What’s Next on the Agenda

I’m not going to bother regurgitating the headline news.  I believe all of you know of the Mayor’s announcement to immediately lay off 1,000 employees.  The bulk of these layoffs would come from the Engineers and Architects Association (EAA).  The EAA is not part of the Coalition of City Unions and not subject to contract terms that prevent any layoffs of Coalition members prior to July 1.

“I do not relish making these decisions, but we can no longer pretend these problems do not exist,” the Mayor said in an e-mail blast.

Let’s dissect that statement: he does not “relish making these decisions.”  Isn’t that the truth.  His record clearly shows he does not relish making any tough decisions.  “No longer pretend these problems do not exist” – at least he’s admitting he was pretending.

Looking ahead at the Council Agenda for next week, there is a curious mix of budget related items.  The ones below are my personal favorites and are a further indication of how detached the Mayor and CAO are from sound financial practices.

Recommendations for Council action, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR:

 1. DIRECT the City Administrative Officer (CAO), with the assistance of the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) to draft a Resolution for Council consideration that the City commit to achieving a minimum five percent General Fund reserve and adopt a budget wherein one-time revenues do not exceed one-time expenditures by the 2011-12 Budget.

2. DIRECT the CAO to continue to produce a “Three Year Plan” rolling financial report benchmarking the City’s process in achieving fiscal sustainability and provide recommendations and policies to eliminate the City’s structural deficit.

3. DIRECT the CAO to develop within 180 days, recommended multi-year and outcome-based budgeting approaches for use in developing future City budgets.

 4. DIRECT the CAO to update and disseminate existing City Financial Policies as have been adopted by Council and disseminate to all City departments within 60 days.

8. DIRECT the CAO to begin measuring actual versus adopted budget Financial Policy compliance reporting in the Supplemental Proposed Budget report to the Budget and Finance Committee on an ongoing basis.

These items represent basic minimum prodeures for any well run entity.  Why are they now just being considered?  I am not Monday Morning Quarterbacking.  This is ordinary stuff you want to have in place even in good times.

Number 8 is indicates the most egregious sign of management incompetence – reporting actual versus budget variances is as basic as they come.  The city is just waking up to it? 

I won’t fully implicate the current CAO Miguel Santana for neglecting these; his predecessors must bear most of the blame. 

So you see what we are up against – the inability to manage finances.

Here’s a scary thought.  If we do come out of this, either through bankruptcy or internal resolution, how long will it take before we repeat past gross negligence?

That depends on us – we are responsible for the people we elect.