What are the city's most important functions?

When they distributed the scanty info. they did about it - they were not resourceful and failed to include the shopping cart hot line number - which I can't recall right at the moment.

Things like that - they need to be more resourceful.

When I picked up my packet for the council meeting tomorrow night, they have stopped using paper clips. That's a step in the right direction - the little things add up.

Maybe they can get the guys from the honor farm to paint over graffiti and stop paying city workers to do this.

What else can the work furlough people do?????? That we don't have to pay the city for?

My two cents:

Albeit police and fire are priority services that the City provides to its residents, but what I think gets the short end of the stick, or in this case, less money allocated, is the Parks and Recreation Department, which I believe, are directly related to the police department.  I suppose the simple way of looking at is more opportunity for after school recreation programs, more parks for people to enjoy and help maintain equals less crime, and less kids with nothing to do after school.  Take Gracaeda Park for example.  Sure it's gotten a bit of bad press lately (the Juggalo Kids), but for the most part, this park is packed with people week in week out.  What if there was no Gracaeda Park?  Where would these people go?  What would these kids be doing otherwise?  Virginia Corridor is another example.  This trail is used daily.  And it enhances the sense of community people get with these types of amenities. 

I guess my point is that other departments that often get overlooked by the City Council (Parks and Rec., Public Works, Community Development) in these budget talks are all inter-related.  And less of one significantly impacts the other.

And although there is not a lot of new development for the City Planners to be working on, maybe we can take this time to clean up the City's Zoning Ordinance, or update the General Plan?  Strengthen Code Enforcement?  Good planning is also a service the City provides that should be a priority.  Case in point the City of Turlock.  They have received accolades for their Master Plan Areas, and are currently going through a comprehensive update to their General Plan.  Why can't the City of Modesto, the largest municipality in the County, do the same?

More cops is not the answer. 

decision and takes input from the council and public and one way or the other the budget has to be balanced. He makes the decision and should not be micro-managed in this area. The only concept I hope he would take into account is I do not like job terminations of any sort, nor do I like the idea of resourcing jobs, unless they are of a sophisticated nature and cannot be handled by ourselves. Layoffs are certainly OK, but no job eliminations as it's unfair to the employees, creates dissension that can be avoided and if these people know they have something to come back to when this economy turns around it gives them and their family's a lot of hope to hang on to. Enough said.

What we are all interested in is how we are looking at this large amount of stimulus money coming in. This money is not only Citizen money, but will impact our City and Country much more than budget cuts, but in a positive way.

Can you do an interview with the Mayor Judy Sly and find out what he thinks in this area?

PS: Whatever it takes, let's not diminish any part of our school system. Markniskanen I support your thinking on parks, etc. totally. Even during hard times, they should be kept up in excellent condition. They are free to use!

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

I agree. Cities have to understand that people need things to do that are relatively inexpensive. Parks and recreation is important.

Cut overtime pay, cut non essential personnel, cut non essential programs. Safeguard public safety and parks and recreation. In this economy more people will be taking advantage of local parks and programs offered by the City.
Keep the pools open.

What can wait, what can't. Prioritize

______________________________________

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

That's more of a reality than you know.

open. During hard times we need to be able to fall back on the basic amenities we have all paid for. That is what they are for, or should be anyway. If people can't drive to the coast for the day or whatever due to money being tight and decide to stay home and barbeque hot dogs, where should they barbecue, in the back alleys or empty dirt lots? Notwithstanding if they let these parks go downhill they will look horrible. Many young people use the swings and whatnot for their children too.

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

I believe that upwards of 90 percent of them are closed or are made into what are pathetic excuses for pools.

Personally, I think that's a big mistake and they should look at re-opening and giving repair as necessary, to all of them.

As a kid, we swam in canals and public pools. I always enjoyed the public pools and they were packed all summer long. We had yo-yo and low/high dive contests and received awards probably similar to the coveted Hive blogger of the year award. I still have my 2nd place City-wide yo-yo trophy and am still very proud and honored to achieve that milestone in my youth.

are in danger of closing and probably in areas that need them the most.  I think the City Council, at the pressure of the public safety unions, will always lean towards police and fire.  They make up almost 2/3 of the City's budget.  How does that make sense? 

More cops on the streets does not make me feel safer.  That is all I am saying, in addition to we have to realize that all these City services are interrelated.  This point I think gets missed during these budget hearings, etc. 

