AgdaPkt 2003-02-24 - Laserfiche WebLink

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9-A-9 LOCAL GENERATES STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF BUDGET CONCERNS For the past few weeks, the consultants for the LOCAL coalition (Leave Our Community Assets Local) have been working with the League's regional representatives and staff from CSAC and CSDA, to contact editorial page editors to stress the importance of local funding and to urge the editors to write about the potential impacts on local services that would result from a loss of VLF backfill and from other proposed cuts. As a result of these intense efforts, virtually every California daily paper has been contacted. We are working now to schedule meetings with every paper – daily or periodic — that plans to editorialize on state budget issues. The goal is to "tell the local story' by taking a small group of coalition partners to the meetings: public safety representatives, elected officials, businessmen and women, community and other groups concerned about protecting local services. City officials and other LOCAL partners have also kept LOCAL concerns in the press through letters to the editor, opinion - editorials, press conferences and other media outreach. The results are impressive, as can be seen in this first "LOCAL Press Update" for 2003. We will provide these summaries periodically, so that city officials can see the impact that their efforts are having on a statewide basis. Recent articles and editorials dealing both with the VLF specifically and with the budget crisis in general. • SF Chronicle Editorial, "The governor needs gumption" • This was the result of a LOCAL Editorial Board meeting. • LA times News Story, "Siege at Budget's Middle Ground" • Sacramento Bee Column, "Dan Walters: Federal, state and local budgets just a big fiscal food chain" • Ventura County Star News Story, "Law- makers ask if budge back at square one: Assembly 'upset,' Senate unhappy" • San Diego Union Tribune News Story, "Governor borrows Wilson solutions: Tax hikes, program cuts pushed in 1991" • Stockton Record Editorial, "Where are we going? Democrats in Sacramento take giant step backward; GOP watches, waits" • OC Register Editorial, "State could learn from O.C.'s mess; if Legislature estab- lishes priorities, crisis will ease - without new taxes" • Inland Valley Daily Bulletin News Story, "CVUSD concerned anti -VLF stance will hurt schools" • Vacaville Reporter News Story, "Official: Dixon still healthy, wealthy • Sacramento Bee Column, "Dan Walters: As budget gap yawns, state must borrow many billions more" • Sacramento Bee Op -ed by Steven Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy "Other view: Kids, poor bear brunt of burden" • Stockton Record News Story, "Car tax ignites standoff; Davis and Assembly Democrats at odds" • Torrance Daily Breeze Editorial, "Budget posturing must end" • Santa Cruz Sentinel Editorial, "What is the tax payer's roll" • Sacramento Bee Dan Weintraub Col- umn, "Gaming the budget" • OC Register News Story, "State fiscal crisis brings O.C. leaders together" • Sacramento Bee News Story, "Controller says he can't raise car tax unilaterally" • Oakland Tribune News Story, "Assembly speaker wants to redo cuts, please Davis" • Oakland Tribune reprint of Weintrab Column, "State budget situation grim" • SF Chronicle News Story, "State covet web tax revenues; Income would help close budget deficits" • SF Chronicle News Story, "Sacramento mulls major fiscal overhaul; Spending reform may be the only answer to California's budget quagmire" • North County Times Op-ed by Michael Poehlman Oceanside Police Chief, "Public safety is being put at risk" • Ventura County Star Op-ed "State's financial woes not related to license fees" CONTINUEDONPAGE4 Visit the League's Official Web Site- "www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS /PAGE 3