Dear fellow council members,

When we discussed the budget in January, the
presentation by the city manager focused on an
approach to the budget process.  We also discussed a
specific proposal by Kelly Fergusson to increase
police patrols.  However, we did not have an
opportunity to discuss our goals for the budget. I
believe that we need to establish the goals before
proceeding to discuss the budget process or any
specific recommendations. I am, therefore, writing you
to request that we agendize such a discussion.

I have three major goals:

1.  I want to balance the budget in two years.  I
would prefer to do it in one year if we could, but
some of the steps we will need to take may take some
preparation.

2.  I want to lay the foundation for a balanced budget
for the future.  There may be a number of things that
we can do but, at a minimum, we must examine all major
ongoing obligations. For example, an obvious
opportunity we have is to reduce the burden of Menlo
Park employee pension obligations to a reasonable
level.  We can learn a great deal from how private
businesses have addressed such issues.

3.  As you know, I am a staunch advocate of open
government. To encourage balanced civic debate on
important public matters such as the budget, I
suggested last month that we support an ad hoc citizen
finance committee. This has not been moving forward
with appropriate speed.

I am aware that the city manager wants to do a survey
regarding city services.  Before we conduct any such
survey, I believe we must develop a better
understanding of our existing financial structure.
This will require some advance preparation by staff,
with input from the ad hoc finance committee, to
create a workable picture of our financial options.
Without this information, I cannot imagine how a
survey would answer any but the most superficial
budget questions.  Even if we do a survey, I would
like our goals to be clear. Indeed, if there is a
potential conflict in goals, a survey could be an
ideal means of gathering opinions that would help us
resolve the conflicts.

By scheduling a session on “budget goals,� we will
give both the public and ourselves an opportunity to
think and express ourselves freely about the mission
of the city.

Yours truly,

Andy Cohen

=====
Andy Cohen <andrew.m.cohen.61@alum.dartmouth.org>

                
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Received on Tue Mar 1 15:04:08 2005