Budget Reflections: Winners and Losers
Reflecting upon the recently passed budget there were some clear winners and losers:
Winner: McCormick Ambulance Loser: Gerber Ambulance
The City Manager revealed that they were notified by McCormick that it was not appropriate to charge paramedic fees that they had been charging Gerber. Such fees resulted in $2.2 Million in revenue in FY 13/14 and the City had budgeted nearly $2 Million for such fees in FY 14/15. This revelation has to feel like “pouring salt in the wound” for Gerber after they lost the emergency transport contract to McCormick in controversial fashion and subsequently went out of business shortly thereafter despite having better ambulance response times than McCormick has had in the first few months of their performance.
Winner: City Attorney Loser: Legal Secretaries
City Attorney John Fellows recently received a $20K raise boosting what was already the second highest salary for a City Attorney in the state to $280K a year from $260K. Four Legal Secretaries that support Fellows were not as fortunate. Despite a salary survey showing the secretaries made 12.8% less than their peers, a pay raise for them was removed from the budget. The secretaries current pay range is approximately $50K to $60K a year. The money for Fellows raise alone would have been enough to provide each of the four legal secretaries about a 10% raise.
Winner: Arthur Plourde Loser: Library Services
The Library’s plea for $40K in order to purchase more materials was nixed by the City Manager. That move may feel like vindication for Arthur Plourde who was ousted from his volunteer post on the Library Commission after only 3 months for advocating against the purchase by the library of more foreign language materials. No word yet on whether the City Manager will be hauled before the Council to explain why he is curtailing the Library’s ability to purchase those needed foreign language materials.
Winner: Transit Operations Loser: Road and Sidewalk Repairs
The budget included an astounding $1.6 Million for new transit positions ($850K of which will go toward manning the Transit Center). The budget also added a fleet administrative analyst ($124K) and a fleet mechanic ($88K). Not included in the budget were a requested streetscape crew ($470K) and concrete crew ($397K) to fix roads and sidewalks.
Winner: City Public Relations Loser: Tree Ordinance
The City added a public relations position ($139K) to help with community outreach and media relations. The City has done considerable outreach over the past 4 months to gather community input about a proposed Tree Ordinance. Despite an overwhelming majority of people that have voiced support for such a measure during the outreach process, the Tree Ordinance was sent back to a Council sub-committee where it will likely languish for at least another year according to City officials. To add insult to injury, the City also denied a request to increase tree trimming from every 8 years to every 4.7 years ($77K). The lack of tree trimming on City owned trees was perhaps the number one complaint offered by those seeking a Tree Ordinance.
Winner: Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation Loser: Torrance Art Museum
The City increased the annual donation to the Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation from $109K to $169K. Axed from the budget, however, was a request to provide $51K in funds for a Museum Director/Curator. No mention was made of the fact that Councilwoman Ashcraft’s husband Dan serves on the Board of Directors for the Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation or that Ashcraft herself and Mayor Furey serve on the Advisory Board. The board and advisory committee to the Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation includes a host of other City luminaries.
Winner: Rose Float Loser: Fireworks
The City found a way to provide $125K to the Rose Float for the next two years. The often referred to 4th of July Fireworks show was not so lucky despite a scaled back proposal for the show in the amount of $75K.
Winner: Community Services Commission Loser: Donations to Community Services Non-Profits
The Council approved the establishment of a Community Services Commission ($5K to $30K) to help tackle social issues like homelessness and supporting veterans. Removed from the budget was a line item to increase the amount of non-profit social services grants to $40K from $20K.
Winner: Water Services Loser: The Public
After recent water rate increases the Water Enterprise Fund continues to show large surpluses ($5.4 Million in FY13/14 and projected $3.3 Million in FY 14/15). The surplus is supposedly going to fund capital projects. The budget also included a new water apprenticeship/intern program ($109K). The public will pay for these measures through continued tiered rate increases and drought related fines.
Winner: Farmer’s Market Loser: Crossing Guards
The Council recently allocated $178K to purchase new bollards for the Farmer’s Market. The budget also included a new staff position to help move those bollards as well as a Security Guard for the market ($28K). No money was in the budget to fund crossing guards for sites that were recently proposed to be removed. Is the safety of revenue generating shoppers at the market more important than the safety of kids on their way to school?
Winner: Bocce Ball Loser: Playground Equipment
The Council recently allocated $80K to build a Bocce Ball court at Columbia Park. Removed from the budget was a $30K proposal to upgrade aging playground equipment at public parks.
Winner: City Council Loser: Transparency
The City Council travel budget was increased from $12.2K to $31.5K. With the increase, the Public will have less insight into how these travel funds are used by City officials as the low budget forced the Council to seek permission at Council meetings for many of their trips. As Mayor Brown in Hawthorne has reminded us, things can quickly get out of control when there is a lack of scrutiny and public oversight.