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No Library Money To Balance The Budget

For those of you who haven’t yet voted in the MOBN! budget poll (and you should — vote here before this Friday at 5:00 p.m.) it looks as though there’s one less option than we thought.  We haven’t counted votes yet.  And we seriously doubt MOBN! voters were going to create a groundswell to cut library money.  But City Budget Director Cheryl Taylor,  (who was apparently working and responding to e-mails after 10:00 p.m. tonight) checks in with the following:

Hi all –
FYI, for FY 2009-10, the Library GPF appropriation has already been reduced to the Measure Q minimum, so that balancing option is no longer available for FY 2009-10.
Thanks and good luck!

Good luck to all of us, come to think of it.

Make Oakland Better Now!

OakTalk Here is the blog of Make Oakland Better Now!, an Oakland community grassroots group of a grass-roots group of voters, volunteers, and policy advocates committed to improving the City of Oakland by focusing on public safety, public works, and responsible budgets. Founded in 2003, we’ve researched, lobbied, and successfully campaigned for a number of new, impactful policies, including the city’s Rainy Day Fund, Measure Z and Operation Ceasefire.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Marion Blackmer 21 Jan 2010 Reply

    I think cutting funding for the libraries is such short sighted policy. If literacy and education are not supported, we are condemning our community to ignorance and crime.

  2. livegreen 25 Jan 2010 Reply

    I agree with the other commentator. The City should keep the libraries open without reducing services OR raising taxes. Instead, cut costs. Try to cut back on contract awards & cut salaries, at least temporarily.

    BTW, the reason the option mentioned isn’t available is the City waited from last July (when they first found out about the added deficit) until now to even look. Way to work hard City & City Counsel.

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