I think more focus needs to be on neighborhood preservation and a sense of community for residents.  Parks is just one way to provide this, along with rec. programs, etc.  Some of that responsibility lies on the residents as well.  You can't expect the City to provide everything.  I am just baffled on how much sway goes to police and fire. 

The pool closing issue was not done quietly.  This was an issue for debate at numerous Council meetings.  If I remember correctly, I think insurance costs were the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. 

Switching comment here.  I do want to thank Judy Sly for starting this blog, and asking the question.  This is a great topic for discussion, and I hope we see a lot of feedback from the folks on the Hive.

very much on the stimulus money coming in? I have been interested in that and have not heard much at all.

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

The stimulus stuff is a moving target.  For transportation projects, each City, and the County were under a really really tight deadline to get their projects into StanCOG and Caltrans.  That timeline has passed.  But there is money out there for a lot of various projects.  One of the categories is Energy Conservation.  If a City has an adopted Energy Conservation Plan, and this can consist of everything from converting City Hall to solar power, to bike/pedestrians trails, etc., they can qualify for federal stimulus dollars to implement these projects.  Think of converting City Hall to solar!  I mean, so the up front costs may  be significant, but the long term savings to the tax payers is huge.  Exciting stuff if you ask me.  From what I understand, the City is working very hard to capitalize on the fed. dollars.  It just takes time just like anything else in government.

A good resource on the stimulus is the League of California Cities website.  They update their stimulus report every so often as it is like I said above, a  moving target.  But it gives you a laymen's terms way of describing what is available. 

I appreciate the referral to the website. I will look at it.

I was thinking we may be rebuilding some dams/aqueducts that need attention and expanding railways and things like that. I think that might be a part of the plan. I know schools are a priority and I like that. Maybe if we generated enough income, we could re-open the pools?

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

The Dams/Aqueduct projects, or the expansion of railway, would probably be Federal or State Projects.  The railways may be tricky as I think they are owned by the railroad companies, or they at least have right of way easements along the railway corridor. 

Schools are filtered through the State, to the individual School Districts.  The City is not really involved. 

I encourage everyone to look at the LoC website to see what is available.  There is some really cool stuff, and hopefully the Cities here in Stan. Co. are able to capitalize. 

thought of a City or Country leadership position?

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

I was hoping you would be campaigning for senator, what happened?

I will have to rethink this whole election Idea, okay markniskanen I will vote for you instead.

Your endorsement is good enough for me.

And Linda Taylor for Congresswoman. Robert can be her assistant.

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

Then my name would be chastized on the Hive and the Sabatino web show.  All kidding aside, I tend to try and stay away from the politics and the bureaucracy.  I mean, look at the decisions the City Council has to make now.  I don't feel sorry for them as it was their choice to run, but this is a lose-lose situation for everyone.  Life is just too short.

Simpson82. you could run for senator, and give us all jobs as your press agents.

well, then theres the problem of the sock puppets again. rats!

This is a good blog topic that can generate good debate.  Any input Wayne?  

The only one who can run for office is Stanford, he has all the connections and only uses one screen name,

he is the one to run for office.

We cannot do without fire protection and police patrols. Perhaps programs for after school activities and the maintaining of parks can be given to private enterprise?

The idea of getting rid of 'non essential personnel' always sounds great on paper, but what is non essential?

The public will have to be willing to endure longer lines and less access to services...are we willing to make that sacrifice?

but perhaps more of an emphasis on police patrols.  An evaluation of all the special details that have sworn officers assigned to them may result in more boots on the street during these leaner budget times.

Fire responses to non life threatening medical responses would save wear and tear on vehicles, use less staff and keep resources available for fire, rescue and life threatening medical calls.

Other city budget priorities:

Clean and safe parks, free of graffitti to enhance family and sports activities.

Properly maintained roads and sidewalks, well-defined crosswalks and adequately lighted pedestrian pathways.

Grafitti abatement, code enforcement, elimination of trash accumulation and other blight.

The largest unused force are the citizen volunteers, and I am speaking of absolulty no pay, just uniforms or a volunteer badge.

We could have every park mowed and trimmed graffit erased, and almost everything free of charge.

Why arent the citizen volunteers used more often? less strain on our local agencies.

No organization and just mismanagement.

There are 74 Parks in the city. During any given time of the day there are not more than 74 police and fire personnel on the street at the same time.

