The late great Heavyweight Champ of the world Joe Louis is reported to have said,”It’s not that I like money so much…it’s just that it calms my nerves”. I certainly can relate to that sentiment as I consider all of the challenges and opportunities Salinas has. Lack of financial resources does make it difficult to solve problems and aggressively pursue economic development opportunities.

My personal civic and now public sector interests have primarily focused on Salinas and how we realize our potential as a Great City. I believe that journey includes a period of imagining (what should it look like), building (how do we make it real) and finally how do we sustain it.

My view of fiscal sustainability is working to ensure Salinas has the right revenue streams for the City to provide the services residents expect. Those services (police, fire, library, recreation, public works, etc.) should be identified with agreed upon service levels. The “social contract” would be one residents understood and backed essentially by an agreement to the costs and funding mechanisms; i.e. appropriate sales tax levels, various fees, etc. In turn the City would commit to have the capacity to meet service expectations; i.e. sufficient police officers, open park space, etc.

Prior to taking office I felt focusing on a locally based civic dialogue about our aspirations would be sufficient. For instance, all Salinas residents want to feel safe and live in a peaceful City. Personally, I believe that Salinas will need a bigger police force and an expanded new neighborhood-based police vision to ensure that possibility. I think most Salinas residents will support that idea as they learn more about what will be necessary and results they can expect from that investment.

Unfortunately, Sacramento’s problems are making it increasingly difficult for a mid-size City such as Salinas to meet the legitimate expectations of its residents. At a time we need to be hiring more officers we find ourselves having to consider the State may once again consider “borrowing” from cities which would have an immediate budget impact on Salinas.

So I find myself doing as many others are doing right now…. wondering “why they can’t get it right” up there? I don’t pretend to have the answers and recognize it is complicated. But I would share one oberservation that I think holds true for Sacramento and Salinas.

I think it would be a mistake to assume that we are just waiting for things to get back to normal at some point. My observation is that the State is fighting through their problems by talking about process, cutting services and raising revenues. All valid components of the problem but I think missing some fundamental discussion points…. employee cost inputs for pensions, lack of effectiveness and results for such a costly prison system, and excessive business regulations that drive up costs and ultimately lower revenues, etc.

I am becoming increasingly convinced local government has a critical role to play in helping resolve the current financial melodrama that is playing out in Sacramento. I believe that the State is going to need to consider new business models to ultimately solve its problem. One such model might be based on a “New Regionalism” that involves cities and counties providing the same services that state does in a more cost effective manner.

Salinas and Monterey County could well represent an interesting “pilot county” to consider some new government models that might deliver services in a more cost-effective manner.

The current state park discussion centered on possibly closing all state parks might serve as example. I am intrigued by the idea of Salinas and other local cities joining with the County and looking at the possibility of operating the state parks located in our County. It would be interesting to see if we could expand our local government revenue base, lower state costs and provide the same recreational, aesthetic experiences with a State seal of approval to park visitors.

Let’s make sure we don’t waste a crisis to consider all the possibilities to make Salinas, Monterey County and California a better place to live and do business!