fresno elections 2008

As an experienced accountant, I will approach budget cuts with caution, fully aware of the political responsibility that comes with the position

First of all we should have never come to this point. But we forgot to save for a rainy day and kept spending like a drunken sailor, and now that the rainy day is here we ask the public to pay for the Supervisors’ mistakes. This is so disingenuous it is worth of an academy award. According to one department head, who asked to remain anonymous, the majority on this board has not “met an expense they did not like”. My campaign sign reads: “Stop Deficits and Save Jobs”. Being that we are in a severe deficit position—self inflicted with the multiyear budget busting double digit salary increases—we have to again look within and put our house in order before we ask the public for yet another bailout. Stop the micromanaging and manage by exception. Commission an outside consultant to conduct cost efficiency audits and take drastic austerity measures. Freeze any future salary increases. The Board of Supervisors should set the example by voluntarily cutting their salary to that of the City Council members. We may have to do with less and must understand that we cannot do everything for everybody. Our redirected priorities should be to use our resources efficiently so that at least we will be able to do something for everybody. This is my approach to dealing with the inevitable budget cuts. Hey, people have to wake up. It may come to laying off people. And guess what, in a county with a median per capita income of $25,000 (Fresno County’s 6/30/07 annual report), there are qualified people out there that are willing to work for less than what we presently pay.

I am serving on the budget committee currently. The county budget committee is in the process of examining all programs and preparing to make necessary cuts to balance the budget. All fees for services must be carefully examined to be sure that all potential revenues are captured. There should be some reorganization in departments to create the most efficient operations. Eliminating vacant positions and reducing overtime and extra help should be the first cuts. If necessary, there may be a small number of filled permanent staff positions that will have to be eliminated.

First of all, the County doesn’t get a “bye” because the State may give the County less money. The County should have planned for less State monies. The Mayor and City Council planned for this and have given mid-year fiscal reports to the public, maintained the City’s multi-million dollar reserve, worked closely with employees to negotiate reasonable contracts and will deal with the Governor’s budget. In contrast, it is irresponsible governance on the part of the County Supervisors to grant 10% raises to 60% of County employees when the County is in serious financial straits. During the last County budget cycle, it was surprising to hear our County “leaders” say, “The County is broke,” and it is an “ENRON” budget. Where is the leadership???!!! I refer you to the” 2007/2008 Fresno Chamber County Budget Task Force Recommendations and Findings.” This was an outstanding analysis and excerpts are included below. A common concern of the analysis was that “the fiscal future of Fresno County might be at risk unless there were some major changes in the budgeting process and cost structure.”

