Officials wanted more

Deepa Bharath June Casagrande Deirdre Newman

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s State of the State address left local

city officials with a “good feeling” and a strong sense of optimism,

they said.

Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway said he was “pleasantly

surprised” by the governor’s address, which was more of a speech and

less of a budget plan unveiling.

“I was expecting more detail,” he said. “But Arnold threw out

concepts. But I liked what I heard because he addressed the key issue

-- which is bringing in more jobs to California and helping

businesses flourish.”

Schwarzenegger sent out the message that he would not increase

taxes, but would have to make severe cuts in the budget, Ridgeway

said.

“Draconian cuts are needed,” Ridgeway said. “I’m all for the poor

people and the downtrodden and all that kind of stuff, but we just

have to make draconian cuts.”

In Newport-Mesa, people listened closely to the much-anticipated

speech because the future of the state economy, and with it the

fiscal health of local governments, hinged on his words.

Schwarzenegger made a strong statement particularly relating to

workers compensation, Newport Beach Councilman Steve Bromberg said.

“Workers compensation is a big issue that will have an impact on

our city as well,” he said. “We have a lot of high-tech companies in

our city and one of them actually moved to Nevada last year because

they could not afford the high workers compensation costs.”

The governor also talked about consolidating departments to cut

costs, which is something Newport Beach has a history of doing,

Bromberg said.

“Years ago, we consolidated our fire and lifeguard departments,”

he said. “It definitely saves money.”

But cities will not know which budget cuts will affect them until

Schwarzenegger unveils his budget plan.

Costa Mesa Mayor Gary Monahan said he has one question: where is

the fat?

“As a mayor, you don’t want to see cuts that are going to affect

our city’s budget -- we’ve already been through enough of that,” he

said. “He’s not going to raise taxes, so how much fat is there?”

Ridgeway said the speech was more important because it dealt with

“the broader issue of the health and welfare of the state of

California.”

“It has less to do with the financing of the city of Newport Beach

and more to do with the economic recovery that affects us and

everyone,” he said.

Unlike many cities desperate to ensure they receive their share of

the vehicle license fees, Ridgeway said that there’s much more at

stake for the city in the long-term than the $2.8 million in license

fee revenue due to Newport Beach this year. In fact, the city

continues to plan spending based on the assumption it will not

receive the license fees.

Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder said he would have liked to

hear how cities will get their share of the vehicle license fees

long-term right off the bat. But, he added, he anticipates and hopes

for a show of strong support from the governor for local government.

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Libby Cowan agreed and stressed the

importance of funding.

“I certainly hope that he acknowledges the importance of local

government, local jurisdiction over local issues and the need to be

able to fund those,” she said.

Administrative Services Director Dennis Danner, who oversees

Newport Beach’s budget, said that state finances are in such shambles

that it’s hard to know how to remedy the problem.

“The governor has a daunting task ahead and I don’t know how he’s

going to do it,” Danner said. “Hopefully, the economy’s doing better

than it has been and that could help close that hole.”