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Paint Over Walls Or Paradigms?

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Graffiti abatement in San Jose costs the Parks & Rec department $1.7 million per year. Local residents occasionally chip in to help.

I attended the District 5 (D5) community budget meeting last week—it was the third D5 community budget meeting I’ve attended. Approximately 50 people were there, with the majority being city employees.  Many of the speakers shared emotional testimonials.

One speaker stood out to me. She shared how cutting of library hours from 4.5 days to three days a week would cause a large burden to her neighborhood. She teaches music at the Hillview Library and is close to the youth who rely on the existing library. She said keeping library hours open in her neighborhood was important since she feels her neighborhood has a higher need than other areas.

This theme was prevalent. Another woman brought up that since D5 has a higher crime rate, then why not keep D5 libraries open and close District 10 (D10) libraries since crime is low there? I have asked the same question before. Should library hours be based on need? How do we determine the need? Crime stats? Census date by race and income?

Another person was concerned about the police layoffs and how they need more police in D5. Truth is we do allocate more police to D5 than D10, for example.  Since there are more calls for service in D5 than D10 our police force plans accordingly.

Another felt D5 had not gotten its fair share of capital projects compared to other districts. This one would take some research but I think it is fair to say between the Redevelopment Agency spending through the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative ($105 million for a third of San Jose), Fire Station 2, Mayfair Community Center, Alum Rock Library, Hillview Library, Mexican Heritage Plaza, to name some projects, the last 10-15 years was better for D5 than the previous period of historical neglect.

The other major issue of the night was the option of outsourcing to save money and retain a city service. The one that got the most discussion was outsourcing the anti-graffiti painting currently performed by city employees.  It was felt that the painting of walls was too important to outsource and instead should only be done city employees. Currently it costs $1.7 million to do this service and the Parks Recreation Neighborhood Services (PRNS) Department (which runs this program) estimates it could be done for $1.1 million which equates to $600,000 in savings by keeping the service but providing it a different way.

The employees who perform this work have shown up at each budget meeting to speak against the outsourcing. This service is really needed in D5; I witnessed to and from the meeting that there was substantial tagging. The sheer amount of tagging I witnessed gave the appearance that the City does not offer this service today. Speakers at the meeting felt that city staff would work harder than a private contractor. One option might be to outsource half of the city to a private contractor and the other half to city employees and judge it in a year. However, this would not generate the total savings needed to balance the department budget and thus provide this service.

The savings in outsourcing park maintenance looks even higher. The current cost for only maintaining small parks under two acres and park bathrooms is $4.1 million where if it was outsourced it is estimated to be only $1.3 million for a savings of $2.8 million.

I understand that some people will lose their current job through outsourcing and may go to work for the private contractor earning less, but the City’s responsibility is to provide services for 950,000 residents. The employees who may lose their job did nothing wrong, it’s just a sign of the times that the City needs to re-look how it can continue services and save money. The City saved $4 million last year outsourcing janitorial at the Airport and City Hall and everything is just as clean.

Last week, at the District 7 (D7) budget meeting, a career Navy veteran advocated for opening the Seven Trees library, which is completed but not yet open. However he went on to say that there should be immediate changes to the pension system. He mentioned how he receives a 30 percent pension for 25 years serving our country in the military.

Also posted in Budget, District 5, Politics | Comments closed

Synchronized Swimming

Last year, the council was faced with cutting the aquatics program down from ten pools to two due to the budget deficit. Stuck between a rock and a hard place the council invoked the “Unique Service Purchase” clause.

4.12.235 Unique services purchases.
The procurement authority may initiate a procurement for unique professional or other services where the procurement authority determines that an unusual or unique situation exists that make the application of the requirements for competitive procurement of a services agreement contrary to the public interest. Any special procurement under this section shall be made with such competition as is practicable under the circumstance. A written determination of the basis for the procurement and for the selection of the particular contractor shall be included by the Procurement authority in the department files.

Simply stated, this allows city staff the flexibility to outsource. In this case, the aquatics program was outsourced to both non-profit and for-profit groups. This simple action allowed the city to open seven additional pools for a total of nine pools instead of two that were budgeted.

At the Dec. 14 council meeting, staff reported back to the council on the results of the aquatics program. Residents gave the program high marks, with 91 percent rating the service as positive. In addition 1,000 more swimmers used the pools this summer over last summer. Staff said that outsourcing of the pools was “seamless.”

I think it is great we were able to give residents services they enjoy but without the traditional cost.

The City continues to cover maintenance and utility costs, however with multi-year contracts I believe we can get most of these costs covered as well, and even extend the swim season.  This is a positive example that outsourcing can provide services to residents. This is a positive example that outsourcing can provide services to residents.

Congratulations to Maxim Semiconductor for purchasing a building in North San Jose. They will soon be relocating their 1,200 employees and corporate headquarters to San Jose. The City of San Jose through the Office of Economic Development offered $500,000 in business assistance programs. Luckily the City of San Jose was prudent and has a little money put aside for economic development.

Also posted in Budget, Politics | Comments closed

No Soup For You! No Park For You!

Last week the Council tackled two agenda items related to parks. One was to apply for a state grant. There is $184 million up for grabs for the entire state of California to be spent on city parks. California has 36 million people and San Jose has one million. If San Jose were to get 1/36th of those state funds, that would be $5 million.

Unfortunately, San Jose will not get any special consideration for our large population since the grant is focusing on low-income communities. Even our best park projects may not fare well due to our higher income levels citywide compared to other areas of the state. The wish list San Jose park staff submitted is for $55 million of park and trail projects.

I know the chance of state money for parks may sound exciting, but really it is sad commentary since the current council policy exempts affordable housing from paying park fees which has resulted in $70-90 million dollar loss to the city for parks. $70-90 million that could have purchased open space and trails so that all residents have access to a healthy community. I do not support this inequitable policy that makes us beg for a small piece of the pie when our own council policy made us lose the entire pie.

The other item was the city postponing the opening of 11 parks city- wide because there is no money to fund operations and maintenance. Residents came and spoke and asked: “Why doesn’t the city outsource park maintenance, which would cost less money?” Or “Why not let volunteers do all the maintenance.” Well, the council voted on outsourcing a few months back when a new stricter competition policy was passed by 7-4 vote that killed any chance for outsourcing ( I joined the Mayor in voting no). San Jose residents do not care who maintains a park just that it is maintained.

We have had great success with the Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden due to Terry Reilly’s commitment to organizing volunteers to help maintain all the roses at the park. The volunteers help augment the park maintenance and do not replace park maintenance personnel. It is a partnership between volunteers and city park staff. The current council policy does not allow for volunteers to operate lawn mowers, for example, which is a big part of park maintenance at parks city wide.

Another option I have voiced is allowing housing developers who deliver a turnkey park to maintain the new park for three years at their cost. In return, however, they should be allowed to pay the market rate and be able to hire and fire the private park maintenance service as they wish. This would save the city money, provide open space to residents and ensure new parks are defect free. Unfortunately this proposal is dead on arrival since the majority of the council would not support it.

So what we are seeing with the city ripping out plant landscaping in traffic medians and not opening parks since we do not have funds to maintain either of them, is just a small appetizer when it comes to plugging a $100 million dollar budget deficit. Remember the residents are second in this city after others get their cut. Hold on to your hats and definitely your wallets as it is going to get much worse.

Also posted in Budget, Parks | Comments closed
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