Pat on the Issues: City Budget
Our budget problem is not a new challenge. For decades now, experienced politicians have been talking about closing San Jose’s budget gap. But, a great city cannot remain great if her government continues to address budget shortfalls by taxing more and cutting services to her citizens. Before long, there will be no one left to tax and no services left to cut.
Good budgeting is about accountability. It is setting rules…and following them. It is establishing measureable goals. It is making wise investments and expenditures.
The first rule should be “no tax increases”. The government gets enough of our money already. Here are some ways I believe we can have the money needed to provide the services we demand while not increasing taxes:
- Increase opportunities for citizens to spend money in San Jose. By promoting projects which attract business investment to the city, we will enjoy an increase in sales tax revenues.
- Increase fees for “fee-based” services. Wherever users do not cover the cost of the services they enjoy, the city is subsidizing them.
- Focus on reducing city employee expenses. There is waste in the cost of city-owned vehicles, cell phone costs, and other operating expenses. Let’s start by setting an aggressive MPG target for our vehicle fleet to reduce our fuel cost.
- Carefully examine city employee contracts, including raises and benefits. Our overall employee compensation packages should be competitive, but not overly generous.
The second rule should be “fund what is important to our citizens”. We need to prioritize government spending to focus on things that matter to our quality of life. 
- Protect our spending on emergency services, because while we often take police and fire protection for granted, they are not automatic. They need to be around when we need them.
- Adequately fund our library system, including maintenance and reasonable hours of operation. Our children need safe environments in which to grow and learn.
- Keep our parks open, clean and safe. Our citizens deserve room to recreate and enjoy the wonderful climate with which we are blessed.
- Focus on improving our roads and traffic flows. We need more time for enjoying our families, and less time crawling through traffic in our automobiles.
I have extensive experience with large budgets and complex organizations. I know there are creative solutions to budget issues. Maintaining our quality of life will require a good-old Silicon Valley commitment to innovation.