The parks have already been developed. Money can be saved by cutting parks administrators, and maintaining only parks maintenance. The adminstration is not cutting grass and trimming bushes.

Recreation is important. There is nothing the parks department offers as recreation that a private business does not already provide. Examples City of Modesto Bowling league- held at a private business, Dance Class head a MJC-. The fact is most programs the parks department advertises is for outside vendors.

Major money can be saved by trimming this top heavy department.

We pay taxes for services, police, fire, roads, sewer, water, and the maintaining of infrustructure not to be entertained.

volunteer teams (if you will) to spruce up Modesto. Our city need sprucing up desperately.

Volunteers if requested would show up to help. I know that. The City just needs to organize and spearhead the effort. Trees can be planted, parks structures painted and repaired, bbq repaired, I could go on and on. We have so much talent that is going to waste. I have seen volunteers in other City's assembled together and they make a huge difference for a City.

Palendale Ave. come to mind as just one example. It has the nice roadway now and looks exactly like an abandoned blight area. We volunteers could fix up that entire corridor if organized and went to work on a schedule. If we don't, do you think it will be spruced up soon? I doubt it very much.

What the City could probably use is an volunteer organizer to organize the volunteers.

If citizens were asked, they will come. President Obama is calling upon people to volunteer and do things like this. It's a win-win.

Exactly, this is the one subject I feel so strongly about. I agree with  that is citizen volunteers.

I believe once the city and county would accept the volunteer idea, we could save millions, and the citizens are just waiting for the opportunity to pitch-in.

Simpson good idea on the volunteer organizer who would be paid, and would be worth every penny spent on salary.

Because I like it.

then we have just added another expense to the city budget.

I think we may need to get away from the idea that it is the government's job to take our money and nanny every aspect of our lives. If we cannot get private enterprise to foot the bill in terms of, say, paying someone to act as an organizer then perhaps the message needs to be sent out to every neighborhood to pitch in and take care of their individual areas.

The problem is too much government...we are growing, and that always leads to problems, rather than solutions.

Organizing and comming together as a collective community besides the politics is not one of our strong suits - at least not here in Modesto.

If we are faced with budget cuts, where is the sense in creating still another government job to deal with organizing people to take over those jobs that will need to be cut by the government?

We have just lost our ability to say, "Hey, I'm retired...I think I'll spend some money on some wire brushes and cleaner and go spruce up the neighborhood playground instead of sitting on my butt and watching tv".

Of course, I can say that because I am not retired...:)!

That use to be on the Modesto City Council -

said that there had been 18 pink slips going out at City Hall - I got the impression from him and another friend, that was formerly the mayor, that these were for the most part, wise cuts in staffing.

This is fairly small in the scheme of things, but I would like to see a better recycling program in the City.  I am not sure how it would be coordinated through in Gilton and Bertolotti, but the City could do a much better job of promoting recycling through its waste management efforts.  As of now, the only recycling program I have in my neighborhood is the bums sifting through my trash cans. 

Also, on the Pelandale Avenue "blight."  The Council made a decision to cut out the landscaping to reduce costs.  I remember watching the Meeting, and Chris Murphy made a plee to the Council to keep the landscaping in as part of the overall improvements to no avail.  Now look what we are left with, a long landing strip of concrete.  Thanks Modesto City Council.  What is funny about this is I have worked on various Projects in various Cities in the County.  Almost every Agency I work in uses Pelandale Avenue as an example of what not to do. 

I would also like to see stronger coordination efforts with Caltrans and Stanislaus County for the beautification of the Highway 99 Corridor.  Think about it for a minute.  Highway 99 is the backbone of the Central Valley, and yet, along the entire stretch from the Stanislaus River to the City of Turlock, it really just looks like trash (literally and figuratively).  Now, if I am an exectuve or CEO of a Company researching the possibility of relocating my Company here, the first thing I would see coming into Modesto is Highway 99.  Based on what it looks like today, I would turn right around and look elsewhere. 

Markniskanen. It's horrible. I have not been in Modesto for a long period of time but the first I heard of Kristin Olsen was when she spoke out to beautify Palendale Ave. It' s good thinking and makes a huge difference in the looks of a community.

I think we really need to get away from our boxed in thinking of always trying "tweak" everything we already have in order to get the job done. We have every opportunity now, especially with the stimulus money coming our way, to begin to do business a different way.

