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Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Smart Voter

Fiscal Stability

By Mike Kasperzak

Candidate for Council Member; City of Mountain View

This information is provided by the candidate
Mountain View must remain vigilant to avoid what happened in Vallejo.
Earlier this year, the City of Vallejo declared bankruptcy. There were a number of factors that no doubt lead to this, but the lesson to be learned is that Cities, like companies and individuals, must live within their means. Mountain View has one of the best fiscal records of any City in California. When others were using reserves to balance budgets, Mountain View made the often difficult decision to limit its spending. Because of its fiscal stewardship, Mountain View is one of a handful of Cities across the United States to hold a AAA credit rating meaning its cost of borrowing money is much lower than it is for other Cities.

Only the voters can increase taxes in California, so it is difficult for Cities to raise revenue to meet rising expenses. Therefore, it is critical to keep a sharp eye on spending increases, especially those of an ongoing nature. Our City adopts an annual budget every June. As with any service organization, employee payroll and benefits make up a sizable portion of the general fund budget. As the economy cycles from strong to weak, it becomes more difficult to balance the reality of reduced revenues with increased needs for community services, investing in infrastructure, providing for public safety and ensuring that the City is a competitive employer with customer service oriented employees.

Having served eight years on the Council during the dotcom and dotbomb era's I have experienced the highs and lows of government finance, and helped ensure that the taxpayers are receiving value for their hard earned taxes. I have balanced budgets during the past recession and I did not seek the endorsement of any union representing Mountain View employees. As the U.S. economy struggles, it is important to have councilmembers with the experience, objectivity, understanding and ability to make difficult, yet creative decisions to ensure that what happened in Vallejo doesn't happen in Mountain View.

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ca/scl Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 24, 2008 18:30
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