County promises
Alpine library
despite tough times
By Joe
Naiman
The Alpine Sun
SAN DIEGO — During the State of the County address, Feb. 13
at San Diego’s Balboa Theater, San Diego County Board of
Supervisors chairman Greg Cox acknowledged that the county would
be facing fiscal uncertainties in 2008, but Cox also promised
work on the Alpine library during the year.
“During 2008 we will begin or complete work on
libraries in Alpine, Encinitas, Fallbrook, and Ramona,” Cox
said.
“As society moves at light speed into the digital
information age, these libraries will give our children the
tools and resources they need to compete in this fast-changing
world. But more than that, libraries have also evolved into
vital hubs of the communities they serve, providing everything
from adult literacy programs to concerts and poetry readings
that feed the mind and nourish the soul,” Cox said.
Cox addressed a potential financial crisis prior to
outlining the county’s plans for 2008.
“The good work we have done in the County of San Diego
is at risk,” he said. “Continuing economic problems means fewer
tax revenues at a time of greater demand for services. It is not
a problem we can fix at the local level, but one we must
acknowledge and be prepared to address.”
In addition to the decline in housing equity, increases
in the cost of fuel and consumer goods, rising unemployment, and
turmoil in financial markets, Cox also cited the State of
California’s fiscal situation as a cause for the financial
crisis.
“The State of California is in a crisis mode that will
challenge local government’s ability to serve its residents,” he
said.
The state’s budget shortfall may exceed $15 billion.
“This should matter to everyone in this region, because the
state’s red ink will trickle down quickly to all California
counties and cities. To paraphrase a popular slogan, what
happens in Sacramento doesn’t stay in Sacramento. Many county
programs are mandated and funded by the state. This means any
cuts in state spending will have serious repercussions here in
San Diego,” Cox said.
"We will face some difficult decisions at the county,
including potential cuts in programs and services to correspond
with state funding cuts. But we will make the hard decisions
wisely and timely.
“Unlike the state, we will not put off tough choices or
set off a downward spiral by using one-time money for ongoing
expenses. This is what separates our county government from
other, dysfunctional governments.”
Cox announced plans to work with the mayors of the
county’s 18 incorporated cities to protect San Diego from
bearing more than its share of budget cuts. “We will go to
Sacramento in force. We will stand strong and speak as one
region, with one voice,” he said. “That is my goal this year,
and that is the offer I extend to all of my fellow elected
officials in this region.”
“I intend to personally work through both organizations
to see that mistakes
made by state government don’t undermine the effectiveness of
local government,” he said.
Cox also called for the state to approve a
recommendation of $400 million to fund improvements to trade
corridors in the border region. “This is money our region
desperately needs and deserves,” he said.
Cox proclaimed that the state of San Diego County
remained strong. “We are strong because we do things differently
here at the County of San Diego. We impose on ourselves a fiscal
discipline that you won’t find in many governments. We demand
that outcome and results, not process and paperwork, be our
primary focus,” he said. “We constantly anticipate and prepare
for the needs of our region. We identify and manage risk. We
don’t hide from it, and we don’t run from it.”
Cox noted that the county’s standards were literally
tried by fire during 2007. He cited past actions such as radio
communication upgrades, emergency notification, and the “211”
system for non-emergency information requests which answered
more than 110,000 calls in a six-day period during the October
fires.
In January 2008 the county supervisors approved actions
to analyze the proposed regional fire department and to create a
Regional Fire Protection Committee, which also involves
incorporated cities, to advise the supervisors on equipment
acquisition and funding options.
The county’s Department of Public Health and its Office
of Emergency Services are partners with Scripps on the state’s
new mobile field hospital program. A mobile field hospital has
200 beds, emergency triage and operating rooms, intensive care
units, radiology, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. They can be
deployed and made operational within 72 hours in the event of a
disaster that renders existing hospitals unavailable or a mass
casualty event.
“Mobile hospitals are the future of disaster response,”
Cox said. “This year I will be pushing the state to test and
demonstrate the next mobile field hospital exercise right here
in San Diego, where we are at the forefront of disaster
response.”
Cox announced plans to seek more funding for additional
parkland and open space. He cited Proposition 84, which was
approved by voters in November 2006 and provided $5.4 billion
for safe drinking water and improvements to state and local
parks, as a source of potential funding. “I will fight to get
San Diego’s fair share of those funds from Prop. 84,” he said.
“With the help of all San Diegans, we kept this region
working when disaster struck. And standing together, we can keep
this region working every day for everyone, no matter what we
face in the future,” Cox said. “We will face great challenges
this year, challenges that will affect each and every one of us.
But we will face them together, and together, we will keep this
county working. Remember, we don’t have to change the whole
world, just our part of it.”
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