This is just a small idea that Turlock is looking at.  At least they are thinking outside the box and being creative. Kudos for that.

By unanimous vote, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday:

— Accepted a study assessing transit needs of senior and disabled riders, and forwarded it to the Stanislaus Council of Governments. The study estimates that people in the county have transportation trouble 780,000 times per year.

— Recommendations include creating a volunteer driving corps that would be reimbursed for helping people needing more help than provided by buses and Dial-a-Ride.

Honestly, I find this entire blog odd in that citizens are being asked to provide input and we have no idea of how much stimulus money is available down the road and/or some choice to make for expenditure. When anyone thinks out a budget for expense, they have to know what is available to spend, as it sets parameters as to what can be purchased.

So the effort here is really futile and frustrating  in the larger sense.

We need more Government intervention, not less. We are a collective society of people with similar wants and needs to a large extent. The problem we have had and one of the primary reasons we are in this economic dilemma, is we have had to little regulation over business and have not steered our income stream via fair and equatable taxation that benefits the greater majority of Americans. Corporate America can be used as our strength, not our weakness. Back in the day it used to be that if a Corporation could not show it benefited it's community in a three year period, it was dissolved. Remember when BofA had people in the branches and participated in the community?

Thus, rising gap between the rich and poor and more crime, ad-infinitum.

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of crackpot than the stigma of conformity." - Thomas J. Watson

Who would pay for the Deputy that brings the inmates out?

The Deputy and the transportation, insurance etc. cost way more than the 1 1/2 city employees that remove graffiti now.

Have you ever spent a day with inmates from the honor farm? Taking them to do work in a rough neighborhood would be like trying to control six pitbulls in a butcher shop.

Buck

Can you give us a way that it would work, and explain how the inmates  are they like six pitbulls, do you ean they are being taunted.

sincerely.

I am not against you just interested in making this work.

Would not be at the jail or honor farm guarding them. In that respect, we would not need to 'pay' for an extra deputy; rather it would be a matter of the cost of transportation and the planning necessary to keep them working rather than escaping.

I think Buck has a good point, though, in that putting them to work in a 'bad' neighborhood might not be the safest thing in the world.

I think we, in this city, cannot afford to lose programs that provide opportunity for our young people to stay busy and productive. However, this may have to become the territory of private enterprise because it is not just the cities and counties running out of money...we have no state money and the state is allowed to take city and county money to keep itself afloat.

of situation. Many (most) of our problems center around steering the buck in the right direction, as it's a limited resource.

One of the greatest failures we have made is ignoring the financial impact of drugs, drug cartel/related crime has impacted our community. We have never gone after the core of the problem itself head-on, in my opinion. And that is costing us dearly.

The make of the crew changes depending on who's leading them.

And we need to realize that AWP or Aiternative Work Programs are under utilized. Many AWPers work only a few hours and receive credit for eight!

We have work for them to do and they are paying $10.00 a day for the priviledge so why not take full agvantage of these workers?

The County/Sheriff run this program but it remains a half butted work program.

Here is a point list of items that I’m recommending to help. This of course isn’t my full list, but I’m open if you’re willing to listen. First, I need to preface my short write-up with…I’ve had about 2 hours of sleep over the past 48 hours and I apologize for run-ons, typos and garbled statements. I’m just too tired to review and make corrections at this point….with that being said,..we’re off!

