Mid-term Budget: Where the money will go

Is Riverside backsliding into a period of weak leadership since one of its elected officials has departed from the dais?

This question was asked by a resident responding to former Councilman Dom Betro's opinion piece in the Press Enterprise, which pretty much criticizes what Riverside's city council has or hasn't done since his ouster in last November's election. What did happen in Election 2007, was that two city councilmen, Betro and Ward Three's Art Gage and they were replaced by Mike Gardner and Rusty Bailey respectively. What also happened is that Ward Five City Councilman Ed Adkison decided that two terms in office was enough and he stepped down and was ultimately replaced by new councilman, Chris MacArthur.

Betro's never been a patient guy so it's no surprise for him to come out swinging on his replacement so soon after Gardner was sworn in but it's more so to see him essentially include the others on the dais in his criticism. It's really too early to tell if the sky is truly falling as well. I've been labeled a "Chicken Little" myself quite a bit but it's too early in the terms of the new council members to say that's what is happening. Maybe next month, when they get closer to the 100 day mark.

But so far, it's been interesting to watch how the newbies interact with the ones who have been on the dais longer. And it's often quite funny to read the expressions on their faces when one of the veteran council members goes off on some strange tangent or begins to look pained at being there at all.

Several city council members had their eyes on running for "higher" offices. Steve Adams from Ward Seven made a brief and failed run for the state assembly and Ward Four Councilman Frank Schiavone has filed papers for the District One seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The latter's looking for some supporters for his run for office and some people are looking for advice on whether or not they should support him. It looks like Election 2008, local style, is off to a rambunctious start.

There continues to be some interesting names dropped for Ward Four's council seat in 2009 but it's too early in the game to know whether these individuals are serious or not. Not much noise coming out about possible candidates interested in the second or fourth ward races.




Riverside Renaissance, which was the focus of the concern, has hit some road bumps in its path but that shouldn't be surprising. The projects weren't just dependent on the take-charge leaders that Betro places himself with, but also on financial resources and whether or not they are actually available. And over half of the monies to fund Riverside Renaissance are borrowed funds which of course will have to be paid back in the future and then some.

One housing project on Mission Inn Avenue has apparently stalled as has the purchases of several key properties on that street to provide for developers of that project, allegedly because the Redevelopment Agency doesn't have the money to buy them.

Bad news also for the Riverside Convention Center downtown as the city plans to table its planned renovations for a while until it's completed all the other Riverside Renaissance projects.




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But Michael Beck, assistant city manager, said by phone that the city had stepped back and will likely only finish a master plan and exterior renovation on the center before 2010. The expansion that could eventually double the size of the center as well as possibly working with a private hotel developer wouldn't come until much later.

In April, former Riverside Councilman Dom Betro said he expected an architect to be hired before the start of summer.

At that time, Betro said construction for the convention center's expansion would likely start in five years after projects involving renovating the downtown library, museum, pedestrian mall and Fox Theatre.

Sola-Ahluwalia remained confident the city is moving forward with the plan.

"From what I understand, they're committed to it, and it's going to get back on the burner."






On the city council's agenda for this upcoming week, is its annual exercise of holding a workshop on the mid-year budget. As everyone probably knows by now, the city's cutting its budget back in anticipation of among other things, the foreclosure crisis which has hit the city and region hard and the $15 billion or so shortfall up in the halls of power in Sacramento. The hearing is to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. in the city council chambers at City Hall.



City Manager Brad Hudson has laid out the midterm budget here on both laserfische (which isn't very user friendly) and pdf file and has promised everyone that despite the " slowing national economy" that the city will avoid layoffs and major cuts to programs and services because it has a $46 million reserve.

The city's plans are to hold or "freeze" employee positions, eliminate all but the most necessary expenditures and to maximize funding from Redevelopment Agency (which doesn't have much left at the moment) and grants to upkeep the gains of the past several years.



