CaliforniaCityNews.org

Oakland Unified Regains Control from State

The Oakland Unified School District is once again autonomous. Only time will tell if that's a good development.

Six years ago, facing a $65 million budget short fall, the OUSD accepted an $100 million loan from the state-the largest school system bailout in state history. The district was besieged by declining enrollment, poor (perhaps not harsh enough?) accounting systems, and out-of-control salary increases for under performing teachers. Since the take over, the district has diligently paid $6 million per year on the loan, though a balance of $80 million remains.

Local authorities loudly protested that the state take over was "unwanted," but, as we all know, desire and necessity are on opposite sides of the spectrum.

The Chron has the details here.

Watch out for this nugget from school board President Noel Gallo: "If you don't have the money, you don't spend it." Let's print t-shirts.

Local Government Summit Set for July 17-18

As the State faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis, local government advocates are looking to reshape the state-local government relationship.

The League of Cities, CSAC and the California School Boards Association are set to hold a Local Government Summit on State Governance and Fiscal Reform, scheduled for July 17-18 in Sacramento.

As CSAC noted on their website "It's vital that we have strong county representation as we move forward on discussion of governance reform that focuses on restoring local control."  But don't take CSAC's word for it, the summit was originally proposed by the League Board of Directors.

The event will be held Friday, July 17, and Saturday, July 18 at the  Hyatt Regency Hotel in sunny downtown Sacramento. 

You can register here.

Cities Ponder Departmental Merges to Cut Costs

How about a combined public works and community development department?  It could be a reality in the City of Benecia, resulting in planning, building, engineering, maintenance, water and sewer all falling under the purview of one director.  And Benecia wouldn't be the first.  According to a report in the San Jose Merc, Petaluma has eliminated its planning department and the City of Chowchilla has melded finance, support services, IT and projects.

Read more from the Merc here.

The State Budget Can Be A Valuable Lesson For Local Governments - If We Are Willing To Listen

As Sacramento struggles to balance its budget, the ominous realization that political interests in both parties are so hopelessly dug in during these times has forced the dark special-interest driven process - the "sausage making" -  that is government out into the daylight. And as we all watch the state come apart, filled with awe, anger, disgust, sorrow, pity (add your own adjective here)...we in local government should take heed of the lessons being learned in the state capitol and do our very best to avoid them lest we fall victim to these practices ourselves.

A regular critic of local government, Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Organization penned a particularly insightful article about what the Democrat party means when it talks about protecting the "needy" in the state. The blog post which appeared in "The Flashreport", a conservative news blog that is a popluar read among capitol denizens aptly illustrates the stranglehold that public employee unions have over elected officials. Disgaree with Coupal if you will, but one can not help but seethe potential landmines just around the corner for local governments if they dont break loose from the same iron grip of public employee unions as that they hold over the state government.

To that point, in an article titled "City workers' pay goes beyond base salary" that appeared recently in the San Diego Union Tribune, the city of San Diego is showcased as a city where raises can occur as a result of pre-determined formulas and "hidden" agreements - just the type of thing that promises anger and mistrust from residents watching government at all levels verbalizing their financial predicaments.

The article begins with a familiar story in law enforcement...Jaime Fitzpatrick, a police officer who patrols Carmel and Sorrento valleys, received a 47 percent increase in pay last year. It was one of the largest raises among the city's work force.

The increase wasn't triggered by a promotion or a change in duties. 

Fitzpatrick received a step increase, education incentive and general salary increase that the police union negotiated. Most of the raise, which boosted her pay to $84,500, was prompted by her completion of two years on patrol and the fact that she had a college degree.Full story in the SDUT here

City Sues County Over Jail Expansion

The City of Santee isn't thrilled with San Diego County's plan to expand a nearby detention facility from 15 to 45 acres.  After Supes approved the final EIR last week, the Santee council voted to file a new legal challenge to the project, which would be centered right in its downtown.

East County Mag has a good look at the conflict here.

