City Seeks Citizens’ Input on Budget Cuts : Ventura: A panel is asked to draft a long-range plan proposing which services could be trimmed. But some say the group is little more than window dressing.

The city of Ventura--trying to make the budget-cutting process as logical as possible--has set out to enlist the help of citizens in deciding what city services are most important and which could most easily be trimmed.

City officials say Ventura is the first city in the county to take such a comprehensive approach to budget cutting. But some skeptics say the appointment of a 26-member citizens group is little more than window dressing.

As part of the planning before expected budget cuts next year, the citizens panel is being asked to draft a three- to five-year plan for the city’s future. Officials say the document will provide a road map for Ventura’s immediate future, as well as a guide for possible cuts in staff and programs.

“The reality is that when you look at the dollars, there’s no way there won’t be some changes in services,” said City Manager John S. Baker.

“The financial situation we are faced with is not going to change whether we do this or not. This, at least, is designed to say we’ve thought through which ones are the most important to our community,” Baker said.

Skeptics--including one council member--say the citizens group is political window dressing to justify budget cuts later. Citizens will be less likely to yell if they have some input in the budget, said Councilman James L. Monahan.

“I think it’s partly to get new council members oriented to the process. Whatever they want us to do, we won’t have the money to do it,” said Monahan, who has been on the council for almost 17 years.

The citizens advisory group, all nominated by members of the council, has met twice and will make its final recommendations to the council later this month.

Ventura is the only city in the county to plan ahead in this fashion, but cities nationwide are joining the trend, said Mayor Gregory L. Carson.

“You’re not going to see Ventura all of a sudden realizing, ‘Oh my gosh, we don’t have enough money to keep our parks open,’ ” Carson said. “We’re going to have to do as much as we can with less. We’re planning ahead.”

Last year, the council faced the worst money crunch in 15 years, and was forced to slice 6% across the board to balance a $101.6-million operating budget for 1992-94. About 10 workers were laid off and dozens of programs were reduced or eliminated.

City Council members were unhappy about “having to micromanage the budget,” Carson said, and decided to form a citizens advisory committee to help them plan for cuts, rather than react to them.

In June, the council will pass a revised budget that will chop more services and programs. Baker said he did not know how severe the hits would be, but anticipated losing at least a million dollars.

The city is spending up to $10,000 to pay a consultant to guide the citizens group, which has not yet made any specific recommendations about which services should receive lower priority. Committee members were appointed by council members and represent different constituencies in the city, such as business, arts, education and labor.

In its second meeting last week, the group criticized city staff for creating bureaucratic roadblocks and recommended revitalizing downtown and promoting more tourism.

“There is a little duplication, a little too much red tape, and all of that is costing the taxpayers money,” said Chuck Smith, a committee member and owner of K. B. Roberts gift store. “What we’re going to find is that every department is going to have to tighten its belt.”

Veterinarian Karen Anderson Moore said she thinks that the committee will be more than a symbolic gesture. “(The council) seems to be listening,” she said. “And I’m not doing this just to blow a lot of hot air. They better show us what they’re doing with our work.”

Although most council members have enthusiastically endorsed the idea of planning ahead, Monahan said he is dubious about the plan.

After one brainstorming session last week, Monahan said jokingly, “We’ve got the solution. We’re going to dissolve the city.”

In an interview later, Monahan said, “City staff are justifying the way they do things now.”

In three to five years, Monahan said, new council members with different political agendas could be elected, “and the plan could be put on a shelf.”

But the committee is a good way of airing concerns from citizens, he said. “I don’t want to discourage anyone from participating.”

Donald Chisholm, a UCLA political science professor who specializes in organization theory, echoed Monahan’s doubts.

“Plans like this are very appealing because they give the illusion of certainty that government knows what it’s doing,” Chisholm said. “Involving a citizens group provides a way to legitimize decisions that you would make anyway.”

Cities have little maneuvering room in planning their budgets because there are certain services such as police and street cleaning that they are obligated to do each year, Chisholm said.

“So they close libraries, and they might not fill a secretary’s spot, or a clerk’s position,” he said.

According to one parks and recreation employee who asked for anonymity, some city workers are afraid that their jobs will be in jeopardy when the citizens group and the council finishes its evaluation of city services. “A lot of people are scared,” he said.

City Manager Baker said it was understandable that some fear may be circulating throughout City Hall these days.

“Any time you talk about a change, that causes some anxiety,” he said. “All this does is keep the issue of cuts in front of them. Maybe it wouldn’t come quite as early.”

Most of the city staff like the idea of change, Mayor Carson said. “It doesn’t mean anything unless the staff buys into it,” he said. “I think they want to be challenged. Staff has their own hierarchy, and their own departments, and they want to protect that. But they want to do the best job they can too.”

Barbara Harison, director of parks and recreation, said her department was one of the hardest hit in the last budget cycle, and she is expecting more cuts in a few months.

Planning ahead will help prepare for that, Harison said. “We want to know what the community wants. This is what we’re here for. We’d be dead in the water if we weren’t doing what people want.”

Carson emphasized that the citizens group’s recommendations will be crucial in helping the council make unpleasant financial decisions in a few months.

“We don’t just want some big vision statement,” he said. “This is not a dog-and-pony show.”