Being lectured on Riverside Renaissance


Hudson's office first addresses the issues with Riverside Renaissance and stresses the need to educate the public that there's no competitition between the monies used for Riverside Renaissance and the city's general fund. However, the city also has stated that the monies for the Riverside Renaissance don't come directly from the city's general fund which is a bit different than stating that it doesn't come from the fund at all. Does this mean that money could be moved from the general fund to another outside account or accounts and sit for a while before being pulled out for Riverside Renaissance projects? Since at least $1 billion of the Renaissance is from borrowed money, how does the city going to fund the money that it will need to pay back?

It does admit that Riverside Renaissance and the general fund will become tied together because staffing and equipment increments will be needed when capital projects are completed. Mayor Ron Loveridge and others have expressed concerns about this aspect of the renaissance and its relationship to providing basic city services for city residents.



The city manager's office has also listed its key priorities from improving public safety, to promoting the cultural arts to addressing key environmental concerns. Unless the city's parks are included as the "key" Riverside Renaissance projects to move forward, then they're left off the priority list completely.



Public safety vehicles? Yes.


There's good news for the fire and police departments in terms of acquiring new motor vehicles. The fire department will get both a replacement fire truck and a heavy rescue vehicle. The police department will get 40 new squad cars within the next two fiscal years, including 20 this year which will be funded by asset forfiture funds that will be matched with money from the city's general fund. Also, it's proposed to install emergency vehicle right of way devices in 107 intersections in the city.




Public safety personnel positions? No.




However, being deferred are sworn positions in both the fire and police departments including any positions which would have been added this year. Based on the report, it appears that it could be months before adding new positions is even considered because doing so appears contingent on the state's final approved budget as well as an analysis of economic trends this autumn. The public safety departments will likely see promotion freezes if they haven't already. Both of these departments utilize grant funding to pay for some of their programs (i.e. traffic education in the police department) and some of their equipment and personnel as well. Given that the state and possibly the federal government will see budget deficits and likely cuts, it's not clear what impact this will have on available funding of grants for local agencies.



Funding the Redevelopment Agency


Staff recommendations will be sent to the city council to put money back into the somewhat depleted Redevelopment Agency coffers and incorporate that into the budget. It's not the first time this has happened. One person commented to me once that for an agency that's supposed to be helping put money back in the general fund, it seems that the redevelopment agency gets bailed out by the city. But there's a big controversy on whether or not economic development is truly dependent on the creation of redevelopment agencies in cities.




Exempt community organizations and arts funding from cuts


The most vulnerable members of the city's population will continued to be served through these organizations and programs.






An environmental fundraiser starring the governor that's by invitation only will be held Monday. Another event that was held celebrating Motown at the Caesar Chavez Community Center in the Eastside attracted a large crowd. It also attracted the Riverside County Fire Department's fire marshall who told the gathering that only those who filled the 60 seats would be allowed to attend and everyone else had to leave. That left some Park and Recreation Department employees who sponsored the event very dismayed.





Operation Phoenix will be expanding in San Bernardino next month.



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City officials hope to extend the benefits of the program, which they credit with a 38 percent decrease in serious crime in what was once the city's most violent neighborhood.

In November, the San Bernardino City Council voted to expand the crime-fighting program to three troubled neighborhoods.

The expansion retains the original Phoenix neighborhood just north of downtown as an area of concentration, and extends it to a milewide circle centered at North Sierra Way and West Wabash Street.

Officials also added a milewide circle centered at California and 16th streets, a Westside neighborhood where, the staff report says, gang-related crime has been rising. A third milewide circle is centered at Highland and Sterling avenues in eastern San Bernardino.

On Monday, City Council members approved an agreement with San Bernardino County that will provide three sheriff's deputies and a sergeant for increased patrols, the equivalent of 1½ code-enforcement officers and $98,000 for programs through the end of the fiscal year.






The Los Angeles Police Department posted some bloggings on the fatal shooting of Randal Simmons here. Also more about Simmons work with Glory Kids.