The Resident

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BUDGET FUNDS NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECTS, MORE POLICE OFFICERS

Council content with final money decisions

By Stephen Baxter

San Jose lawmakers passed a $2.7 billion budget for the next 12 months that they said satisfies residents' calls to trim expenses, beef up law enforcement and maintain parks and roads.

On June 17, the council approved a budget that includes 25 more police officers and shutters several branch libraries on Sundays starting July 6. Many council members praised the choices outlined in the budget and said that its new community budget process helped expose some hard choices to taxpayers.

"The budget is a clear expression of our priorities," Councilman Sam Liccardo said at the June 17 meeting. "This has been a model process in community involvement."

Councilwoman Judy Chirco said that phone surveys in the winter and community meetings held in spring helped residents recognize the city's structural budget deficit. With the passage of the budget, it is about $115 million for the next three years.

"This has been a collaborative process and there are no easy answers," Chirco said. "This has been a fair process, an open process and one that the community can take pleasure in."

The council made several key additions and subtractions.

School crossing guards will be maintained with $313,096 for the coming year, but the city manager also has been directed

to evaluate intersections at middle schools that could be "adequately secured" by installing automated crossing signals, according to the mayor's June budget message. The city is also looking for state and federal grants to fund safe crosswalks, and school officials are collaborating in a plan.

Fees that builders pay to develop land are being raised 4 percent to 10 percent, and monthly sewer rates also will rise more than $3 to $27.09 for a typical single-family home.

To help keep youths out of gangs this summer, the budget allocates $242,804 to a new pilot program that will extend hours at youth centers and keep staff working at parks and community centers. The money also will fund sports tournaments, block parties co-sponsored by churches and other religious groups, and it will facilitate collaboration between police and the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force.

City leaders also agreed to hire a new staff member for 18 months to coordinate an interdepartmental effort to inventory the city's trees and plant and maintain new trees.

The city will leverage $219,000 in grants from Cal Fire and add $150,000 to the program.

The city budget will pay $76,000 to clean up trash left from homeless encampments on the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek.

Here are a few more additions and subtractions in the 2008-09 budget in select neighborhoods:

* District 1 highlights (includes West San Jose):

The West Valley Branch Library and Rose Garden Branch Library had been open from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, but they will be closed on Sundays starting July 6, library officials said.

Traffic lights in areas including West San Jose, Cambrian and Willow Glen will get 36 miles of fire optic signal lines to help synchronize the system, and the signals are supposed to improve commute times, improve air quality and increase safety.

Traffic surveillance cameras also will be installed at 141 city intersections in the city to monitor traffic in real time and make signal adjustments.

* District 6 highlights (includes Rose Garden area, Willow Glen):

Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio pleaded with the council just before it adopted the budget to keep a fire hose wagon and three firefighters who worked at Fire Station 6 at 1386 Cherry Ave. He offered to close the Willow Glen Library for one day a week after its reopening -- scheduled for Aug. 23 -- but the council denied his request.

Losing the hose wagon means that if there is more than one call to the station, it will have to be handled by another station, such as Station 9 at 3410 Ross Ave.

Acting Fire Chief Darryl Von Raesfeld said the impact would be "very minimal."

* District 9 highlights (includes Cambrian area):

The Kirk Community Center at 1601 Foxworthy Ave. will receive $250,000 toward the $2.9 million it needs for a renovation.

The fire department is planning to increase service in the Cambrian area, Von Raesfeld said, but the budget does not outline a specific plan.

* District 10 highlights (includes Almaden Valley):

The Vineland Branch Library at 1450 Blossom Hill Road had been open on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m., but it will be closed on Sundays starting July 6.

Traffic calming has been an issue in Almaden Valley and other areas, and the city will spend $120,000 to buy 10 radar speed display trailers to be parked on city streets where speeding is a problem. The units can be set up without the time and expense of studies required for permanent street features.

Councilwoman Nancy Pyle addressed some law enforcement concerns in her district by mentioning that an $82 million South San Jose Police Substation is being built at Highway 85 and Monterey Road not far from her constituents. Workers began construction on the station in February and plan to complete it by October 2009.

It is expected to improve police response times to the city's south side.