Commentary: 2015 ushered in an era of fiscal responsibility
One year ago this week, those of us who won office in the 2014 city election took the reins of government.
It seems like only yesterday, and yet it seems like ages ago. The memory of those exciting days is still very fresh, but so much has been accomplished that it’s hard to believe it’s only been a year.
The one-year anniversary is an opportunity to take stock of where we are, assess what has been done, and plan the next steps going forward.
I ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility, government transparency and listening to residents. I have tried to stay true to these core principles to guide me in the business of governing our strong and vital city.
Here are some of the things the City Council accomplished this past year:
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Fiscal Responsibility
In the area of fiscal responsibility, one of the first actions of the new council was to end the Balboa Performing Arts Theatre planning, saving $5.8 million in estimated project costs — an amount that almost everyone agreed had grown to excessive proportions.
It was clear that the city’s effort — and the long, hard work of community volunteers and donors — had run its course, as cost estimates for refurbishing the existing building continued to rise. It was clear to us that we needed to turn to the private sector.
So we also voted to sell the property, and several proposals for purchase and private operation are currently being reviewed.
The saving of projected operating costs, plus the income from the sale of the property, will be a significant fiscal boost to the city and the newly constituted performing arts center will be a real boon to Balboa Village.
In other actions:
• We also deferred a median beautification project in the city’s capital projects list, saving another $1.8 million.
• We drew a line on the West Newport Community Center project, capping it at $25 million after estimates had escalated to $34 million-plus.
• We adopted a fleet life-cycle extension plan for the city’s vehicles, saving $1.04 million annually going forward. We’ve asked the staff to identify further potential savings in the fleet.
• We restructured the city’s Finance Committee to include a majority of citizen members, bringing in outside eyes to review spending and budget proposals and make recommendations to the City Council. The committee is working hard to identify potential cost savings and efficiencies in all spending across the board.
• We directed the city’s Arts Commission to move to fund the art in public places program through private donations rather than city support. I believe program will be much stronger with the community involved in a public-private partnership. Public/private partnerships are an approach I hope to see the city use more going forward.
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Government Transparency
We initiated a third-party audit of the Civic Center project, the cost of which had caused great concern in the community, and in fact, was a major issue in the council campaign of 2014.
After a great deal of debate, the council voted to have an audit performed by an outside firm — under the direction of the city attorney’s office, to insulate it from charges of both City Council politicking and city staff influence.
Some have charged that an audit is a waste of money. I believe that the audit of this major construction project is our fiduciary responsibility to our taxpayers and should have been completed long ago.
It is quite clear to me that the savings we will recover in better procedures and processes in future large projects will far outweigh the cost of the audit. This type of closeout audit is standard operating procedure in any public or private agency. It is the right thing to do.
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Listening to residents
I have greatly enjoyed meeting with and listening to residents at my monthly standing-room-only town hall meetings in my Council District 1. Residents heard regular updates from senior city staff on projects or issues of current interest and expressed their views to me and city staff who have also regularly attended. I plan to continue to hold monthly town hall meetings in the coming year. I learn a lot from the town hall meetings.
Partly because of what we heard in those town halls, several actions were taken by the council, including:
• More than 20 restaurants and bars on the Peninsula have agreed to develop a public-private effort to reduce alcohol-related disturbances and crimes. This effort includes voluntary steps by the business owners to step up training and more closely monitor their premises, stepped up communications among residents, business owners, city staff and the police — and the addition of police officers by the city to more closely monitor the streets and other public areas to reduce the incidence of nuisance crimes in our neighborhoods. These are only the first steps in a multi-year effort to improve the quality of life of our residents.
• We stood with the congregation of St. James the Great Episcopal Church and stated our opposition as council members to changing the zoning there to allow condo development.
It is worth noting that many of these actions were taken on unanimous or super-majority votes, involving not just the new majority but also the longer-tenured council members. I find this encouraging and believe it bodes well for the future of the city.
I hope and expect that the next year will be as productive and positive as this first year. I look forward to working with the community, the city staff and my fellow council members on the many exciting challenges and opportunities ahead. But that is a topic for another column!
DIANE DIXON is mayor pro tem of Newport Beach.