Health & Fitness
The Human Cost of a Balanced City Budget
City workers, like all workers, create jobs and wealth.
In the August 29, 2012 issue of the North County Times (NCT), we are treated to an article telling us that Oceanside ended the previous fiscal year in the black.
Like anyone, I enjoyed the good news and praise for the stewards of the city's budget. But then I got glum. According to Peter Weiss, City Manager, the city made it to the finish line without debt mostly because sixty-eight employees were not replaced.
On the one hand, I am grateful for the difficult decisions made by many during these difficult times. I am especially grateful to the city's employees and their unions for their sacrifices and contributions to help balance the budget.
Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On the other hand, I see sixty-eight unemployed people. I see sixty-eight people possibly drawing on tax-supported services rather than contributing taxes to those services. I see sixty-eight unemployed people without salaries to spend on local, regional, and national manufacturers, retailers, and service providers. I see sixty-eight families who must tell their children that the next family outing will have to be canceled for lack of money. I see sixty-eight more possibilities for foreclosures, evictions, and homelessness. I see sixty-eight people who are not spending money and therefore not creating wealth or jobs for others.
Occasionally, I give a few bucks to the guy selling newspapers on the corner. When I do, I don't find myself destitute or passing up a purchase I would have made with those few bucks. I don't really miss them. I have to wonder. Why don't I and other folks in Oceanside band together and pay a few extra bucks in taxes so that sixty-eight people can be employed. How many jobs, how much wealth could we create for our city, our state, our nation.
Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Listen and read what they say and you'll find only three people running for City Council worry about these sixty-eight people. If you worry about them - and the rest of us who benefit when they have jobs - you need to vote for Wood, Sanchez, and Corso.
Mike Croghan, Oceanside resident.
