Tag: budget

Our recent poll on cut-backs to the City’s libraries shows strong support for the local branches – including, of course, OB’s library. But the poll also demonstrates a certain ambivalence, and a weakened support for a downtown Central Library for San Diego.

58% of respondents gave responses that reflect a strong undercurrent of support for local library branches. Of that, 29% said they were amazed that Mayor Sanders was trying to cut libraries again. 12% want to use monies ear-marked for the Central library to keep the branches (and rec centers) open. 9% claimed they were ready to commit civil disobedience in order to keep the local branches open. 8% stated that reduced hours were a real hardship as they and their family depend on the local branch.

OCEAN BEACH, CA. There may be a Santa Claus after all – if you like fire pits and rings at the beach. The California Coastal Commission has just informed the City of San Diego that it will need a permit from the state to remove the the fire rings in Ocean Beach, and the other beaches – Mission, PB and La Jolla Shores.

Mayor Jerry Sanders has proposed removing the 186 fire pits in order to save bucks on their maintenance as he grapples with a 179 million dollar deficit.

by Anna Daniels

Mayor Sanders is rethinking the draconian cuts he has proposed to our libraries! I attended a Library Commission Meeting on 12/1. Kris Michell, Sander’s Chief of Staff addressed the commission and said the Mayor values and has listened to the feedback he has been receiving on the library issue. Good work everyone! Each of you who took the time to respond through emails and phone calls and postings to the OB Rag made a difference!

Sanders is now proposing a 36 hour schedule throughout the whole system, and no staff layoffs. This new proposal reflects a $1.5 Million change in the Mayor’s current budget according to Michell who left the meeting after deliverings her remarks.

by Anna Daniels

Yes- it is “déjà vu all over again.” This time last year Mayor Sanders proposed closing 7 branch libraries, including Ocean Beach. Ocean Beach responded immediately. Ocean Beach responded unequivocally- DO NOT CLOSE OUR LIBRARY! A number of you were even willing to participate in non-violent civil disobedience by forming a human chain around your library in the event of closure.

Your response so inspired and encouraged me personally that I became involved with a city-wide effort to rally all of the communities against the closure of the other 6 branch libraries. We mobilized quickly, acted in unity and we won. Read about it here and feel very, very good. Just don’t feel so good that you think you should bow your collective heads to this year’s proposed library cuts. That would be so not-OB.

The Honorable Mayor Jerry Sanders:

The Friends of the Ocean Beach Library recently met and it was decided to write you about the impending budget situation, particularly as it might apply to our own Ocean Beach Library. We want to be involved in bringing possible ideas forward to you and the City. We wanted to share with you four thoughts that we came up with:

1. Any cuts that might come to the library system, should be shared equally among all libraries and library departments.

2. Closing all libraries one day a week, possibly on a weekend.

by Anna Daniels

A recent comment stated how difficult it is to figure out the City budget situation. And I agree with that. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the Mayor’s mid year budget adjustment on the 22nd of November. Remember last year? We were fighting for libraries and parks. In reality, it has been an ongoing battle for the activists among us for 4 straight years now.

San Diego’s new head of the Fire Department, Fire Chief Javier Mainer, has been tasked by Mayor Jerry Sanders to cut $34.7 million from his budget, which includes fire departments, medics, and life guards. In a recent interview with KPBS he indicated that”beach closures” are on the table.

Chief Mainer said San Diego citizens may see less fire engines and fewer lifeguards. This could mean beach closures.

Editor: We have heard that students at UC Santa Cruz have taken over a campus building in protest of the cuts proposed for the UC system. On September 24th, students at UC Santa Cruz began the occupation of the Graduate Student Commons as part of a day of action at all UCs across the state. The occupation continues. They have set up a website here. The students have issued the following statement:
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We are occupying this building at the University of California, Santa Cruz, because the current situation has become untenable. Across the state, people are losing their jobs …

BERKELEY — Thousands of UC students marched through downtown Berkeley and the area around campus this afternoon, staging a sit-down protest and blocking traffic as part of a demonstration against cuts to the university budget and proposed fee increases.

The unscheduled march started at the end of a two-hour rally on Sproul Plaza attended by an estimated 5,000 students, professors and other university employees. …

People United Against Cuts is a local coalition formed to oppose the Governor’s recent “All Cuts” budget. The Governor’s proposed…

Despite his admission that California is ungovernable, the Governor soldiered on today, announcing the full slate of revised budget cuts to replace his proposed borrowing, since scrapped, and to fill the even larger deficit estimated by the Legislative Analyst. …

by Anna Daniels

Just an FYI. I voted this morning to approve our MEA union two year contract. The results aren’t in but I suspect it will pass. It includes over one week of mandatory unpaid furlough, a 3% pay reduction or an equal reduction in our supplemental pension.