1) We CAN’T afford to cut back on certain areas which would place the citizens safety in jeopardy; i.e. police & fire depts… What I WOULD recommend is that a 3rd party auditor goes into both departments and actually reviews all items / purchases. From what I understand (as with most governmental entities) is the departments may be worried about losing allocated funds from the budget, so they’ll spend every penny. We need to make sure that every dollar is spent on important items/upgrades, etc….nothing should be wasted. Along these lines, I personally believe that both departments should be expanded. To offset the costs of these additional valid community expenses, law breakers should receive greater penalties for not abiding by the law. It’s only fair and justified to have someone that parks in a handicap lot (that’s not handicap) pay a $500 fine, or someone that’s caught littering in the Modesto city a $2,500 fine (INCLUDING tossing cigarette butts out the window!). Then for drunk drivers, this should be a $25,000 fine – regardless if any damage was done. IF damage IS done to say, a guard rail, they SHOULD pay any additional costs to fix these items as well. As I’ve written in numerous postings before, consider having high security tent cities that are well guarded and out in the desert, instead of expensive jail cells (have the convicts work off their OWN expenses to stay in prison – why should the people pay for their poor choices?). Convert the prisons into Universities, Start-up business incubator or Hospital – something beneficial… These kids that are tagging the walls of our beautiful city, if they’re over 18, they should not only work 1,000 hours RE-PAINTING the walls, but should be fined $20,000 for their actions (which would go to a special task force that focuses on catching these losers. IF they’re under 18, simply hit their parents for not watching and raising their kids the right way with the same fine. THEN when the kid turns 18, STILL needs to do the 1,000 hours and stays on his permanent record. The gist of what I’m getting at in this 1st topic is Modesto needs to INCREASE FINES so law breakers FEEL THE PAIN and will deter their actions, while supporting the police and fire departments. STOP being so lenient! I’m sick and tired of hearing / reading about drunk drivers going to prison their 10th time, or child molesters out of prison 3 times, or other offenders seemingly PROUD of going to the big house 20 times+? It’s stupid! It’s apparent that we need harsher penalties, MUCH HARSHER.

2) We need much more community organization on the local level. Most neighborhoods have a block captain, but the only way to really bring this community together is by funding more neighborhood events. It’ll instill more pride in the community, bring neighbors together and assist in smothering the ne’er do wells that are infesting our hometown. La Loma does something similar, but needs to step it up a couple levels.

3) Accountability: When being placed in a decision making position (namely political), these people MUST take responsibility for their actions. TOO MANY of these decisions are being based on money, personal gain, nepotism and other favors. For example, awarded contracts to family, friends or associates in exchange for ?? This happens ALL the time in our government. IF a ‘trusted’ political figure is caught (proven), they should be imprisoned for 20 years – NO good behavior crap – it’s senseless to even offer ‘good behavior’ to ANY convict. They should’ve been on ‘good behavior’ BEFORE going to prison. OK, back on topic of accountability…The governmental systems should be properly accounted for and operated AS a business when possible. For example, WHY THE HELL do the employees at the DMV have to be so careless, rude and TAKE their time? Because there is NO COMPETITION and they’re probably relying on their – “I’ve been here doing the SAME thing for 10 years and I deserve…blah blah blah….”. WTF? IF someone has been doing the SAME thing for 10 years without moving into a more responsible role, SOMETHING is wrong with them. Either they’re lazy and content, or they’re not the brightest bulb in the lamp. An example, a teller that is being paid $25/hr to do something that can be done for $12/hr with fewer benefits! If you’re getting paid even $15/hr AND great benefits, you had BETTER be well worth it or I’d replace you! NO FINANCIAL INCREASES, UNLESS IT’S A JUSTIFIED PROMOTION that would actually benefit the department! The attitude has GOT to change! You need to understand that the PEOPLE are your respected customers and you should treat them as so. The DMV manager should act as it’s a business…If someone isn’t pulling their weight, re-train or FIRE THEM! This is the ONLY way to make the ‘business’ operate more effectively and efficiently. If governmental employees aren’t treating their jobs AS an actual job, and the ‘managers’ of these entities aren’t being held accountable for the overall operations, they’re failing! It’s then time for a replacement. The thing that ticks me off with our local governmental offices is that the employees feel as though they are ‘entitled’ and it’s not a matter of actual production and service. Accountability for actions & keeping spending within BUDGET is critical to make necessary change in the right direction.

To summarize my severely garbled message, our city needs leadership (at ALL levels) that actually motivates, leads and holds all positions accountable for their actions and departmental progress. Every department needs to treat their operations with a business owners mentality, such as being aware of each dollar being spent on luxury items such as $10 for wasteful post-it notes, which the department could simply cut up used scrap paper and get the same results. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS if it’s yours, so treat it as thought it’s yours and NOT some blank check.
We need to impose much stricter penalties for those that break the laws that we have in place to PROTECT our citizens and our community. If we have much more strict penalties that are NOT negotiated, then the law enforcement officers would actually be able to focus on other items. Any deterrence to law breaking would only benefit the community. Anyone that’s disrespectful or the laws in place should pay a severe penalty – which may include time in a tent city, which the convict will have to pay for themselves (25 cent meals, their babysitters (with smith & Wesson in hand), tent rent and utilities).

Bud Thomas