Budget Salaries and Benefits

Questions and Answers - Budget, Salaries and Benefits

A reader wrote recently that she supports my re-election (yea!) and had some questions that she thought might be asked and answered on the campaign trail and in forums. Most of her concerns are about the budget, employee salaries and benefits.

Since 2008 the City has been engaged in remarkable events: the collapse of the financial industry due to reckless and perhaps corrupt behavior which has caused the greatest decline in home values since the Great Depression, high unemployment and a failure of the federal government to address the mortgage meltdown. These national events drive much of the discussion about events in Benicia and it is understandable that people seek answers and solutions.

Regardless of numerous articles and emails I have sent in the last year, questions and assumptions about the same issues continue to come to me. This is positive because it shows the passion and commitment our residents have about Benicia and that is to be embraced and celebrated. For reference, please see several previous articles I have sent on my email newsletter, as well as posted some of them on this blog and on my website.

Traffic Calming or Dangerous by Design

A great "aha" moment in the late 90s during the General Plan update came when a member of the task force (GPOC) advocated for "traffic calming". This term was being introduced by planners to conjure the image of slower traffic, friendlier streets and ultimately sharing the streets and sidewalks for biking, walking as well as driving. The 1999 General Plan adopted the goal of traffic calming, but not until 2003 did the program begin in earnest. Through a negotiation effort with the last large housing project in Benicia, over a quarter of a million dollars was dedicated to traffic calming (it took 20 minutes of negotiations and the story is pretty amazing). The city staff has worked to implement several projects including safety measures near Robert Semple, West K and East 5th in combination with our Safe Routes to School programs.

Remember the three Es of traffic calming: enforcement, education and engineering. Knowing that our streets are designed to speed cars along, we need to focus on the effective and affordable programs to slow the traffic and make streets safer. This is a collaborative process involving the Police Department, Public Works, the public and neighborhoods and the schools.