Hawaiian Gardens : Budget Action Postponed

City Administrator Darwin G. Pichetto said he is putting off Hawaiian Gardens’ final budget-balancing session until he has reviewed all current spending cuts with staff and City Council members.

“I’m not setting any particular date” for the council to meet and deliberate on the spending cuts needed to balance the budget for fiscal 1988-89, which began July 1, Pichetto said this week.

Last week, Pichetto canceled the city’s fourth budget session, saying that the city staff needed to correct some mathematical errors before the council could proceed with spending cuts to meet the city’s $3.1 million in expected revenue. That meeting was rescheduled for this week, Pichetto announced last week.

But in a telephone interview this week, Pichetto said that he is conducting “one-on-one discussions” with council members and is not prepared to reconvene the budget sessions.

The budget sessions are necessary for the council to draft a preliminary spending plan for the city.

“I want to be very thorough,” said Pichetto, who in recent weeks has been struggling to find out how much money is left in the city treasury. “I want to bring it to a finality as quickly as possible.”