One of the most frequent questions I get asked is regarding the budget in Sacramento and what is going to happen. While crystal balls are in short supply the following is pretty clear:

• Republican lawmakers are under extreme pressure to hold their position regarding revenue increases. In other words – vote for revenue only if you’re ready to face a recall
• Democrats are under extreme pressure to stop cutting programs in health care, safety and education, etc.

I’m certain everyone remembers the old saying of “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Citizens have enjoyed a number of tasty meals in the forms of:

• mandates on various spending
• additional regulation
• better safety

Keep in mind, many of these mandates and regulations are terrific and important. They just aren’t free, and the bill is due.

While it is easy to point at careless spending as the issue, there needs to be thought put to the notion of all of us in the public demanding more services than we are willing to pay for. Our ballot-box budget system has consequences.

The simple accounting tricks and fervent prayers of “better times” stand in stark contrast to the revenues and reality of economics.

So what is going to happen? I expect some sort of emergency spending authorization will have to be provided – but the odds of a budget deal are extremely low. As voters we took care of that on May 19.

During the council meeting on Monday I questioned the County EMS system for using local fire departments as “first responder.” At issue is this:

• you dial 911 requesting help
• a fire truck with firefighters come to your location in less than 7 minutes
• an ambulance comes with EMTs to provide transport in less than 9 minutes.

There are many ways first responder service can be provided to the public, and different jurisdictions do things differently. Since our fire department is the single largest department we need to understand if each dollar is spent most efficiently.