The city will solicit a request for proposals from private companies to take over the city’s child care services.
City Council members made the decision, despite pleas from union representatives and current city-employed teachers, on April 19 during their third round of budget discussions.
They also gave city staff the go-ahead to conduct research and polling to find out what type of tax measure Menlo Park residents would be willing to pass this November.
A tax and the privatization of the city’s child care services are two of several options city staff will include in a draft of the 2006-07 fiscal year budget that will go before the council in May.
During previous discussions about how to eliminate a projected $2.9 million budget deficit for the 2006-07 fiscal year and projected deficits in subsequent years, council members were unable to find common ground. Council members Lee Duboc and Mickie Winkler previously labeled tax measures “business unfriendly” and pushed privatization of the city’s child care services, but council members Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen spoke against privatization and suggested exploring a possible tax measure.
A utility tax measure of at least 1 percent was supported by 90 percent of the participants in community workshops held in February.
Council members showed more flexibility during Wednesday’s budget talks.
Ms. Winkler and Ms. Duboc said they would consider putting some kind of tax or bond measure on the ballot if the city also conducted a request for proposals from private or nonprofit companies to take over the city’s preschool and school-age child care.
“We couldn’t say ‘We want more tax money from you’ if we haven’t done everything possible to develop a sustainable budget,” said Ms. Winkler.
Mayor Nicholas Jellins supported a request for proposals to operate the child care programs if the city would also be considered as a potential provider.
City staff hasn’t determined when the request for proposals will begin, but the process is projected to take about eight months, according to Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour.
Councilman Andy Cohen maintained that a tax on utility bills should be the council’s top priority, but said he is willing to look at options to lower the city’s subsidy of its child care programs.
But Councilwoman Kelly Fergusson — to the cheers of about 30 union supporters and representatives in the audience — said the council needs more information about how the city’s child care programs run before considering privatization.
She said city staff’s estimated cost to the city of running the programs — about $444,000 a year — isn’t accurate, and the council should wait for the results of a council-approved study of how city-sponsored programs are run before making drastic decisions about who should operate the child care programs. The study is expected to begin in July, and will take four to six months, according to City Manager David Boesch.
Ms. Fergusson suggested the city raise fees for the child care programs — a strategy council members agreed should be put in place when the new school year begins this fall.
Rates for the children’s center preschool program could increase as much as 22.5 percent, and rates for the Burgess school-age after-school program could increase 8.5 percent.
Union and labor representatives urged the council to avoid privatization, and said a private operator may oust the 20 union employees who work for the city’s child care programs.
“Remove all live employees from the list of endangered species,” said Shelly Kessler, executive secretary-treasurer of the San Mateo Labor Council.
Sascha Eisner, a worksite organizer for the Service Employees International Union Local 715, said the union would back a tax measure, and the council should use its $21 million of unallocated reserves to “bridge the gap” until current revenues improve, or the city receives additional revenues from a new tax.