Dems Pass Budget Measure, Veto All But Certain

While the rest of us were watching U.S. Soccer and maybe even 60 Minutes, legislative Democrats were busy passing a budget measure that stands about a good a shot as the U.S. did against Brazil Sunday.  Worse, actually, as the U.S. turned in a respectable, even heartbreaking performance... while the Budget proposal voted on in the Capitol last night uses legal shenanigans and untenable (for the Republicans and the Governor, anyway) revenue enhancements. 

As Shane Goldmacher put in the LAT, "employing an arcane loophole," the plan turns taxes into fees and viola, the state's in the black.  Not so fast, however.  The Governor is virtually guaranteed to veto the plan, and the State is set to begin issuing IOUs on Thursday. 

Read more in the LAT and the SacBee.  Also worth a read this morning is George Skelton's meditation on the state's governance, which he deems "unfixable." He argues for a realignment of the state-local fiscal realtionship and a "Return to the separate roles that were played productively through most of the 20th century until Proposition 13 messed things up three decades ago."

Citizen Engagement Grant Program Renewed for 2009

Common Sense California (CSC) today announced the re-launching of its annual “Citizen Engagement Grant Program”, offering funding for public participation efforts around the state. It continues to be the only grant program of its kind in the nation, supporting governments and non-profits that want to legitimately engage the informed “public voice” on a variety of local policy issues

For 2009, CSC is offering grants from $1,000.00 to $7,500.00 to municipalities (cities, counties, school districts, regional governments) and non-profit organizations. The 2009 Citizen Engagement Grant Program follows the 2008 program, which proved to be very popular and successful, providing more than a dozen grants around California to cities like Brea in Orange County up to school districts like Ripon in San Joaquin County and non-profits like the Ventura County Civic Alliance.  Most of the granted projects were budget or land use related, but others included a public engagement project around public safety in Morro Bay, and public input into school policy for a charter school in Los Angeles. The 2008 Grantees can be found on the CSC website.

Budget Drill Fails, as Expected

It was State Budget Drill Day in the Capitol Wednesday, and the Democrat proposal to 'solve' the budget crisis failed, as just about everyone thought it would.  Now that the farce that has been the last couple weeks' negotiations, another round is set to begin as key lawmakers and Governor plan to convene behind closed doors.

The next deadline ahead of the State is July 2, after which Controller John Chiang has said the State must begin issuing IOUs instead of checks. 

The longer this drags out, the worse it's likely to prove for local government.  After locals built significant momentum in the Capitol and across the state with the SaveYourCity campaign and other efforts, this stalling and a lack of workable options to cut and/or raise revenue increase the likelihood that the $2 billion in proposed borrowing could quickly go back "on the table."  And that's to say nothing of the transportation dollars the legislature is eying.

Read more on Tuesday's burlesque in the LAT of the Chron. 

San Francisco Ponders the End of City Funded Newspaper Advertising

A group of San Francisco Supervisors are angling to greatly reduce -- if not end -- the city's practice of advertising in the Chronicle and Examiner.  As these and other publications struggle financially and decline in readership, the Supervisors are considering online outlets as a more viable (and cheaper) alternative.  As one of those "online outlets,' we can't really blame the Supes, but can't help lament another potential blow to print media.  It's still our favorite way to get the news.

Read more on the SF Supes plans from the SF Weekly.

How Big is YOUR Rainy Day Fund?

As one prominent Sacramento consultant put it to us the other day, "it's raining."  No, not as in bad weather, as in bad economy -- and if there's ever a time to tap a rainy day fund, it's now.  So how big is your city's reserve?  The San Mateo County Times dig some digging and found that Menlo Park may have, for a city of its size, one of the larger Rainy Funds.  The South Bay Area city of 30,000 residents just passed a balanced 2010 budget of $37.8 million, and has $25 million in reserve. 

Of course it doesn't hurt to be wedged in between Silicon Valley and Stanford University -- even the city's Wikipedia entry begins by describing Menlo Park as a "an affluent city in San Mateo County."

Little known fact (garnered from Wikipedia): While many believe Menlo Park is named after Thomas Edison's renowned research facilities in New Jersey, California's Menlo Park actually pre-dates Edison's grounds by about 25 years.  So who's copying who??