Budget cuts finalized

The City of Mesa has finalized their $61 million in budget cuts. The Mayor and the Council took the time to talk about their opinions on the cuts and their thoughts for the long term. Overall, the impression I get is that these cuts were hard, but they retain hope for the future.

My hope is that these cuts will make the city think about the actual needs of the community and the services that they provide. These cuts have allowed to some restructuring, but that doesn't mean that they should be done tinkering with the system just because the budget problem has been fixed. In fact, during this lean time is the best time to decide which services are essential to the community and what Mesa can do to be the best at providing those services.

When prosperity returns, I hope they will also take this efficiency into consideration instead of going back to their old ways. If you lose your job or get a pay cut, and have to sell your home, very rarely do you return to your old home. You would hope, that when you get back on your feet, you take a time to find a newer and better home that has some of the same amenities that you enjoyed previously along with upgrades or changes that you realized were important to you.

I agree with Councilman Richins that reinstating pay that had been cut is a start, but from there, I hope they don't just hire more people back or return staff positions just because they can.