hydrants.

Firefighters pleaded with the council against the cuts stressing that they’re challenged by high housing densities and community service increases. Others warned that Mount Hamilton and the east foothills are naturally prone to wildfires and other fires caused by backyard barbeques, Independence Day celebrations and New Year’s celebrations. “Our station is not fat with excesses and manpower or equipment,” said one Mount Hamilton resident.

Firefighter Richard Constantine explained that in some city areas it takes more than eight minutes for the first fire apparatus to arrive, four dangerous minutes over what county fire prevention standards allow. He said a fire doubles in size for every minute it burns and in case of a person having a stroke, heart attack or another medical emergency, added response time is the difference between life and death. He also indicated that while San Jose will soon become the 10th largest city in the nation the fire department is considered one of the worst in the nation when it comes to staffing.

Senior Ray Silva, a client of the Alma Senior Center, which was being threatened by budget cuts, asked the Council and mayor to save it as elders heavily use it. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

“We should be talking about how to expand this department, not reduce it,” Constantine said. “If you cut the staffing level of the fire department you’ll be putting firefighters’ and citizens’ lives at risk.”

Other programs threatened mentioned Monday evening were the Clean Slate tattoo removal program, free parking at the 4th Street Parking Garage, library hours throughout the San Jose Library System and a contract with the city’s chambers of commerce to feed seniors and low-income people.

Cruz Tapia, a firefighter for 30 years, blasted the council for wanting to eliminate the hazardous Materials Incident Team, which covers 220 square miles. He said with the threat of terrorism, it was even more important to preserve it.

The elimination of the free parking at the garage was defeated by the Downtown Parking Board last week. Its members felt timing was wrong to end the program due to demands created by the new City Hall complex and evening parking needs of students at San Jose State University. It was spared until Aug. 30 so that the parking board can consider alternatives.

Susan Espinoza, whose son’s life has been saved many times by the firefighters of Station Six, begged the council to continue to make public safety a top priority. “That (safety priority) can’t happen in Willow Glen if you eliminate the hose wagon from station six,” she warned, adding that it would take eight to 10 minutes longer to respond to emergencies without the engine.

Even though Gonzales told those who crowded the public hearing Monday evening that the Alma Senior Center would be spared, the community that directly benefits from its program turned out in throngs to support it. Many held picket signs that read, “Support our elders.”

Dennis King, executive director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, representing the Vietnamese and Black chambers of commerce, took the council to task for wanting to eliminate free lunch programs funded by the city for their low-income and senior clients, particularly during difficult economic times.

“The small businesses have been the economic backbone of San Jose for many years. We were shocked and surprised when we found out by accident that your contracts with us are not going to continue. Somebody forgot to tell us. That’s not the way to develop trust and a good working relationship,” King said. The program was also spared at the city council meeting Tuesday.

Resident Tim Collins, a librarian, begged the council to save the library hours currently in place throughout the library system. Under the library plan, branches would be closed on Mondays and open for five hours on Sundays—a day they are now closed. The new Martin Luther King Jr. Library is the only one open on Sundays.

There also would be only checkout services available on another weekday. No librarians would be on duty to help patrons with Internet services, homework or research. Staff cuts were also proposed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, the city’s joint venture with San Jose State University. A memo written by Councilman Forrest Williams urged the preservation of library hours and services including Sunday service for limited hours at all branches. It was approved.

Arthur Brown, a retired doctor, pleaded with the council to spare the decade-old Clean Slate program because it helps young people leave gangs by attending class, become employed and attend school and do community service for the city to perform the laser treatment to remove the ugly markings of their often violent backgrounds.

“It’s a rewarding thing for me to see their lives turn around,” Brown said. “We need to have the program supported.” The program, unfortunately, was slashed.

John Martinez, with the state parole department, also echoed Brown’s plea. “This program changes the lives of many young adults. It has given them the second chance to become productive community members and become responsible parents to the future leaders of this city.”

At the end of the budget hearing Tuesday, Gonzales said it was difficult to make cuts. “These budgets are tough…. These have not been pleasant times,” he noted. “We don’t want to do any of this (cuts). We do not get into a career of service to reduce public services.”

Mark Skeen, executive vice president of the San Jose Fire Fighters Union, Local 230, reminded San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales and members of the San Jose City Council that they had pledged to make safety of citizens their number-one priority. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

Councilwoman Nancy Pyle said participating in the budget process and having to make cuts was difficult. “We have to get a balanced budget turned in. We have no other choice,” she said.

Councilwoman Nora Campos who represents the Alum Rock neighborhood and Fire Station Two, said putting together the budget is always painful when cuts have to be made. “Public safety is a basic need,” hinting at her support to preserve the firefighters’ jobs and the two fire engines.

Councilman David Cortese recommended a friendly amendment to the mayor’s budget by changing language that would have capped crossing guards despite the safety index. With the help of Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez, language now does not cap the crossing guards, but indicates funding sources will be capped and will ask school districts to look at future funding for them.

Cortese said it should be clear that no matter what happens to the safety index there’s no automatic funding that comes along with a crossing guard that gets indexed in the middle of the year. “When a PTA comes to us and says their cross walk just met the index, I don’t want to tell them that we as a council, unanimously, set a hard cap (on that). What I want to say to them is that there’s no automatic funding that comes with that and they’ll have to wait until the next budget cycle.”

Councilman Ken Yeager said the budget also spared the Young People’s Theater Company program, which runs out of the Kirk Community Center on Foxworthy Avenue. Raising fees, adding different activities and continuing volunteer support saved the program. “I’m very heartened that we were able to restore full staffing of our fire stations,” Yeager said. “Certainly for Willow Glen residents this was a top priority and we will be able to have the same coverage as we always have.”

They also said it’s not necessary for the program to become a part of a nonprofit entity at this time and that under a proposal supported by parents and the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department, the program would achieve 102 percent cost recovery and would require parents to provide a total of 3,333 hours of volunteer participation.

In the end, with a friendly amendment that Gonzales voted against, the council voted for the mayor’s budget released June 8, by dipping into so called “tier-two” or contingency cuts recommended by the city’s senior staff. After considering San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf’s proposed budget in May, holding several study sessions to study his document and then reviewing Gonzales’ June budget message, the council wholeheartedly went with the mayor’s recommendations as it complied with most of the council members’ budget requests.

Also preserved were crime prevention programs such as Neighborhood Watch and Neighborhood Action programs to continue to provide crime statistics and educate neighborhoods on identifying and reporting problems.

The approved budget will return to the council and mayor for a second reading June 21. The meeting will be at 7 p.m., in the council chambers, 801 N. First St., San Jose, Calif., 95112. To read the mayor’s June budget message log onto www.sjmayor.org.