Sister City lowest priority

Jenny Marder

If the City Council pays heed to the results of an online budget

survey, the Sister City program could well be the first casualty of

next year’s spending plan.

The $10,000 Sister City program was ranked as the least important

on the budget survey, a questionnaire asking residents to identify

what could be cut to ease the budget crisis, posted on the city Web

site from May 1 to June 2.

A week after the cut-off date, the results were tabulated, but the

council and staff have just begun to wade through the lengthy

comments section.

The survey was completed by 1,617 people, more than Peter Grant,

the city’s principal administrative analyst, expected. Of those,

1,401 took the time to fill out the narrative responses, which

totaled more than 130 pages of suggestions, compliments and

complaints.

Although it may seem a paltry response in a city of nearly 200,000

residents, the city sees it as a triumph.

“Sixteen hundred responses is nothing to shake a stick at, all

things considered,” Grant said. “We have a very involved and engaged

community. They’re very good about giving input.”

Repairing potholes and streets came at the top of the list of

programs that residents considered most important.

Other programs that ranked high were storm drain system

improvements, sidewalk, curb and gutter repairs, maintaining and

improving parks, playgrounds and fields and ocean water quality

management. Gang prevention, reading programs, free parking at the

library and free graffiti removal also scored relatively high.

At the bottom of the list, just above the Sister City program,

were the public safety fair, the concert band, HBTV-3 and the

citizen’s police academy.

The art center, adult sports programs, winter-time beach

lifeguards and the Shipley Nature Center were also low on the list.

Grant’s job now is to dig through the narrative responses.

“I’ve got to wade through and see how much meat is on the 1,400

bones,” he said.

. Some, Grant said, submitted as much as a page and a half of

comments.

He has already seen recurring themes on how to generate money.

Hiking the price of parking tickets and raising a tax on hotels and

motels were a couple.

But these types of actions could get the city into sticky

territory, Councilman Dave Sullivan said.

“That’s kind of a fine line because you really are in competition

with other cities in that,” he said of the hotel/motel tax. “There’s

been a huge investment on the city’s part in developing partnership

with developers and there’s a certain point at which it could have an

adverse effect.”

Sullivan added that raising parking fees in certain areas, such as

at the city’s new sports center, could drive many to more affordable

centers in neighboring cities.

There were several comments encouraging the city to be more

business friendly, Grant said, by making it easier for companies to

openor expand businesses in town.

Not all council members were in favor of the survey, which had

limitations. The questionnaire was only available online, making

access difficult for those without computers.

“I think a lot of people were excluded from it,” Sullivan said.

“There’s a lot of older people that aren’t into computers, and

they’re not going to go to libraries to do it.”

There was also nothing to prevent a person from taking the survey

multiple times and, since it was optional, it only attracted a

certain breed of residents, Grant said.

The results weren’t statistically pure, he said, and tended to be

dominated by those with experience in, or at least some knowledge of,

city government.

If the survey comes back next year, Grant said, the city should

release it earlier, thus increasing its time span.

Sullivan said he hopes the city will take more actions to increase

awareness next time around, such as advertising in the Sands catalog,

the city newsletter or the water bill. Both are mailed out to every

house in Huntington Beach.

But Grant warned that advertising would be a pricey endeavor that

could cost the city “tens of thousands of dollars.”

“We got over 1,600 folks to tell us what they think and it didn’t

cost us any money,” Grant said. “That was an extraordinary

accomplishment.”

The first in a series of budget meetings was held Monday, when all

14 city departments detailed for the council what programs they

offer. Discussions of next year’s budget will begin July 7.

Budget survey results are available at

www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us.

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Programs rated as most important

Pothole/street repair 93.01%

Storm drain systems 92.27%

Sidewalk, curb & gutter repair 90.04%

Maintain/improve parks, playgrounds, & fields 88.00%

Ocean water quality management 86.64%

Gang prevention 84.11%

Nighttime hours (5 to 9 p.m.) 83.98%

Saturday Hours 82.93%

Reading programs 80.89%

Free Parking at the Library 80.77%

Crossing guards 80.09%

Branch Libraries 79.84%

Business attraction & retention 79.53%

Open/passive parks 78.79%

Free graffiti removal 78.42%

Community Centers 75.57%

Property/building inspections 74.52%

Senior programs & center 73.65%

City Web site 73.47%

Courts, gym & fields availability 72.73%

Senior transportation 71.86%

Crime Lab 71.80%

Street landscaping 71.74%

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) 71.55%

Tourism/convention promotion 71.37%

Neighborhood Watch 70.25%

Neighborhood police centers 68.95%

Morning hours (9 to 1 p.m.) 67.78%

Swimming pools & swimming classes 67.72%

Liquor license & live entertainment enforcement 67.66%

Downtown development & improvement 67.59%

Free Library Cards 67.47%

Community planning & zoning assistance 66.36%

Complaint driven code enforcement 65.99%

Child care/summer camps 65.68%

On-line services (permits, ticket payment, etc) 65.18%

City operated jail 64.32%

Community publications (newsletters, Sands) 63.08%

Fire safety education 62.15%

Helicopter program 60.85%

Public computer access 60.11%

Parking enforcement 57.45% 3

Volunteer boards & commissions 57.27%

Subsidized youth sports programs 56.71%

Retired Senior Volunteer Program (Police Department) 54.48%

Sunday hours 53.62%

City support of special events/parades 51.39%

Project Self-Sufficiency (single parent support) 50.03%

Shipley Nature Center 48.73%

Bike safety classes 47.37%

Adult sports programs 45.21%

Playhouse 44.71%

Winter-time beach lifeguards 43.54%

Art Center 41.13%

City Cable TV station HBTV-3 39.95%

Citizen’s Police Academy 36.92%

Concert Band 33.15%

Public safety fair 29.31%

Sister City program 14.90%