All clear ahead, as oldtime railroad men used to bark.
Based on Opening Night results, the forecast for an intended sales tax increase by City Hall promises green lights and blue skies in the coming weeks.
If City Hall attracts as little pushback on its proposed half-cent sales tax hike in the remainder of its cross-community tour as it did last night, the revenue generator is a cinch.
To make the November Presidential election ballot, that is.
This is not a surprise.
A month ago a survey of likely Culver City voters also was encouraging, suggesting voters decisively favored the scheme.
The next community meeting on this subject is 10 o’clock Saturday morning at El Rincon School.
Fewer than 10 residents doubt that the sales tax package will be voted onto the ballot by the City Council when members are polled next month.
Driving the Need
Making the first of five early-summer stops to win broad approval, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Muir spent half an hour in Council Chambers laying out the case for jumping the sales-tax by a half-cent to raise $8 million a year and maintain the present level of services.
Why now?
The already fragile budget, rocked in recent years by the draining recession, further was knocked sideways by last February’s state-sponsored destruction of the Redevelopment Agency, an instant loss of $8 million in revenue.
With the gravity of an ashen-faced mortician in a tall stovepipe hat, Mr. Muir described a drippingly grim picture of how steeply Culver City will decline without a tax transfusion.
In Mr. Muir’s words, “To solve the significant operating deficit problem, either major cuts to expenditures are required or the community needs to consider raising revenues.”
He issued three warnings, among the dozens, in neon:
• A likely increase in crime.
• The end of funding for the hallowed late-summer Fiesta La Ballona, probably killing it off.
• Elimination of the popular Animal Services program.
Both Mr. Muir and City Manager John Nachbar emphasized that the losses in services and personnel cutbacks cannot be classified as recommendations, at least yet.
“But without increases in revenue, these are items that would have to be considered,” Mr. Muir said.
Near Unanimous Response
So enthused was the small, quite well-informed knot of activists who spoke that one, businesswoman Karen Kurokawa, suggested a more ambitious two-thirds of a cent increase.
“I am not a fan of tax increases,” said David Voncannon, “but I see no option, and I will vote for it.”
That generally set the agreeable tone for the nine speakers who followed, although Paul Ehrlich criticized the perceived lack of a contingency plan for the budget, and made numerous provocative observations:
• “We are losing money on The Plunge, and maybe we should consider closing it.”
• Referring to a warned uptick in crime: “I hate to put it this way, but what level of crime would be acceptable?”
• “What if we closed City Hall every Friday instead of every other Friday?”
• Hire an outside consultant to objectively study every department for tolerable reductions.
Seth Horowitz, general manager of The Culver Hotel, suggested using a portion of revenue from the newly increased transit occupancy tax to market the attractions of Culver City to the rest of Los Angeles County.
After being staggered by a 2,000 percent midseason increase this year, Matthew Hetz of the Culver City Symphony asked the Council to not raise the musicians’ rent next year at the Vets Auditorium.
Realtor Mike King wished that Mr. Muir had been more specific in assessing the state of City Hall’s coffers and intentions.
He produced one of the evening’s most eyecatching alternate plans.
Since police officers can retire earlier than anyone else in town, at the relatively youthful ages of 50 to 55, and then collect hefty pensions for decades, why not put them to work until 65 doing something less stressful, like clerical work.
Can’t, said Mr. Nachbar.
Not only does Culver City have a retirement program competitive with surrounding markets, he said, “we are part of the state system, and we are controlled by it.”
However, the City Manager did acknowledge that Mr. King carried “an interesting idea.”
Finally, this bauble was left dangling, intriguingly:
Resident Michelle Weiner said, critically, that the police and fire departments are treated like “sacred cows” that never can be touched.
“I don’t believe there are any sacred cows,” said Mayor Andy Weissman, “in that there is nothing off the table in terms of where we are and where we are going.”
