City tightens the purse strings

Jenny Marder

With the first budget study session underway, the City Council is

faced with the grim task of deciding which of the city’s vital and

cherished services will fall under the budgetary ax.

Residents came out in strong opposition of a proposal to close two

of the city’s library branches, rallying behind the Banning branch in

the Southeast in particular.

“I believe that the character of a town and a city can almost be

defined by a good library system,” Huntington Beach resident Gertrude

De Hetre said.

Trips to the library are treats for toddlers. Schoolchildren use

the library after school, high school and college students do

research there, and the elderly depend on its large print books.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, can replace books,” said Robert

Buas, who, with his wife, has modified his will to leave a

substantial portion to the Huntington Beach library.

Library branches are just one proposed casualty. The city is

tightening its belt several notches, and it looks like important

services will have to be sacrificed to come up with funds.

The City Council’s job is to weigh services and programs against

one another and decide what must be kept and what can be spared.

Instead of shutting both library branches down, council members

suggested shortening the hours at each of the branches and closing a

given branch one day a week. Closing the central library once a week

would save $102,000, which is close to the $112,000 saved closing the

Banning Avenue and the Main Street branches altogether, Mayor Connie

Boardman said.

Boardman also suggested that the city save $30,000 by ceasing to

broadcast Planning Commission meetings, a suggestion that sparked

opposition from other council members who argued the importance of

keeping government as open and accessible as possible.

“There are a lot of people that watch [meetings] at home,”

Councilman Dave Sullivan said. “There are also a lot of people that

pick up the reruns. The technology is there and it isn’t that

expensive.”

Residents were also disturbed that a proposal to eliminate one of

the fire department’s engine companies would result in a longer

response time. Their alternate suggestions included doing away with

one of the city’s helicopters.

“Our ratio of police to population is pretty low even when

compared to other Orange County beach cities,” Sullivan said, adding

that it’s the helicopters that enable the city to maintain that

level. “They get immediately to the scene. ... I think criminals have

really come to fear the helicopters.”

The next City Council budget meeting will be held at 6 p.m.

Monday. The final vote on adopting the recommended changes is

scheduled for July 7.

“It’s a horrible position to have to be in,” Boardman said. “We’re

down to live bodies and human beings whose lives we’re affecting.

We’re having to make horrible choices. ... But you can’t cut $11.5

million without looking at services related to public safety and

infrastructure.”

Sullivan expects the council will start taking straw votes at

Monday’s meeting.

“The council is taking this extremely seriously,” Boardman said.

“This is the hardest thing that the new council members have had to

face, and I appreciate the time that council members are putting into

analyzing the issue, as well.”