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<br />LOCAL UPDATE
<br />In a concentrated showing of support for LOCAL,
<br />the Central Valley Division coalition members
<br />conducted editorial boards briefings with the Stockton
<br />Record, Lodi News Sentinel, Tracy Journal and Union
<br />Democrat over a two-week period in June. Their
<br />media efforts were topped off June 18 with a hugely
<br />successful press conference in the City of Merced.
<br />Attending the editorial board meetings were the
<br />Mayor Gary Podesto (Stockton); Mayor Marlee
<br />Powell (Sonora); Council Members Keith Land
<br />(Lodi), Evelyn Tolbert (Tracy), Suzanne Tucker
<br />(Tracy), Stockton's Chief of Police, San Joaquin
<br />County Supervisors Jack Sieglock and Leroy
<br />Oroellas, Assistant County Administrator Greg
<br />Pedro Tuolumne, City Managers Mark Lewis
<br />(Stockton), Dixon Flynn (Lodi), Greg Applegate
<br />(Sonora) and Tim Shearer (Angels Camp), Finance
<br />Director Zane Johnston (Tracy) and representing
<br />Special Districts, Teresa Tanaka, Kevin Kaufman,
<br />Paul Sensibaugh, Don Kasso and Alan Inman.
<br />League Central Valley Regional Representative
<br />Debbie Olson and CSAC representative, Farrah
<br />McDaid also attended.
<br />Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna indicated that public
<br />safety officials are required to do more with less. A cut
<br />could potentially eliminate the city's ability to equip
<br />and deploy an additional paramedic unit. Con.:iderin6
<br />that approximately 75% of the department's calls are
<br />medical- related, the paramedics have become
<br />increasingly important to the safety and well -being of
<br />the community.
<br />Overall, the local officials made clear that their
<br />agencies are willing to be part of the solution and
<br />contribute to a budget solution and share some of the
<br />pain, but those cuts must be proportional.
<br />QUOTES from page 6 " .
<br />state government spending. Any percentage
<br />higher than that cannot last long. "
<br />San Francisco Chronicle, 7/1103, To the
<br />Brink. "California begins a new fiscal year today
<br />running on fumes, its tank empty. With no budget
<br />in place, the country's most - populous state is set
<br />for a head -on disaster."
<br />In summing up the effort Mayor Gary Podesto of
<br />Stockton commented, "This is one way that local
<br />government officials are using their political capital
<br />wisely."
<br />He was right: the effort has thus far produced five
<br />news stories and three editorials.
<br />In the Los Angeles Division, several local
<br />officials met last Monday, June 30, with the San
<br />Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group (Pasadena Star
<br />News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily
<br />News). Covina City Manager Paul Philips, Monrovia
<br />Fire Chief Sam DiG/ovanna, Steve West— Gen-
<br />eral Manager of the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito 8
<br />Vector Control District and CSAC Lobbyist Pat
<br />Leary met with the paper to discuss the impacts of the
<br />state budget on local government services and
<br />operations.
<br />City Manager Paul Philips provided the newspa-
<br />per with graphs that showed how the state's spending
<br />habits have skyrocketed compared to the cities low
<br />spending. Pat Leary explained that local agencies
<br />provide some of the most - needed services in their
<br />community and to ask them to provide those services
<br />without the necessary resources is irresponsible.
<br />The San Jose Mercury News, 7/1/03, State
<br />Held Hostage: Day 1, "Seven months have
<br />slipped by. Seven months of hearings held and
<br />numbers crunched, but no budget. Credit legisla-
<br />tors for giving 110 percent on wringing hands and
<br />trading accusations — but not for passing a
<br />budget."
<br />The Torrance Daily Breeze, 7101/03, Car
<br />Tax Actually Makes Sense. "The vehicle license
<br />fee, despite being non - progressive, is a worthy
<br />source of income for a state in our kind of trouble.
<br />At 2 percent, the fee may dissuade people at the
<br />margins from buying the most expensive, least
<br />efficient vehicles."
<br />Sacramento Bee, 7/1/03, Budget's Underly-
<br />ing Politics Are Perfect Recipe for Long
<br />Impasse. "The verbal barrages on the floors of
<br />both legislative houses and in the media are
<br />strong indications that the stalemate over a budget
<br />will continue for weeks, if not months."
<br />Sacramento Bee, 7/1/03, Budget Reckon-
<br />ing: A Responsible Plan Looks to the Future.
<br />Visit the League's Official Web Site-- www.cacities.org
<br />Continued on Page 9
<br />PRIORITY FOCUS /PAGE 7
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