This summer, San Diego will begin restoring neighborhood services, better protecting our beaches and bays, reinvesting in public safety and guarding San Diego\u2019s tax dollars by strengthening financial safeguards. I recently voted for a balanced budget that delivers these results without unrealistic assumptions or accounting gimmicks. The 2012-13 budget includes: \u2022 Adding eight operating hours per week to every branch library and five hours to every recreation center \u2022 Investing $130 million into road and other infrastructural repairs \u2022 Increasing police academies to 120 cadets and holding the first firefighter academies since 2009, adding 60 firefighter recruits \u2022 Restoring three lifeguard positions to improve beach safety \u2022 Fully funding beach and bay firepits \u2022 Supporting an economic development program to create, attract and retain jobs and businesses \u2022 Funding to complete the Security and Exchange Commission\u2019s final reform recommendation and close the book on San Diego\u2019s troubled financial past People have asked me how this good news is possible given several years of deep cuts because of the recession and past fiscal mismanagement. It was not long ago the city planned to shut down core services like the Ocean Beach Branch Library and Cabrillo Recreation Center \u2014 a shortsighted proposal against which I joined hundreds of neighbors to permanently quash. The simple answer is that we made tough and necessary decisions that put San Diego at the forefront of financial reform. Fiscal discipline and an improving economy are paying off. As cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco faced massive budget deficits this year ($238 million and $263 million, respectively), San Diego is positioned to begin reinvesting taxpayer dollars in its neighborhoods. Since I was elected more than six years ago, I have worked with Mayor Jerry Sanders to bring to City Hall the same budget principles San Diego families and businesses practice every day. The city\u2019s budget crisis unfolded over several years, and solutions were not created overnight. The cost-saving tools we used to create this budget are possible thanks to reform efforts we San Diegans began years ago. In 2006, voters approved a ballot measure to unleash the power of competition between the private sector and government employees. The managed competition process is now producing $6 million in ongoing savings \u2014 with more to come. In 2008, voters ushered in a new, accountable system of city government by creating the independent Office of the City Auditor. This taxpayer watchdog has identified over $33 million in opportunities to increase revenues and decrease costs. At City Hall, I\u2019ve proudly guarded San Diego\u2019s tax dollars. Last year\u2019s landmark retirement health care reform plan will produce more than $800 million in savings over the next 25 years. And a six percent compensation reduction for city employees has reduced costs by millions of dollars. These victories have been hard fought, and we are not done. We must implement comprehensive pension reform, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters on June 5, to begin reducing the city\u2019s $2.2 billion unfunded pension liability. We must double our efforts to repair San Diego\u2019s roads by improving coordination and communication between city departments, as well as increase efficiencies to award repaving projects to contractors in a timely manner. We must continue to eliminate waste, cut red tape and restore more city services. Our work is not complete, but this budget reflects that we are on the right path. I am confident that together, through continued fiscal reforms, we will carry on delivering results for our neighborhoods that improve the quality of life for all San Diegans. \u2014 Council President Pro Tem Kevin L. Faulconer represents District 2 of the City Council, including Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Mission Bay.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This summer, San Diego will begin restoring neighborhood services, better protecting our beaches and bays, reinvesting in public safety and guarding San Diego\u2019s tax dollars by strengthening financial safeguards. I recently voted for a balanced budget that delivers these results without unrealistic assumptions or accounting gimmicks. The 2012-13 budget includes: \u2022 Adding eight operating hours […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":258360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"COUNCIL CORNER: Budget restores libraries, protects beaches, guards tax dollars","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11552],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}