On the Fourth of July weekend just past, as San Diegans enjoyed time with family and friends at the city’s parks and beaches, they almost certainly weren’t thinking about the city budget. They weren’t thinking about the people who trimmed the grass they picnicked on or who emptied the trash cans along the beach. They weren’t thinking about the street-repair crew who filled an annoying pothole or the police that patrolled their neighborhood, keeping it safe. But they enjoyed the benefit of these and many other city services for which funding levels were maintained in our new budget that took effect July 1. Despite the enormous difficulties that local and state governments face in this economic downturn, the city of San Diego began its new fiscal year with a budget that not only is balanced but also protects hours of service at libraries and parks, maintains police and fire staffing levels and continues the important fiscal reforms that have restored the stability and good name of our city. I am particularly proud of this budget because it was achieved by working with the City Council, city employees and the community to determine the priorities of the taxpayers and make tough decisions to close an $83 million shortfall. This deficit–caused by the recession’s downward pull on tax revenues–was addressed mostly through cutting the compensation of nearly all the city’s 10,500 employees by 6 percent. This sacrifice will save the city $41 million this year and bring taxpayers millions of dollars in long-term savings in retirement costs. The public played an important role in forming this year’s budget. Councilmember Tony Young, the Budget and Finance Committee chair, held community meetings at the outset of the budget development process to let us hear from the public as we crafted our spending plan. What I heard over and over from the citizens was that they did not want to see cuts to library hours, park services and public safety. They don’t want their roads to deteriorate. This year’s budget is a reflection of those priorities. As of right now, however, this hard work is imperiled by decisions that soon may be made in Sacramento, where lawmakers are making plans to raid local government funds to plug a gaping hole in the state budget. Their plan is to steal up to $24 million of San Diego’s gasoline taxes, which make up a large portion of our budget for street maintenance. We cannot completely abandon road maintenance; crumbling streets damage vehicles and cause accidents. This means the city would have to reopen our budget and possibly make severe cuts. I’ve made several visits to Sacramento to meet with Governor Schwarzenegger and legislative leadership to let them know we will do everything in our power to avert that outcome. The city has been streamlining operations since the day I took office, and because we’re much more efficient, we’re able to maintain services during these extremely difficult economic times. The state should have been doing the same. For now, San Diegans can take pride in this moment, knowing that they have been a part of our progress on reform and restoring pride to our city.