Sanders: San Diego on road to fiscal recovery
In an interview with the Rancho Bernardo News Journal on Monday, Sanders said there will be $2 million to $5 million in fee increases for city services, but he expects the majority of the city’s estimated $44 to $54 million deficit will be reduced through concessions by labor unions.
“People do not want to see their services cut anymore,” Sanders said, adding if labor unions do not reduce expenses, “I’ll make cuts.”
The fee increases for just about any city-provided service or program, such as Park and Recreation activities, permits and inspection fees, will be limited to recovering cost, he said. He added that they are necessary because the city has often been subsidizing costs for some fees that have not been increased in a decade.
Sanders also said that when it’s necessary to decrease services, communities will be able to recruit volunteers if they want the services continued. For example, in some beach communities, residents recently started removing trash when the city eliminated some trash collections.
The city’s residential and commercial water customers can avoid sharp increases in their water bills if they cut water consumption by 20 percent, according to the mayor.
The city, which will have its water supply cut by 20 percent by summer, has been promoting voluntary water conservation for almost two years.
While the effort thus far has fallen short — water consumption was reduced by 5 percent, only half of the city’s 10 percent goal — Sanders said, “I’m happy with the 5 percent because its starting to build a pattern.”
He said a tiered rate structure will be implemented, which rewards those who have taken conservation measures over the past three years and penalizes those not conserving 20 percent. Because some decreased their water use years earlier, Sanders said a minimum baseline will be established, though some will say the criteria “is not fair to them.”
Reducing water consumption will be necessary to protect jobs, he said.
“If we have water rationing, that affects industry ... we must have a sustainable water supply,” Sanders said.
While the city is making cuts throughout its departments, Sanders said it is also spending more on priorities — especially on brush thinning and working on roads, water and sewer lines whose maintenance has been deferred.
Sanders said he was “extremely disappointed” that Proposition A (the fire tax) failed in November, but the city is doing its part to reduce fuel for the next wildfire.
The city is thinning 590 of its 1,180 acres within 100 feet of structures per year. In previous administrations, he said, 70 acres were cleared each year.
The city has identified 17 areas for the first round of thinning, based upon the fire department’s fire hazard zone map. The closest areas to Rancho Bernardo are Sabre Springs (scheduled for thinning from July to September) and Black Mountain (set for December to Jan. 2010). For details, go to www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/parks/brush.shtml.
Sanders said the other half will be thinned next year, and thereafter following a two-year maintenance cycle.
In addition, the city increased the number of inspectors that contact private property owners to maintain their property. If voluntary compliance does not occur, the city can clean up the areas and impose liens on the properties to recoup costs.
Sanders said the city continues to negotiate with environmentalists as well because he would like to see a 250-foot clearance from structures instead of 100 feet.
He said the city is also better prepared to contact residents during disasters. It abandoned the Reverse 9-1-1 system many Rancho Bernardans said failed during the 2007 wildfires and replaced it with Alert San Diego, which Sanders called “a more reliable system.”
He is encouraging everyone to register their cell phones — home phones are automatically registered — through the city’s Web site, www.sandiego.gov.
As proof that the city is on the right financial track, Sanders mentioned its recent re-entry into the bond market and rise in three credit ratings. He is making a “conservative” estimate that the city will receive at least $27 million from the federal government’s stimulus package.
Sanders, elected in November 2005 and re-elected last June for a second term, said city officials underestimated the difficulties of implementing the strong mayor form of government, now in its third year.
He predicts the system will run smoother once a ninth council district is added in 2012. The addition would give the council an odd number of seats, preventing ties and making it more difficult to override a mayoral veto.
Working with the new City Council — half of its eight members joined in December — has “been an adventure every day,” Sanders said.
Regarding District 5’s new councilman, Carl DeMaio, Sanders said, “three-fourths of the time we’re pretty close to being on the same page.”