San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales alleviated some of those fears in his June 9 budget message when he indicated that funding will still be available to keep city-park restrooms open seven days a week and to save Willow Glen's San Jose Fire Station 6 hose truck and three firefighter positions at the station.

Although the mayor earlier recommended closing the restrooms and reducing the Station 6 staffing and equipment—which the city council approved on Feb. 17—his budget message stated that the city wants to "keep our commitments to maintain and improve the quality of life for our residents." He added that public safety remains the city's No. 1 priority.

San Jose District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager and District 5 Councilwoman Nora Campos sent a memorandum to Gonzales on May 24 asking to retain the current level of staffing and apparatus at stations 2 and 6.

The $776,400 in funding will come from reassigning the Hazardous Incident Team staff, as cross-trained personnel, to fire stations throughout the city.

"I was very glad the mayor put the hose truck into the budget message," Yeager said. "You hope for the best. We had a good argument for keeping it."

Additional cuts, however, are anticipated in the fire department.

For Willow Glen resident Susan Espinoza, the thought of losing fire services was a real concern. Her 17-year-old son's critical heart condition lies in the firefighter paramedic's hands almost once a month.

She was an active voice for keeping it, calling Yeager's office twice and emailing him three times.

"I understand the need for budget cuts, but my personal feeling is the firefighters keep my son alive," she said. "I know the firefighters as family."

The mayor was also concerned about the ongoing growth of the public library and suggested placing a parcel tax on the November ballot so the library could continue purchasing materials and equipment. The issue of reducing library hours or charging fees for interbranch transfers or late returns was not addressed.

Now that a decision has been made not to lock bathroom doors, rangers won't have to worry about visitors "holding it."

The mayor proposed allocating $250,000 to keep restrooms open by diverting funds from other proposed projects and tapping into the Economic Uncertainty Fund.

Yeager also submitted a May 24 memorandum to the mayor asking to maintain funding at city-park restrooms because he had received feedback from numerous park users about the issue. One group was the Willow Glen Little League.

Willow Glen Little League board member in charge of field maintenance Darrin Wicker said Yeager came out to discuss the Little League's concerns.

"It would have had a tremendous effect on us if they closed," Wicker said. "Five-to-seven-year-olds always have to go."

But the mayor did not reinstate funding for all the maintenance at the parks. Litter pickup and garbage collection would be reduced from seven days to two or three days a week, sweeping and blowing would occur once a month rather than weekly and edging and pruning would happen on an as-needed basis.

The reduction in attention to litter and cleanliness, however, did concern Wicker.

"We stress good citizenship to the Little League kids, but I'd love to see more volunteers pick up trash," he said. "We all understand budget cuts, and I'm willing to do my share as long as I'm not the only one."