Fixing Long Beach's Budget

By Douglas "Doug" Drummond

Doug Drummond has many ideas for cutting out-of-control expenses and fixing the budget process.

• Inter-department billings + when one department bills another for services + should be comparable with charges found in the private sector. For example, City Fleet Services charges the Police Department $90 to change the oil in a police car. I'm sure most of us know where we could get it done for under $20.

• Occasionally Long Beach receives one-time unexpected revenues. I believe that any such one-time monies should be used exclusively for one-time expenses, such as building new fire stations or libraries, so the city does not become dependent on income that is not annually replenished.

• Some City Council members have increased their office budgets during the past eight years. It's their turn to cut costs. District offices are expensive but are rarely visited by constituents. Having a full-time staff member takes council aides away from their duties at City Hall. It is far more cost-effective to take all of the incoming calls at City Hall and send aides into the field to meet people personally and solve problems.

City Council members should economize. The average of council office expenditures is $319,260. This is about $100,000, or 46 percent more than was spent eight years ago.

I compliment City Council Member Jackie Kell in District 5 for having the lowest budget ($251,798). The Third District in my term of office (1990-1998) had the lowest budget. Today it has the highest budget. If each City Council Member voluntarily held their office expense only at the level of Councilmember Kell, we would save $607,156. This alone would be a huge step to restore our needed library hours. The size of Council staffs should also be examined + some offices have as many as seven staff members. Council members should also forego the use of city cars and accept the $400 per month in auto expenses offered if they use their own vehicles.

Additionally, the Mayor can take a much more active role in the budget process. The Mayor of Long Beach does not have a vote at City Council. However, an effective Mayor does not need one. There are many things the Mayor can do to take the lead on issues and make sure the Council is well-informed to make decisions.

The Mayor controls the agenda at City Council, which means the Mayor can add items that facilitate discussion.

For example, Council deliberations over the City budget are often hampered by members' lack of experience with budgets of that scale and with lack of knowledge about city departments and their expenditures. This forces the Council to rely too heavily on the City Manager's office for help in decision-making. However, residents rely on their Council representatives to make budget decisions based on what's best for the residents, not city government.

To help the Council make better-informed decisions, I propose adding a 30-minute segment to the Council agenda each week in which members focus on a specific city department to learn what its responsibilities are, its structure, budget and how it performs. Each department would be studied for approximately four weeks. Once the departments have been reviewed, the Council can, if necessary, make mid-year adjustments to the budget to bring it in line with what they have learned.

I will use the agenda to give the Council members opportunities to learn aabout each others' districts. A problem in one district can grow to affect neighboring districts and the entire city. I believe that when Council members understand each district in the city more fully, they will make decisions that serve all of Long Beach, not just their own districts.

And this is just the beginning. We must impartially examine every aspect of our city's budget and make decisions that are based on what is best for our communities, not the special interests "downtown." I pledge to do exactly that as Mayor.