At Mayor Chuck Reed\u2019s State of the City Address on Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Civic Auditorium, the mayor was intent on highlighting his role as a fiscal reformer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe budget deficit is public enemy No. 1, an enemy that will steal our hopes and kill our dreams of becoming a great city if we ignore it,\u201d Reed said, using a quote from a speech he gave five years ago, as he began his discussion of his budget plan for 2012.<\/p>\n
Reed said his budget plan approved by the San Jose City Council in May has two main goals this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnsure the solvency of the retirement plans by reducing the city\u2019 s annual cost for retirement benefits to last year\u2019 s level,\u201d Reed said. \u201cOpen the city\u2019s vacant libraries, community centers, fire stations and police substation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reed went on to discuss the police budget, saying \u201cDespite increasing the budget by nearly a $100 million dollars over the past 10 years, we now have fewer officers than we had a decade ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose figures just don\u2019t match up,\u201d Aaqilah Brown, 19, biology major, said. \u201cWhat are they doing with the money?\u201d<\/p>\n
The rising cost of retirement, \u201cwas the single largest cause of those cuts,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n
Reed also said he wants to see voters approve a ballot measure in June.<\/p>\n
The measure would require current city employees \u201cto pay a larger share of the costs of their retirement benefits,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n
Reed said that the costs of retirement benefits have risen from $73 million in 2001-2002, to $245 million in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetirement benefits now cost the city more than 50 percent of base payroll and consume over 20 percent of our general fund budget,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to see him do more than just play with numbers,\u201d San Jose City College communications professor Merylee Shelton said.<\/p>\n
Shelton said the city plan needs \u201cout-of-the-box thinking, not slash and burn.\u201d<\/p>\n
She would like to see the city establish a two-tier system where employees hired before the rule took effect would retain their benefits and new employees would be subject to the new regulations.<\/p>\n
Reed said that in the past 10 years the city of San Jose has eliminated more than 2000 city jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery city job eliminated reduces the services we can deliver to our residents,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the mayor should start funding programs for the disabled and the elderly,\u201d said Pat Riley, 46, environmental science major.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At Mayor Chuck Reed\u2019s State of the City Address on Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Civic Auditorium, the mayor was intent on highlighting his role as a fiscal reformer. \u201cThe budget deficit is public enemy No. 1, an enemy that will steal our hopes and kill our dreams of becoming a great city if we…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[80,79,78],"staff_name":[600],"class_list":["post-1500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-fiscal-challenges","tag-mayer-chuck-reed","tag-state-of-budget-reform","staff_name-jon-caires"],"yoast_head":"\n