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Dozens of Pleasanton residents of various ages flooded the library meeting room last week where the city’s Budget Advisory Committee confirmed the list of 28 potential budget reductions for the city manager to review and present to the City Council in a few months.
A majority of those who attended the March 13 committee meeting were there to voice their opposition to several of the proposed cuts included in the committee’s list of potential budget reductions like closing the Dolores Bengtson Aquatic Center.
“I’ve been going to the pool since 2018 for water aerobics,” Mary Lerch, a 29-year resident, said during public comment. “It’s the only exercise I can do and I don’t know what I would do if the pool closed … I’d go to Dublin and take my money there and I’m sure the city doesn’t want that to happen.”
Many other speakers — including several kids, teens and young adults — voiced their disapproval of reducing the hours for the Firehouse Arts Center, which many said would lead to a decrease in programming and a loss of community.
“After the Covid pandemic, I made the realization that I was alone … until I went to a musical at the Firehouse,” said 12-year-old resident Lilliana Juan. “I made my first true friends there. I was able to live my life through these programs.”
Ultimately, the committee decided to move the recommendation to reduce the number of hours for the Firehouse lower down the list closer to the pool closure recommendation — the items further down the list signify the services that the committee and community would most like to retain.
Other budget reduction recommendations low on the list include the closure of a fire station — which is the very last item — and the reduction or elimination of police services, such as special units like the school resource officer and alternative response unit. The list is not, however, set in stone as City Manager Gerry Beaudin explained and it is still up to the City Council to decide what services will be retained and which ones will be cut.
The city is currently facing a $13 million annual structural deficit that has been confirmed after an independent accounting firm reviewed the city’s 10-year financial forecast, which initially projected the deficit. Last year, the City Council majority agreed to place Measure PP, a half-cent sales tax increase measure, on the ballot in hopes that residents would pass it — the revenue measure was projected to generate roughly $10 million in annual revenue.
But when Measure PP failed to get enough votes, the city — in order to balance its next two-year budget — had to pivot to identifying about $10 million in ongoing General Fund reductions in each of the next two fiscal years.
During its March 4 meeting, the council majority expressed support for withdrawing $2 million in pension trust funds to help address the budget deficit over the next two fiscal years. Staff have also separately identified $3.3 million in internal operational reductions.
But apart from those internal operational reductions, the city still has to meet that threshold of $10 million in cuts over the next two years, which is why the Budget Advisory Committee was established to help determine what services should be recommended for reductions.
Up until this point, the city has identified a total of $14.7 million in potential reductions across all city departments, including the $3.3 million in internal operational reductions. Over the past few months, the committee has been meeting to discuss those reductions.
The community also had a chance to weigh in on the list of proposed cuts and reduction of services during a budget town hall in February.
But during the March 13 meeting where the BAC was set to review the potential list of services one last time before confirming its recommendations to the city manager, a number of people were not happy with the fact that services like the pool were still up for discussion of being shut down.
“Hundreds of swimmers every week — thousands of children (and) adults over the years — have considered the pool a vital resource,” Steve Toschi said. “It’s truly a priceless community asset and simply cannot be sacrificed.”
Many pleaded their case for why the pool and the Firehouse Arts Center were crucial services that should not be on the chopping block at all. The pool closure, according to the list of potential cuts, would save the city about $1.2 million each year while reducing the hours at the Firehouse Arts Center would save the city about $250,000.
“Theater is where I found my place in our town,” said Jasper Riegels, a middle school student. “For kids who aren’t into sports, Pleasanton doesn’t offer much. But the Pleasanton Youth Theater Company has been a home for them, and a source of inspiration.”
While the committee did move the Firehouse recommendation lower down the list, it is still just above other recommendations such as reducing the Pleasanton Public Library’s hours from 62 hours per week down to 40.
There were also people who advocated for keeping the library hours the same and did not agree with the recommendation to reduce or eliminate the city-funded school crossing guard program, the latter of which is closer to the top of the list.
But as Beaudin explained, the city is going to face reductions that will impact community members.
“It’s really important to recognize that we are in a position where we do have to make hard decisions about the services and programs that we are going to continue to provide moving forward,” Beaudin said.
He also said that while he appreciates residents offering solutions such as sponsorships to keep things like the pool open, there is not enough time to do those things because the city needs to balance its budget soon.
“There’s a reality to having a $13 million structural deficit where you want to make sure you’re still providing police, fire, public works … there’s only so many areas to be able to reduce the budget,” Beaudin said. “While everyone wants to come up with a sponsorship or some kind of an alternate funding source, those are very real — they can happen. They’re just not going to happen any time for this two-year budget.”
Some of the top recommendations of reductions included in the BAC’s list are reductions in the city’s internal services and operational support; the city’s planning and building departments; and programs within the city’s community support and human services department.
The BAC is set to meet one last time on April 2 to review its preliminary general fund budget reductions proposal that will be based on the confirmed list of 28 recommendations. The proposal will be presented to the council in April before it discusses and adopts the final two-year budget in the following months.
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It was encouraging to see such a muscular, and diverse community response at the BAC. People are rightly upset at the possible pool and theater closure.
We are in this dire mess today because Mayor Balch just couldn’t make up his mind on Measure PP.
Yes, unfortunately Jack Balch and Craig Eicher ran on a campaign message of not paying for a small percentage of the the sales tax (1/2 % increase) in Measure PP for Pleasanton to help keep city services and programs solvent. Now they are voting to keep the costly Mayor’s Award Reception, Budget Consultants and other non-essentials in the budget. They mislead the voters and now the community is facing closures of the swim center, senior center, library and the decline in city services.
One way to help with the budget is for the lower paid employees to take a 5% pay cut, senior employees shouid take a 10% cut. They want the citizens to suffer the cuts, but none of the city employees are willing to take a cut. Looking at Transparent California, even if all took a 5% cut, there would be a large savings. Just an opinion.
Yes, unfortunately Jack Balch and Craig Eicher ran on a campaign message of not paying for a small percentage of the the sales tax (1/2 % increase) in Measure PP for Pleasanton to help keep city services and programs solvent. Now they are voting to keep the costly Mayor’s Award Reception, Budget Consultants and other non-essentials in the budget. They mislead the voters and now the community is facing closures of the swim center, senior center, library and the decline in city services.