Council candidates on the budget: Ladan Bezanson

Ladan Bezanson, learning coordinator for Montclair

QUESTION: The city needs to make $3.1 million in cuts to the general fund budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year. If you were on the council, where would you propose the cuts be made?

Additionally, what departments and/or services would be your budget priority?

ANSWER: After attending a recent meeting, I believe that City Manager Steve Dunn has a lot of great ideas that he is implementing to get costs under control. Besides those that are taking place I would look at all programs that may be exclusive to the city for example the animal shelter, police department, fire department, and etcetera. These services can be contracted out to other cities or neighboring areas for fees in return. As an example, contracting police services would be beneficial to both Upland and San Antonio Heights because we would receive much needed revenue to help support the department and they would get lower response times in emergency situations. Additionally, I would work on cutting cost in each department by evaluating full-time staff's workload to see if they are non-producers or just not needed full-time. Lowering personnel costs should help alleviate the current deficit.