July 10, 2002      Sunnyvale, California  Since 1994



News


City approves budget despite numerous last minute pushes

Bids regarding custodial budget freeze and Fremont Pool rates fail


By Jennifer Zhang


City Council unanimously approved the city of Sunnyvale's operating budget, despite last minute bids to make adjustments to the city's custodial services, add youth rates to the newly opened Fremont Pool, and approve additonal funding to the Mary Avenue pedestrian and bike bridge.

Mayor Fred Fowler reopened a public hearing at the June 25 meeting on the budget to discuss the city's custodial services, following the council's receipt of a letter from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

"The fiscal year 2002–03 budget for custodial services is around $400,000—reduced from last year's budget of $900,000," said Robert Walker, director of parks and recreation.

The almost 50 percent reduction in budget will not be sufficient to maintain the service and quality levels currently being offered to the city by the janitorial staff, according to Ben Holgate of the SEIU. The many questions that have gone unanswered by city staff—regarding the budget reduction and their intentions for future custodial services—have resulted in frustration, Holgate added.

"We have five part-time positions, and four of them have not been filled by the city for many months," Holgate said at the meeting.

According to Finance Manager Grace Kim, the city's custodial services are currently taken care of by a combination of three different sourcesÑcity employees, temporary workers and an outside contract. The city is looking into other options, but nothing is finalized yet.

Fowler's initial suggestion was to temporarily freeze the current budget at $900,000, to "allay some of the fears" and work the numbers later, but his motion failed by a 3-4 vote, with Council Members Jack Walker, Pat Vorreiter, Tim Risch and Manuel Valerio dissenting.

The newly opened Fremont Pool, another controversial issue that has come under much scrutiny this past year, was again brought up at the meeting, this time by Councilman John Howe, who mentioned the lack of a youth fare for the brand-new, 50-meter pool despite the fact that it is located on Fremont High School grounds.

"We already have five other swimming pools in the city for youth and families," Vorreiter responded. The city does not have youth rates at its golf course or the tennis center, she noted.

"We should let the rates settle at the market rate," Walker said. "In January we will have a better handle on how the programs are going."

Howe's motion failed on a 3-4 vote, with Walker, Vorreiter, Risch and Valerio dissenting.

There was also an unsuccessful bid to allocate nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the Mary Avenue bike and pedestrian bridge. Out of the total $240,000 that Cupertino Mayor Richard Lowenthal requested of Sunnyvale for the bridge at the May 7 city council meeting, just $110,000 has been allocated by city staff for the neighboring city's project. "It will be a joint application by both Cupertino and Sunnyvale for the total amount," Miller explained.

Fowler suggested that the $240,000 be made available anyway, just in case the grant money does not come through. His motion for the extra $130,000 to be allocated in the budget failed by a 3-4 vote, with Walker, Vorreiter, Risch and Valerio dissenting.

Risch said that even with all the benefits that Sunnyvale residents would likely enjoy with the bridge, it is not incumbent upon Sunnyvale to contribute the funds that Cupertino needs to complete its project.

This additional $110,000 to the Mary Avenue fund was the only change that has been made to the budget since it was presented to the council on June 4.

The 2002–03 budget also includes $4,000 for Cupertino Community Services' rotating shelter for the homeless and needy; $10,000 for the Junior Achievement program, to be equally matched by private organizations; $1,600,000 for the Lawrence Expressway/Wildwood Avenue intersection project; $110,000 for the Mary Avenue bridge; and $5,000 for council travel.


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