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.”
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