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by Diana Day

“It was a rough start,” City Council Member John Buchanan said of the new City Council’s rocky beginning.

When a small number of audience members at a City Council meeting two weeks ago pressured the Council to swear in the newly-elected members that evening, Buchanan found himself presiding over the remainder of the meeting.

It was an awkward way to start, he admitted, but “we have to recognize that we can’t govern out of anger, we can’t govern out of nostalgia. We have to recognize that people have their views.”

The new council will have to overcome the shake-up and “work together, find common ground,” Buchanan said.

City Council Member Enid Joffe is prepared to set aside her feelings about the events of April 18.

“I’m ready to work together. … I’m looking forward, not backward,” Joffe said.

Joffe explained that “there’s a lot to learn” as a new City Council Member, but “you don’t have much time for a learning curve.”

“John and I were new two years ago, and we got in the groove and learned how to be City Council Members,” Joffe said. Learning on-the-job as the city government moves through a budget cycle is all part of the process of becoming a City Council Member.

And difficult challenges are part of the job, Joffe said.

When Joffe was elected, she “walked into One Carter,” while the current new members are facing the city’s budget issue and also controversy over the proposed Downtown Specific Plan that is currently undergoing an Environmental Impact Review.

Budget
Regardless of the order in which the City Council Members ranked their new challenges, tackling the city’s budget problems was near the top of everyone’s list.

“The city is at a static place in terms of its revenue,” said City Manager John Gillison.

So, “at some level, budget is part of” whatever the City Council decides to do next.

A new council could decide to do any number of things, explained Gillison, like reduce programs or city staff. But they will have to establish budget priorities, programs and services for fiscal year 2006-2007.

New Council Member Joe Mosca said it is important to finish the fiscal audits right away.

“There’s no way we can talk about tax measures if we don’t know where we are fiscally,” Mosca said.

Once the audits are complete, then the Council can prioritize Sierra Madre’s needs, Mosca said. City Council will then be able to take a look at a number of things, like the condition of the roads and how to get fire fighters the training and equipment they need.

Additionally, Mosca wants to look over the day-to-day city staff and examine their salary and job development over the last few years.

“I don’t want to experience flight from the city government,” Mosca said. People who haven’t been receiving promotions or cost of living increases would be a budgeting priority, he said.

The city needs a “sustainable general fund budget,” Buchanan said. We need to “fund the needs we have identified that we have deferred too long,” he added.

The city is not broke right now, Buchanan said, but our $1.8 million general fund emergency reserve is small for a city this size, and we “don’t have anything to spare.”

Joffe said the budget crisis is the number one challenge facing the new City Council.

“I don’t personally think we have any fat to cut,” Joffe said.

And, Joffe pointed out, it’s clear that Sierra Madre residents are not interested in cutting any cherished city services, like the library or the Recreational Center programs.

Proposed Downtown Specific Plan
The proposed Downtown Specific Plan is currently undergoing an Environmental Impact Review, said John Gillison.

A specific plan is for a critical space that is very nuanced and needs special codes, Gillison explained.

“It’s really a tool that’s designed to allow the city more flexibility” so that specific projects in the specified area meet the vision of the residents, he said. A specific plan “takes the uncertainty out of what is inherently an uncertain process.”

Whatever happens with the proposed Specific Plan, said Enid Joffe, major properties in the downtown area have been sold. Development will happen on those properties with or without the specific plan, she said.

And that new development will happen using existing codes, Joffe said. Current codes could allow buildings that would block the view of the mountains, for example. Without a plan, she said, Sierra Madreans will have limited control over downtown development.

Mosca pointed out that the city’s zoning laws are five decades old and need to be updated.

“Something needs to be done with our zoning laws to make sure we preserve what we want for our small town,” he said.

Mosca said he wants the proposed Downtown Specific Plan to finish the EIR process so that the city has something tangible to review.

Then, he said, everything possible should be done to solicit people’s input about the proposed plan. Everyone should be able to come forward to express views on density, parking, views and any other issue of relevance.

An open process like this is important, Mosca said, because the plan “is what will guide the development of the downtown for the next 20 to 30 years.”

And, an open process would include a vote, Mosca said.

“This document will ultimately have to pass the scrutiny of the people,” he added.

New Council Member Don Watts agreed.

A referendum, he said, “is one more step to go through,” but our town is small and “sometimes even the smallest projects can have a big effect.”

For a big project like the downtown, everyone should have a voice, Watts said, since what happens downtown “will have a major impact on the character of the town.”

Putting issues on the ballot gets people’s attention and makes them give their input, Watts said.

Looking ahead
Mosca said that public safety issues are also important and are not talked about as much as the budget and the proposed Downtown Specific Plan. In addition to looking closely at the fire department’s concerns, Mosca wants to set up a public safety commission and a neighborhood watch.

Additionally, Mosca wants to look into the viability of contracting out paramedic services since a majority of the emergency calls received are for medical services.

Overall, Mosca said he wants to get people out to City Council meetings to give their input. “We have the raw talent in our community” to meet the challenges facing the city, he said.

But Enid Joffe spoke of “a basic distrust [of City Council] going on.”

“We have to win back that trust … and do a better job of educating and communicating,” Joffe added.

“Above all, we have to constantly remind ourselves that we are in this together,” Buchanan said. “We are a city, a community. … Everybody on that council lives here in Sierra Madre.”

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Kurt Zimmerman was not available to comment for this article.

Read this inSierraMadre.com post about tonight’s City Council reorganization. The next regular City Council Meeting will happen May 9.