1—The North Campus was purchased for $4.5 million (below market value) because the church selling it believed the city would use it for the benefit of the community. The maintenance of the property costs the city only $22,000 a year, not the $80,000 to $150,000 Mr. Ochi asserts, and the fees collected are $15,000. Was it an unnecessary purchase? I don't think so. For example, the Heritage Orchard (the site of the new library) was purchased over many local citizens' objections for $85,000 in 1976. I don't think anyone would argue now that the Heritage Orchard property was a bad purchase. Besides the North Campus, there are probably only two more sites in the entire city larger than this property that may become available in the future.

2—I have been on the city council for two years and in that time we have reduced the employee head count by 7 percent, not had the excessive growth that Mr. Ochi stated. We cut the total budget 8 percent in 2002, 16 percent in 2003, and 16 percent in 2004. The city offices are closed every other Friday, we cut a sheriff's position, held pavement management to a minimum, cut the council's small $250 stipend, the planning commission's stipend, deferred all capital equipment purchases and facility maintenance, and have given no merit increases to employees. Mr. Ochi is correct—our population growth has been flat. But he didn't mention our revenue has also been flat the last few years. At the same time, our costs have continued to increase and the state has taken away an average of 12 percent of our revenue every year for the last three years.

3—Again, Mr. Ochi is wrong about the $300,000 used this fiscal year from the city's Economic Uncertainty Fund to cover our city shortfall; it was actually $150,000. We could have laid off two more employees or reduced what we spend on road maintenance. The city's Economic Uncertainty Fund was specifically put aside for situations like last year when the city was uncertain about the budget.

4—Last year, we did eliminate one traffic officer. There is never a good place to cut a budget. Should we have cut the planning department, the roads department, the recreational department, the youth department, or finance department instead? You elect five people to make tough decisions. Are they perfect decisions? No.

As a former member of the finance commission, I think Mr. Ochi needs to understand the city finances better. Sam probably has not had as much time to review them as some of us who spend each day scrutinizing them. I think the city council has done an excellent job controlling city expenses with the help of a competent staff. When one of our senior members on the council is a conservative Republican CPA and is the first to recommend a utility tax, then you understand how dire the situation is. Four out of the five council members support this tax. The fifth council member supported a tax but preferred a bond.

I find the utility-tax vote a simple decision. My family's property was worth 20 percent of our financial portfolio in 2000 and is now worth 50 percent. I take maintenance and upkeep of our personal properties very seriously. And as a city council member, I take the same issues in the city very seriously. Do I see the road in front of my house falling apart? No, but my own roof needed replacing before it starting leaking. Infrastructure repairs are not always visible to the human eye. When they are, the cost to repair can be up to four times greater than if the repairs are done when specified by experts.

And as to Mr. Ochi's personal attack on Mayor Ann Waltonsmith, I do not find that I can accept that either. I have enjoyed being part of the Saratoga City Council because of the mutual respect citizens show each other and I hope this will continue. There are many wonderful people in Saratoga and I count Ann as one of them. I respect her, admire her, and believe she is honor personified. Personal attacks have no place in local politics—let's deal with the issues and be straight with the facts during this election season.

Kathleen King is the vice mayor of Saratoga.