It’s not likely that Proposition N will fail, however, if it does, some city belt tightening is in order for the city to meet its obligation to the schools.
The most obvious place to find money is in the social services areas. This would be a good opportunity to cut funding for homeless services in half, thereby freeing up a million dollars per year.
Shuttering the Bayside District Corp. and turning some its functions and duties over to the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with a couple hundred thousand budgeted “Bayside” dollars to cover incremental operating expenses would free up about another three-quarters of a million dollars more that could go to schools.
Cutting some city departmental budgets by 3 to 5 percent could generate additional savings that could be used to support schools. I would not cut public safety budgets, however.
The city has shown great creativity in financing pet projects such as finding nearly $8 million in “housing” funds to pay for a proposed new homeless shelter for nonprofit services provider OPCC on Cloverfield Boulevard, and loans from water and wastewater funds to pay for the purchase of the Fisher Lumber property on 14th Street for expanded use as a park.
Of course, if we incur more costs by instituting a city minimum or “living” wage for employees and subcontractors, this will mean more money going out and less available to support schools.
Finally, using Governor Schwarzenegger’s theory of economics, there’s always an improved business outlook and increased revenues from sales tax to also help fill the bill.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 19, 2004. Read the original PDF.