Opinion - Our View

POSTED: Saturday, Sep. 19, 2009

City making right call with library, other cuts

Nobody likes to lose city services, but times are tough and we support Mayor Dan Pike in making the tough choices needed to bring the city budget in line with lower revenues.

The city announced a new round of layoffs and position cuts in August - 32 full-time equivalent positions, which included 17 people being laid off and several more receiving a reduction in their hours. The library lost eight positions and parks lost two, bringing complaints from leaders and patrons of both.

Parks Department director Paul Leuthold, for example, said that citizens valued parks and compared cutting parks operations to cutting police, fire and public works as he announced the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center would have to cut back its hours from 110 a week to about 80.

Bellingham Public Library director Pam Keisner called cuts "very painful" as she announced the library would remain closed on Sundays year-round and close at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, two hours earlier than normal.

Last week in a speech to City Council members, Karen Powers, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 114, accused Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike of keeping "special expensive pet projects in lieu of maintaining direct public services for our community." In a letter she and another union representative cited waterfront redevelopment as an example of one of these "pet projects."

What would those complaining have the city do? Cut police officers? Cut road crews? Raise taxes?

There is simply no other solution in these tough economic times than to have our governments tighten their belts and match the layoffs and other cuts being made by businesses in the community. There is no magic bullet when the economy enters a recession. Frankly, fewer hours open at a library or swimming pool seems a small price to pay when the economy is as poor as it is.

A few community members, as reflected in our letters to the editor, have suggested that the city refuse to lay off any staff members so that government isn't adding to the 8 percent unemployment rate recorded in the county in August.

We don't know how people who make such comments expect to pay for their desires. Government gets money to pay employees and provide health care and other benefits solely from taxpayers - either directly through property and sales tax collections, or through grants from other governments. In every case, the amount of money our governments are collecting has decreased. There is no money in city coffers to continue to pay everyone who worked there a year or two ago. Layoffs are the only solution.

The question becomes how to prioritize. We applaud city administrators and council members for making the cuts in a reasonable, conscientious way. They have cut back in building services, for example, because there is less demand for permits. They have tried to make sure every department, every effort, shares in the cuts.

But at some point priorities must be set. And as much as we love libraries and parks, they are not as important as police or fire efforts. In the long run, they are not even as important as property planning for the redevelopment of the waterfront, which could provide a much-needed economic stimulus for our community during the next 20 years.

Eventually our economy will rebound. Things will get better. In the meantime, we salute our elected leaders for making the tough decisions to cut our governments where they must be cut in order to reflect the current economy. We can't wait for the day the library and the aquatic center can add back hours to better serve city residents. Until then, though, the city is doing the right thing.