Cities, county prepare for economic slowdown
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

While the county, local cities and school districts prepare to trim programs in anticipation of fiscal shortages caused by the economic downturn and predicted state budget cuts, local legislators say they're working to minimize impacts on the lives of local residents.

Overspending, fraud and unnecessary duplication of services must be purged before other measures are considered, said Assembly members Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita) and Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), both of whom represent parts of Simi Valley.

While both agree that vital services such as law enforcement, fire protection, foster care and school funding should be protected from cuts wherever feasible, both Strickland and Smyth said they oppose tax increases to bail the state out of an anticipated $16-billion budget deficit.

Additional taxes would cause more hardship on families and won't solve the fiscal crisis, Strickland said.

"The state budget should be handled like family finances, Strickland said. "When funds are sparse, people must eradicate nonessential expenses and root out waste to maintain what's important."

Strickland recently drafted a bill that proposes to end public benefits for adult illegal immigrants. That alone could save between $5 billion and 10 billion dollars per year, she said.

The Assembly members said they're also concerned about lack of accountability.

As an example, Strickland said a California performance review by the governor when he came into office showed that 25 percent of the state-owned fleet of vehicles could not be located.

"This means that 17,000 cars were not accounted for, and that's just a few million dollars, but if this occurred throughout the bureaucracy it's a problem that must be addressed," Strickland said.

Smyth had similiar feelings.

"I would agree that the first step to closing our budget gap is to look at the results of the performance review and act on some of those recommendations and findings," said Smyth, who represents the 38th Assembly District comprising Simi Valley, L.A., Santa Clarita and Glendale.

Releasing 22,000 prisoners early to save money is also a bad idea, said Strickland, who serves Simi Valley constituents who live south of Royal Avenue as well as surrounding areas including Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Camarillo.

Smyth agreed, saying, "If the governor wants to release prisoners, he should deport the 20,000 inmates who are not residents of this country back to their countries of origin before releasing prisoners into our community."

Brian Levy, president of the Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic Club, said, "Anytime there has been an overall downturn in the economy, everyone suffers, including our local and state budgets."

State legislators could learn a few lessons from local government, said elected leaders in Ventura County.

Local officials are more accountable because they see their constituents on a day-to-day basis, said Simi Valley Councilmember Barbra Williamson.

"It's time for state and federal representatives to start thinking about the people they represent like we have to do in the community," Williamson said.

"It takes thoughtfulness and creativeness to sit down with the budget and find out what you need and don't need," she added.

Simi Valley Councilmember Glen Becerra said the state should cut spending in anticipation of revenue downturns, not afterward.

Simi Valley has been fiscally conservative for years, and city officials save funds for rainy days, he said, adding that the city doesn't use one-time revenues for ongoing projects.

Strickland agreed. Many new programs created during surplus years can't be funded in the long term, so the state must reprioritize to make ends meet, she said.