The people have spoken and it would appear they were pretty
happy with the status quo on the Morgan Hill City Council.
The people have spoken and it would appear they were pretty happy with the status quo on the Morgan Hill City Council.
By re-electing Mayor Dennis Kennedy they opted for “steady as she goes,” passing up challenger Greg Sellers’ “it’s time for a change.”
Sellers said that change is still needed, election results aside, and intends to work with his colleagues on the council to its improve efficiency and, as a result, its effectiveness. This would be positive as the council has some serious decisions to make in the coming year, most revolving around city services and finances.
Council members, including newcomer Mark Grzan, say they are aware they need to work together with a vision for the city’s future.
Grzan comes to the council already knowing how city government works. His decade of involvement with the general plan update and urban limit line committees plus his backing of returning medical services and the dayworker center are pluses. Grzan’s day job is administrative analyst for the City of Newark so he will bring familiarity with fiscal matters. He says he is ready to learn more.
Larry Carr, who finished first in a field of five seeking two available four-year council terms, will return.
Carr and Councilman Steve Tate are serving on the Finance and Audit Committee (FAC) that suggests creative ways to bring in more revenue. All this expertise will be required to tackle a budget deficit that will not go away. The city is counting on $800,000 in new revenue this year and $1.2 million the next. Council must decide where’s it going to come from and make it happen.
City staff has been quick to find bits and pieces to cut, trying to avoid, at council’s direction, reducing services so much the public will notice.
Despite council assurances that public facilities were not intended to pay for themselves for the first few years, the public, possibly unrealistically, thinks they should. The community center, playhouse and aquatic center have yet to make a profit, though the swim center did far better than expected and will stay open as long as possible this fall and winter.
Coming on line in a year is the indoor recreation center and later an outdoor sports facility, all of which will put a further drain on the budget. Is it too late to put a temporary hold on these projects until the public is assured that operational costs won’t come out of the police and fire protection budgets?
The council also will have to come up with $350,000 to match an expected $2.6 million grant to upgrade Depot Street. The improvements will boost interest in downtown and translate into more sales tax revenue; a worthy goal, but where will the money come from?
There was good news this week for cities and counties when Proposition 1A passed by a large margin. The measure was the compromise between local governments and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that broke up last summer’s state budget impasse.
For the past 12 years, to make up for shortfalls, the state has taken money from sales, property and vehicle license taxes intended for city and county coffers, causing even greater shortfalls in funds that pay for police and fire protection, park maintenance, libraries and health services. Morgan Hill gave up $700,000 this year.
Other good news for the city budget is a boost in sale tax revenue in the past quarter.
However, the list of budget concerns is long. A police department staffed at 1992 levels is trying valiently to keep the lid on crime when population has grown more than 40 percent in that time. Money has been set aside for a third fire station but there are no funds available to pay the salaries of added firefighters.
Residents want more recreation and general services but do they want to pay more for them? Under the current – post Prop. 13 – rules, that means finding more sales tax revenue or going to the voters for a parcel tax or possibly a utility users tax for specific purposes – recreation, public safety.
The FAC, with Tate and Carr, has been poking around at possible ways to fill this budget gap and council will have to face this decision soon, now that the election is over. Some choices would need voter approval; others won’t.
Council has maintained that auto dealerships are lucrative sources of the sainted sales tax revenue but no one wants them in their backyard and dealers want freeway exposure.
Other discussions council should have is whether to re-examine the city clerk and city treasurer positions that normally go unopposed and cost city money during elections. And the matter of re-electing a mayor every two years needs to be revisited. The city (we voters) should seriously consider making it a four-year term coinciding with council terms.
Council holds a retreat each January to set goals for the year. It will be an interesting day.
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