Disaster Fund
[ Excerpt from the SBN-P Editorial of 9/1/2005 ]
... The Santa Barbara City Council appears unwilling to tackle the city's budget problems in an aggressive fashion. Mounting labor costs -- including the financial fallout from a proposed living wage law and upcoming union negotiations for raises that could add millions -- don't appear to be of overwhelming concern to too many members of the council.
Is the city on track to eat away at reserves set aside for disasters because it can't say no to more spending?
... All this aside, though, let's assume the city won't touch disaster reserves of about $16 million by 2009.
How far would this money go? Not far, considering that City Hall may spend between $24 million and $30 million to design and build a parking structure, the Granada Garage...
The point is that Santa Barbara's disaster reserves -- if they even still exist after 2009 -- could be gone in the blink of an eye with one comparatively small disaster...
Remember these names: Mayor Marty Blum and Council members Brian Barnwell, Iya Falcone, Roger Horton, Helene Schneider and Das Williams. Only Dr. Dan Secord voted against the most recent budget. Santa Barbarans will need to hold each one accountable for their individual votes if disaster strikes and the city's coffers are unprepared.
Our Opinion: City's disaster fund way too shaky
... The Santa Barbara City Council appears unwilling to tackle the city's budget problems in an aggressive fashion. Mounting labor costs -- including the financial fallout from a proposed living wage law and upcoming union negotiations for raises that could add millions -- don't appear to be of overwhelming concern to too many members of the council.
Is the city on track to eat away at reserves set aside for disasters because it can't say no to more spending?
... All this aside, though, let's assume the city won't touch disaster reserves of about $16 million by 2009.
How far would this money go? Not far, considering that City Hall may spend between $24 million and $30 million to design and build a parking structure, the Granada Garage...
The point is that Santa Barbara's disaster reserves -- if they even still exist after 2009 -- could be gone in the blink of an eye with one comparatively small disaster...
Remember these names: Mayor Marty Blum and Council members Brian Barnwell, Iya Falcone, Roger Horton, Helene Schneider and Das Williams. Only Dr. Dan Secord voted against the most recent budget. Santa Barbarans will need to hold each one accountable for their individual votes if disaster strikes and the city's coffers are unprepared.
Our Opinion: City's disaster fund way too shaky
Posted by Malcolm on
9/12/2005
Subscribe to RSS Feed
1 Comments
http://www.CrisisSearch.com has a search engine with thousands of disaster related websites and even a brand new web blog for (online message forums) where we are seeking forum postings in aspects of disaster relief (housing, healthcare, rebuilding, evacuation routes, crisis planning, helpful charities, survival stories, missing persons/pets etc.). Please add helpful websites to the searchable crisis database or feel free to post your ideas for diaster prevention to recovery on our blogs.
Post a Comment
Links
Create a Link
<< Home