Ventura Plan for Drastic Budget Cuts Presented : Government: City Council receives suggestions for up to $3.5 million in reductions. No department goes unscathed.

Ventura city officials on Friday unveiled a proposal to slash up to $3.5 million from the city’s budget, eliminating as many as 41 jobs and scrimping on everything from tree trimming to bullets for police officers.

No department went unscathed, and if the proposal is adopted by the Ventura City Council next month, residents next fiscal year can expect shabbier parks, unfixed broken sidewalks and fewer police officers.

The council needs to cut only $2.2 million from its $50-million budget before June 30, but city staff gave council members suggestions that would cut up to $3.5 million so that the seven-member council would have some flexibility on which programs to save.

City officials warned that the figure of $2.2 million is an estimate that may increase depending on the final budget adopted by the state Legislature. Last year, the city lost about $1 million in property tax revenues to the state.

On Monday, as part of its quest to save dollars, the City Council will consider charging repeat offenders for code enforcement visits for building violations. In a few weeks, the council also will consider proposals to do some city services through private companies on a contract basis. The council next month also will consider the amount of severance benefits to give laid-off employees.

“We’re not changing just to change, we’re changing out of necessity,” said Councilman Jack Tingstrom, chairman of the council’s Finance Committee.

In the first round of cuts last month, 15 city employees were given layoff notices and city officials announced that another 20 positions--some already vacant--would be eliminated.

If the council cuts as much as $3.5 million, as many as 41 more positions would be dropped from the city’s payroll, said city budget director Michael Solomon.

Solomon said he did not know how many of the 41 positions are currently filled, and how many people could actually be laid off.

Police and fire union officials blasted the proposed cuts, saying they would endanger the public’s safety. Plans call for laying off as many as 14 sworn police officers and some firefighters, union officials said.

The plan recommends slicing the police ammunition budget in half and reducing training for the Special Weapons Assault Team (SWAT) for a savings of $13,000.

Police officers are required to go to the firing range once a month and practice their shooting skills, said Bob Velez, a patrol sergeant who sits on the police union’s board of directors.

The proposal calls for officers to go every two months instead because of ammunition cutbacks, Velez said.

“That’s the kind of thing that will get you in civil court for negligent training,” Velez said.

Another option, which would save $157,305, suggests eliminating all crime prevention programs except for Neighborhood Watch. Funding for DARE, which teaches children to resist drug abuse, may be dramatically reduced. The proposal would slash $200,000 of DARE’s $264,000 budget.

City Finance Director Terry Adelman said because the DARE program is so popular, he hopes businesses and residents will pick up the slack in funding.

In the fire department, proposals include reducing fire safety inspections of buildings, decreasing staffing at two fire stations and cutting back on code enforcement visits.

Vern Alstot, vice president of the firefighters union, said the proposals would significantly reduce fire services and may increase response time.

“We’re an insurance policy,” Alstot said. “You don’t think about us until you need us.”

In other areas, city officials said roads and parks would deteriorate noticeably if the cuts are adopted.

Public Works Director Ron Calkins said the positions of one irrigation worker, a tree maintenance worker, two groundskeepers and three maintenance workers may be eliminated. About half those jobs are already vacant, Calkins said.

“I don’t think there’s any question that people are going to notice,” Calkins said. “We’ll have less ability to keep the parks clean, to keep the landscaping fertilized.”

Other proposals include cutting:

* Nonprofit social service agencies by $24,500;

* Special events by $75,000;

* The police canine unit by $12,232;

* Storm drain cleanings by $45,000;

* Contract legal services by $100,000;

* Police overtime by $75,000.

Councilman Todd Collart, who sits on the Finance Committee, said he expects next month’s budget hearings to be contentious, and urged residents to think of alternate cuts and savings when they argue for keeping programs.

“All the cuts I looked at were essential things,” Collart said. “I suspect people will latch onto things here and there and try to save them. None of these are happy choices.”