More Than 340 Speak Out On Proposed Cuts To
Redlands Library, Other Departments
Redlands
Daily Facts: 5.12.2020 by Jennifer Iyer
Hundreds have shared concerns over cuts Redlands
is considering to balance a $15.7 million shortfall in the 2020-21 budget.
More than 340 people sent written
comments, the only kind allowed by the city due to novel coronavirus
precautions, ahead of the City Council meeting Tuesday, May 12. ◯
Staff spent about four hours reading
each comment into the record, leaving no time to hear from department heads or
discuss proposals before the Planning Commission meeting slated for the same
afternoon. The council meeting is set to resume at 7 p.m. Tuesday with
department presentations on plans for the next year and the impacts of the
proposed cuts.
The majority of comments Tuesday
objected to proposed cuts at the A.K.
Smiley Public Library, which could lose 17 positions to shave more than
$500,000 from its budget. Also, the facility’s hours of operation could be
reduced to nearly half of the current 57.
City Manager Charlie Duggan attributed
all of the budget woes to COVID-19’s effect on the economy.
═════════►
The proposed 2020-21 budget originally
called for library hours to be reduced to 30 per week. Duggan and managers
looked into using more reserves to replace some of the proposed cuts, and
brought the library up to 35 hours.
Bob Hodges, a former superintendent of
the Redlands Unified School District, wrote to say the library will be needed
for its contribution to education.
“These services will be even more
critical next year as budget and modified classroom instructional challenges
will be greater than ever,” he wrote.
Redlands resident Casey Hamilton noted
the importance of services like adult
literacy tutoring, “fascinating historical archives” of the Heritage Room,
the Lincoln Shrine, and free internet access, which people may need to search
for jobs. READ
MORE ➤➤
Readability Consensus
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade
Level: 10
Reading
Level: fairly difficult to read.
Reader's
Age: 14-15 yrs. old
(Ninth to Tenth graders)
No comments:
Post a Comment