Belle Haven has given enough Belle Haven has given enough (January 25, 2006)

The Belle Haven neighborhood has a lot to lose as Menlo Park debates how to eliminate the $2.9 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.

Any cuts in child care and police services are a big worry for the mostly low-income residents who live east of the Bayshore Freeway. And unfortunately the city's largest departments, public safety and community services, are the two areas targeted for the largest budget cuts by most of the respondents to a city survey conducted last fall.

Overall, the survey found most residents are willing to cut about $1.9 million from the budget, and raise about $1 million in additional taxes or fees to reach the $2.9 million the council says it needs to save in the next fiscal year. The council is expected to make its final decision on budget cuts and added revenues in May.

In addition to the survey, a budget advisory panel began meeting last year, and a series of community workshops will start next month, all part of the campaign to draw citizens into the budget-cutting process. More than 1,400 residents responded to the survey, which enabled them to see the cost and income (from fees or other charges) of each city department.

The survey's designers made a significant effort to balance respondents among all areas of the city, but Belle Haven residents, who represent 20 percent of the city's population, provided less than 5 percent of the survey responses. That is a worrisome disconnect. We suspect that more suggestions from Belle Haven could have changed the overall results of budget-cutting choices from all city locations.

As if to underline that point, more than 100 supporters of Belle Haven services turned out January 10 during the City Council's first budget discussion. Planning Commissioner Matt Henry, a Belle Haven resident, was so upset with the scope of the proposed cuts that he resigned from the commission in protest. Mr. Henry said many of the options to cut the budget will unfairly hit his community. And although council members said they don't plan on cutting Belle Haven projects, Mr. Henry stuck to his promised resignation.

"There are two different worlds in this city. And I think a lot of people want to keep it that way," he told the council.

A tally of survey responses provided by the consultant suggests that as much as $166,000 could be taken from the community services department's Belle Haven programs, a bitter pill to swallow when so many families are struggling to make ends meet. The neighborhood would also be hit if community policing is eliminated, as suggested, or if utility or parcel taxes are added.

If the council does decide to drastically revamp the child care program in Belle Haven, it would be the second time in three years that the community has lost significant programs and positions to help the city balance the budget. Many residents were outraged at what they felt were unfair cuts in the 2004-05 budget, and now say they have already contributed their share of pain.

Despite the city's best efforts to involve constituents from all neighborhoods in the budget process, the final say will be up to the City Council. It will be a difficult process that begins February 9 with a workshop at the Belle Haven School cafeteria. Similar workshops will continue February 11 at the Burgess Recreation Center and February 15 at La Entrada School's Jensen Hall.

We urge the council to act with extraordinary care this year, and recognize that their Belle Haven constituents cannot afford to make up the difference if their primary services are cut, or they are forced to pay more in utility or parcel taxes. Every effort must be made to maintain Belle Haven's core programs, and any cuts will need to be well thought out, and carefully explained.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.