State of the City
Mayor Jon Harrison met with inland reporters Wednesday afternoon at City Hall to preview his upcoming state of the city remarks.
Harrison plans to deliver his remarks April 17 at the University of Redlands. Representatives from city departments are also slated to be on hand to chat with Redlanders about their work.
Over the past year, City Hall's finances have generated several news stories dealing with officials efforts to keep the city's budget in the black. Before fiscal 2007, Redlands went five straight budget cycles without adopting a balanced budget.
The city now has a law that mandates a balanced budget. Harrison said Wednesday that Redlanders shouldn't expect any major revelations regarding city finances to be made during his speech next week.
The mayor did say that adopting a balanced budget for fiscal 2009 would pretty much trump any other considerations. That could mean that City Hall goes into a holding pattern for the next few years and refrains from launching major initiatives or even shrinks city operations or payroll.
"Every indication is that the economy is going to stay pretty flat," Harrison said. "We're not looking for opportunities to expand nrograms," he said.
"I don't know at this time if there are any cuts," he added. "If that's what it's going to take to bring it to a balanced budget, that's what the manager is going to bring forward to us."
Harrison did not say that the city is abandoning all major projects. He said City Hall is working on plans to develop a more systematic approach to tackling significant capital investments, such as road repair or a new police station.
This kind of planning has been lacking in past years, Harrison said.
"We've never gotten them into a queue, if you will, of how we're going to get them done," he said.
Harrison said his speech next week will also highlight environmental policies, which, by all indications, are close to the mayor's heart.
He said recreational projects like trails and the more businesslike concepts of rail transit and mixed-use development (i.e. Residences and businesses in the same blocks. The theory is that people will live closer to their workplaces and not have to burn fuel while commuting).
Harrison said the federal government has not taken up this guantlet and it's up to cities to use their powers to reduce oil consumption and pursue other policies intended to protect the environment.
"The opportunity we should embrace is how we can become a leader in the energy economy," he said.
A third point Harrison mentioned is his intent for Redlands' government to be more visible to the public. He said he wants to institute a schedule of community meetings (at least four per year) to talk policy with Redlanders.
"The community said last year that we were just not listening and explaining what was going on," he said.
The State of the City event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. April 17 in the Casa Loma Room at the University of Redlands, 1200 East Colton Ave. Refreshments, but not a full dinner, will be provided.
There's no fee to watch but reservations are requested. Harrison said he's hoping to draw a full crowd of Redlanders to the event.
Information: (909) 798-7511.