General Comments/Budget Process
Findings:
• Structural organization of the County: Not all department heads report to the CAO, resulting in a lack of consistent direction and accountability
• It appears that the current budget process promotes silos rather than a fully integrated process that recognizes the impact a decision in one department has on another; effective two-way communications are missing.
• County budget uses one-time dollars for ongoing projects, a procedure that is not fiscally responsible.
• County budgets are generated in July each year and are not rolled into a five year forecast to determine future costs of current actions.
• Labor costs are the largest component in every department’s budget.
• Current and future retirement costs are a major area that needs to be addressed.
Recommendations:
• Consider investing in an outside consultant to revamp the budget development process.
• Change budget process to zero-based budgeting where all activities must be justified and have appropriate levels of funding; identify real and ongoing revenue for expenses.
o The CAO should recommend budgeting parameters to the Board of Supervisors for their review/approval
o Project revenue and identify expenditures
o Balance budget without using concept of “open” positions
o Require consistent process/format for all departments
• Use benchmarking as a process to improve the budget process and to compare the budget with other counties in California. Determine which counties in California have the best budgeting
process.
• Use benchmarking to identify and establish best-practices by department; department heads should take on that task in an effort to streamline operations and control costs while enhancing services.
• Eliminate the use of one-time monies to fund ongoing programs or positions.
• Combine adult and mental health agencies to enhance services and streamline administration and costs.
• Require a 5-year rolling forecast as part of an annual budget, providing visibility of impact of commitments on future budgets. Report to Board of Supervisors quarterly.
• Use wage and salary survey from the private sector to determine competitive salaries/wages.
• The CAO’s office to project the total revenue for the next budget year and build the budget to that number.
• CAO to make recommendations to Supervisors to review/approve actual dollars available for union negotiations
o Convert to interest-based (principle-based) negotiations, i.e. identify stakeholders, problems, interests, negotiate for mutual gains; eliminates positional bargaining.
Public Safety/Sheriff’s Budget
Findings:
o Personnel costs are 83% of entire budget which is driven by union negotiations
o There is an increase of 20% in personnel costs from 2007 to 2008 budget, increasing the Sheriff’s budget by $20 million
o Applaud Sheriff’s action to hire outside consultant to analyze and audit her department to establish benchmarks compared to other best-practice sheriff organizations.
Recommendations:
o Increase the number of Federal inmates the County can house in jail from current 250. The department is losing $1 million per year in revenues due to a reduction of Federal inmates from 400 to 250 in 2007.
o Consider outsourcing medical services, jail services, hospital guard services and physical services; put out for RFP’s.
o Hire an analyst specifically for contract oversight and RFP’s.
o Develop a 5 year forecast for the Sheriff’s department and update each quarter
o Address issues of salary compaction between management and line employees
o Implement a streamlined hiring process to allow Sheriff to hire Academy graduates
Personnel Department
Findings:
o Wage and salary payroll is 40% of County budget
o Multiple union contracts are negotiated on an annual basis
o Minimum direction from the Board of Supervisors regarding percentage settlement limits for each contract
o Contracts settled in 2006/2007 resulted in cost increases of 10% which is far greater than private industry.
Recommendations:
o Use competitive wage and salary surveys from both 13-County and local private industry
o Consider going to a defined contribution plan vs. defined benefit pension plan to manage future retirement expenses. The majority of the private industry has converted to defined contribution plans to control future costs.
o Define clear reporting lines to CAO to ensure/promote accountability, i.e. Personnel reports to CAO; CAO reports to Board. Direction should be established accordingly
o Streamline the hiring process to fill open positions more timely and to provide opportunity for Sheriff to hire Academy graduates, competing with Clovis and other entities
• Negotiations:
• Include private sector representation in the negotiation process
• Consider a new format for negotiations to provide greater transparency and Supervisor review prior to signing.
• Cost out possible scenarios, showing impact for 5 years
• Implement interest-based negotiations (principle based)
• Negotiate based on actual staffing needs; eliminate approach that you can negotiate higher increase by eliminating planned positions (why are those positions budgeted if not needed?)
• Identify issues of equity between small and large represented groups
• Consider renegotiating contracts to reduce salary and benefits to a level the County can responsibly support.
• Conduct analyses and address annually:

Public safety is my top priority and I would fight to make sure it was funded at the highest level possible. I would look to consolidate services such as dispatch to create more efficiencies and save money. Currently the sheriffs department relies on fuel from county service stations. In some cases the deputies are paying 20 to 30 cents more per gallon of gas to fill their tanks at these locations. Purchasing fuel from private sources could save tens of thousands of dollars in fuel costs alone. Those are the kinds of practical decisions we need to demand from our elected officials. I also believe cuts need to start at the top. Management positions would be on the table and those positions which are superfluous would be eliminated.

There is no question that the state’s fiscal turmoil affects all citizens and compounds the difficulties we must tackle in Fresno County. But, county government must live within its means. Because the county delivers so many program services mandated or supported by the state and federal government, everything from education to transportation to social services will surely be adversely affected by choices made in Sacramento.

The duty of a county supervisor is to recognize this reality and approach the situation head-on without making excuses. We must be informed and well-prepared to fight to assure that we are treated equitably and that the budget axe isn’t wielded indiscriminately without regard to important priorities, etc. Our success depends on battling powerful interests in other regions who, left to their own devices, could do harm to our whole region. I will work cooperatively with our state representatives in our common cause for fair treatment and sound policies from Sacramento.