‘Emergency’ May Beget One

The intended consequence of the “state of emergency” that San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor and the City Council declared last week was to get $34 million from Sacramento to fight drug- and gang-related crime. A worthy goal, but an unlikely one.

A more likely outcome, though probably unintended, will be $10 million or more in cuts from such departments as parks and recreation, libraries and planning to put 140 more police officers on the street.

By asking the state to grant emergency aid, the city left itself little choice but to take its own emergency action. The price of that hasty action will be steep.

Before the latest ordered cuts, City Manager John Lockwood had already planned to ax half the after-school recreation programs, curtail municipal pool operations and cut library service to balance the budget.

Finding money for police, substations and support services will be painful.

Park and recreation programs that help keep children out of trouble may have to be sacrificed to pay for the police to arrest them once they get into trouble. The mayor’s Year of the Child may have to become the Year of Law Enforcement.

More police may, indeed, be the most important priority. But the tough choices needed to implement that decision should be weighed carefully and only after a full debate that includes a consideration of raising taxes and fees.

Such reasonable deliberation can only be accomplished if the council steps back from its impetuously pronounced “state of emergency.”