Posted on 08/07/2011 7:59:59 AM PDT by granite
People who hate government will love what's going on in Wildomar.
The city just cut its police protection contract from 72 hours a day in officer shifts to just 40. Oh yeah.
They're closing City Hall on Fridays. Yippee.
The city manager is taking 17.25 furlough days, saving the city $15,000 in salary. Hot dog.
And the City Council will meet only once a month. Hallelujah.
All this and much more from a city that has only three full-time employees and already has closed one of three parks after voters rejected a mere $28 annual fee. More cuts could be on the way for Wildomar's places to play if people don't pitch in to pay for it themselves.
Tea party supporters, Wildomar is living the dream.
Or is it a nightmare?
What brought this on was the dreaded state government that stripped $1.8 million in vehicle-license fees from Wildomar's budget. That's a staggering 22 percent of the city's general fund. Wildomar's spending isn't just on a diet. It's on a lap band.
Unlike a certain federal government Tea Partiers love to loathe, Wildomar balanced its budget, which resulted in those drastic cuts. That was on top of $350,000 for park maintenance the city lost when voters rejected that tax in June.
Meanwhile, in nearby Temecula, the city already has spent about $784,000 to fight the proposed Liberty Quarry and annex land near it. This is all well and good, given how worked up many Temecula residents are about that proposal. But where's the justice, Wildomar residents must be asking, that Temecula has so much money for that and we have to cut back on our cops? Good question.
It's a tale of two cities in the same odd state of California: one pinching pennies, the other by comparison loaded. At least Wildomar still has a few cops to call its own.
Which is the point to City Councilwoman Bridgette Moore. Before the city incorporated three years ago, Riverside County didn't have one officer dedicated just to Wildomar, she says. Even with the cutbacks, she says the city still will have better police protection than under the county. It's progress, even it's the dreaded two steps forward, one step back kind.
Moore says Wildomar faces some tough times, but there is one motivating factor: "We do not want to be the county again." Heavens to Betsy, anything but that!
Wildomar has always prided itself on an independent, go-it-alone, streak and if the place has to get by on fewer government services, so be it. Plans already are being set up for folks to donate that $28 they used to pay for parks to a nonprofit entity that could run what's left.
"We're hoping people will pitch in," she says hopefully.
Moore, a member of the local Rotary, says folks there are still gung-ho for the city. Plus she gets lots of kudos about the city on her Facebook page, despite all the cutbacks.
Wildomar's bureaucracy isn't bloated. It's lean and mean. Rejoice tea partiers!
The “tea party” = the new Bush...
They get blamed for everything, even for the flies in the soup.
You will notice the author never mentions any cuts towards the permanent welfare class. This is never mentioned even in the great state of the People’s Republic of Illinois, the darlings of multi-generational welfare are still buying steak on the LINK card and still getting their hair done as well.
Or is it a nightmare?
I've heard two interviews with the S&P guy that headed the group that downgraded the US. He said the downgrade was linked to the debt, which will continue to expand. Not enough was done in the latest bill, he said, to trim expenditures.
Isn't that just what the Tea Party said?
Welfare is doled out at the Federal, State and County levels. The City has no budget for such entitlements.
I'm sure they are since it looks like the majority of voters agreed with them by voting down these taxes and fees.
I'm sure they are since it looks like the majority of voters agreed with them by voting down these taxes and fees.
Cut ‘em all!
Interesting, they have so few staff because they out source almost everything to the private sector.
Some discussion here starting on page 94 -
http://www.cityofwildomar.org/uploads/files/minutes/07-27-11-cap.pdf
I don’t think the original article mentioned this.
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