The End is Near

As the annual summer recess draws nigh, San Jose politicians and employees are working furiously to put the finishing touches on the city’s budget. It is a game of chicken where I’m not sure anybody will come out as the winner, not even we taxpayers, for whom this game is ostensibly being played.

Clearly, in the short run city employees will suffer. Either they will give back significant compensation, or the city will impose compensation cuts and lay off a significant number of employees. There is no other way to solve the short term budget problems. The problem is, imposing cuts does nothing to begin addressing our structural budget problems. Imposing a solution will reduce city services. Cutting significant numbers of city employees will have a deleterious effect on our quality of life.

It is time for our city employees to put the good of the city ahead of their own self interest. Because allowing the Mayor to impose cuts is not in their long-term self interest. Imposed cuts will perpetuate the annual battle over budget priorities. Imposed cuts will lead to an erosion in the quality of life in San Jose, encourage citizens to move elsewhere, and discourage business and job formation.

Who is to blame for this mess? My answer may surprise you. It is not the city employees, who have used the processes in place to their benefit. It is not the city management, which has responded to the direction of the city council. And it is not the city council, who have done what they believe was in the best interests of their constituents, however constituency may be defined.

The culpable parties are you and me. By abdicating our responsibility for making informed decisions and providing consistent input to our elected representatives, we have created the problem. By relying on the biased, one-sided arguments of special interests, we have enabled an environment of entitlement, where the good of the city’s employees and politicians supersedes that of the citizens.

Therefore, we, the people of San Jose, have to be the solution. This mess will drag on, year after year, until we stand up and say “No More!”

We have to commit to providing consistent input to our elected officials. We need to carefully consider candidates for office, and not robotically react to special interest messaging. We have to hold our elected officials accountable when they put other interests ahead of the welfare of our city.

We also have to let labor hear our voices. We need to let them know that we support fair compensation, but will not tolerate excessively generous pay packages.

And we need to encourage both sides to enter into a meaningful dialogue regarding solving our chronic budget problems. Driving a stake in the ground and refusing to budge is no way to reach a cooperative solution. We need to foster an atmosphere of trust at the negotiating table, because that is the only way that we can begin moving forward. It is the only way to once and for all slay the dragon that is our budget process.

Take action today. Tell our council representatives and labor leaders how you feel. Tell them it’s time to put self interest aside and do what’s right for the long term health of our city.