With the city facing an estimated $73 million deficit next year, Peninsula residents were given a glimpse at potential service cuts recently and given the opportunity to pose questions to the city’s staff during a budget-themed town hall meeting. The hour-long forum Oct. 25 in the Point Loma High School auditorium was one of eight held citywide over a two-week span — just ahead of the Nov. 2 citywide Proposition D measure asking voters to approve a half-cent sales-tax increase to preserve city services. Proposition D was defeated by voters 68 percent to 38 percent. “[This meeting is] to inform the community as to some of the things we’re considering for the upcoming budget,” said Jay Goldstone, chief operating officer for the city. “It gives them a bit of a little preview so that when we then present something to the City Council, they’re not seeing it for the first time.” During the meeting, Goldstone said the projected deficit would affect fiscal year 2012, which begins next July 1. As a result, each of the city’s department heads were given a mandate in September to develop a budget-reduction target, which they responded to last month. “We needed the departments to identify their reductions sooner rather than later because we want to take [the] budget recommendations forward in January and hopefully get the [City] Council to adopt any budget reductions in January, so we can maybe implement them by February or March and get some savings to help minimize the level of reductions we might have to make,” Goldstone said. With a reduction goal of 6.7 percent for police and fire-rescue departments — and 23.7 percent for all other departments — six city department heads shared with local residents what their respective cuts would look like in order to meet the identified targets. Here is a department-by-department glimpse at the cuts to meet their targets: POLICE San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said he would have to cut 169 full-time sworn officers. Other cuts would eliminate two police divisions and close all police “storefront” operations. Lansdowne said all of the potential reductions mean the San Diego Police Department would not be able to meet its current seven-minute response window. FIRE-RESCUE San Diego Fire Department Chief Javier Mainar said potential reductions include brownouts for five additional fire engines or trucks — sidelining 12 full-time employees with each brownout. He said a pilot for one of the two air operations helicopters would be eliminated, along with a reduction of lifeguards for Mission Bay and Ocean Beach, and a 50 percent downsizing of the city’s lifeguard night crew. PARK AND REC Director Stacy LoMedico said the hours of operation at recreation centers citywide would need to be reduced from 40 to 20 hours weekly and that the cuts would force the closure of nine recreation centers, two visitor centers, two gymnasiums and force the closure of all but one city pool. LoMedico mentioned additional reductions in service, including scaling back the hours of operation at the public buildings in Balboa Park. LIBRARIES Director Deborah Barrow said potential reductions include the permanent closure of two facilities, rolling brownouts for branch libraries and shared staff. The hypothetical cuts also include a reduction in children’s services and programming. STREETS Potential reductions would mean about 8,000 to 10,000 fewer fixes to potholes, 1,400 fewer street light repairs and 700 fewer sidewalks repaired each year citywide. They also would result in elimination of all weed abatement and non-emergency tree trimming and cut one-quarter of the emergency tree service. NO EASY FIXES Goldstone said Proposition D would have acted like a “bridge loan” for the trying economic times. In light of its defeat Tuesday, the city cannot count on the estimated $102 million per year the tax was expected to bring in. “The only aspect that makes [the identified cuts] related is that if Prop D passes it would be a revenue source that could help close this budget gap,” Goldstone said. “Short of that, I can’t count this one way or another. That’s why we’ve asked the departments to identify these reductions right now.” Bay Park resident Jon Christensen was one of the 30 audience members. He described the meeting as “business as usual” for the city. “It’s time to actually see some leadership instead of just rearranging bureaucratic deck chairs,” Christensen said. “I don’t think they are taking on the tough issues. Everybody’s attention is pension, pension, pension. They don’t want to take on the really hard questions, which go beyond the pension.”