Deena Winter: Mayor plugs his budget

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The mayor is sending a message to the city and its City Council (via the press): Go with my budget. It’s the best way to get out of this budget mess.

City Council members got a copy of Mayor Chris Beutler’s budget proposal Monday. And the next day, the mayor began publicly plugging his spending plan. (The public will get a look at the numbers when they’re released Sunday.)

But in the runup to the release, the mayor got a bunch of city officials together Tuesday to talk about how cutting one department can affect multiple departments.

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Councilman Ken Svoboda’s reaction to that revelation, in a nutshell: Well, duh.

But the real message Beutler seems to be putting out is: Don’t cut another $1.5 million out of the budget. It’d cut too deep.

Beutler said it’s time for the community to decide whether it will fund a budget that keeps pools open, builds roads and revitalizes neighborhoods.

He said the city has reached a point where “simply doing more with less” is increasingly difficult.

“We have the ability to put the budget problems behind us this year,” he said.

But he refused to comment on whether his solution includes a property tax increase, as expected.

To balance the budget, he had to close a nearly $6 million shortfall. He has dribbled out bits and pieces of his budget, including the elimination of 45 positions and creation of an economic development fund.

If he proposes a property tax increase, he’ll have to sell it to a skeptical City Council. Four Republicans on the council have said they don’t plan to go along with a tax increase.

Svoboda is one of them. He’s seen highlights of Beutler’s budget and said, “It’s not a pretty picture.”

“There’s some pretty deep cuts in there,” he said.

However, he said he doesn’t know of anybody who’s suggested closing pools. He said there are other ways to balance the budget.

Most council members have been through enough budgets to know that cuts have ripple effects, he said.

“This is the mayor’s first budget of his own and I think he’s telling us things we already know,” he said.

Beutler says his budget ends the use of “gimmicks” to balance the budget — which he defines as using one-time revenue sources to plug budget holes.

Svoboda said that depends on how you define one-time money. Beutler has proposed taking about $8 million out of the little-used Special Assessment Revolving Fund to create an economic development kitty. But Svoboda said you could instead make that money a revenue stream by using the interest income to create or fund programs.

In other words, he seems open to using the pot of money Beutler is warning the council to stay away from, when it comes to balancing the budget.

If those council members stick to their guns, it looks like we’re in for another summer of cuts. On top of the ones Beutler announces Sunday.

Street bond issue, part 2?

Perhaps the two most interesting words spoken during the mayor’s Tuesday press conference were in response to a question about whether he’d consider making a run at another bond issue for street construction and repairs.

His answer: “That’s conceivable.”

Voters thumped a $75 million street bond issue in late 2004, nearly 2-to-1.

Councilmen: Mayor’s ideas news to us

Beutler’s last two press conferences were news to council members.

And not good news, to two of them.

Council members generally don’t like learning about what’s happening at city hall from reporters.

They really don’t like it when the mayor makes an announcement, and they get calls from the press for reaction to something they know little to nothing about.

They complained about it when Coleen Seng was mayor, too. Beutler has tried to do a better job of giving the council a heads-up before going public, but he doesn’t always do a good enough job, they say.

Last week, councilmen Ken Svoboda and Jon Camp were irritated when they heard about Beutler’s Thursday press conference. He proposed a housing stimulus plan where the city would give grants to people who buy new houses.

Svoboda said he had a budget briefing with Beutler the previous day, during which the stimulus idea was portrayed as something Beutler was “kicking around.”

Svoboda was “disappointed” to hear that Beutler had already scheduled a press conference the next morning, where he announced the housing stimulus plan.

“I don’t see this team effort that everybody keeps talking about,” Svoboda said. “It sounds like ... we’re putting together something at the last minute.”

Camp was also miffed the media was notified of a press conference about the same time he was in a budget briefing where the housing stimulus was being portrayed as merely an idea.

Camp called it “another 11th hour disclosure” from the mayor’s office that puts the council in an awkward position.

He said the mayor apparently had already talked about the idea with civic groups.

“I thought we were going to work together with this administration,” Camp said.

He doesn’t like it when the mayor has a press conference to unveil a plan as if it’s a done deal, even though it requires council approval.

He called that a “candy store trick” — where the mayor offers the public a tantalizing treat and then makes the council the “bad guy” if it refuses to go along with the proffer.

But mayoral aide Rick Hoppe didn’t see it that way.

“I fail to see why the mayor shouldn’t propose something simply because Jon Camp wouldn’t support it,” he said.

He said the mayor always notifies the council before releasing proposals to the media. Council members have had several budget briefings, he said, where they were asked for ideas and input, which the mayor said he’d consider applying to his budget.

“We really have not received a lot of response,” Hoppe said. “We have trouble understanding where they’re coming from when they’re given the opportunity to be part of the process … but choose to reserve their criticism for after we announce where we’re going with our budget proposals.”

Hoppe said the mayor doesn’t have to talk to the council first about everything; sometimes he’s still trying to flesh out an idea by running it past people with expertise on the issue.

Svoboda said he intends to discuss the issue during an informal meeting with the mayor on Monday.

He said it

“If this is the biggest criticism that Mr. Svoboda and Mr. Camp can make of the mayor, then I would submit that the mayor is doing a great job.” — Mayoral aide Rick Hoppe, on the two councilmen’s criticism the mayor doesn’t always clue them in early enough on his proposals and announcements.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.