The Cathedral City Sun asked the candidates for Cathedral City mayor and City Council this week: What would you do to help the city eradicate the $11 million deficit it faces during the next two years and remain financially solvent, if the tax measure fails on Nov. 4?

Mayor

Tahseen "Tee" Ahmed

”Be assured, the city will not crumble, and doom will not follow. Every department will be scrutinized to find ways in which the city can save money while still functioning smoothly. This might mean small issues like not buying expensive quality paper, and large sacrifices, like not temporarily hiring for open positions.

“We will have to call on our citizens to work together as a community team. Graffiti removal, community watch and the citizen patrol will be enhanced. During this time of emergency, all citizens should actively participate in city and community programs. Margaret Mead, said: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

“I will aggressively seek more government grants so community needs will be satisfied while new taxed based business are sought. Money will be spent on necessities like road repair and security.”

Kathy De Rosa

”Measure L is one component of a multi-faceted approach in meeting Cathedral City's deficit. There is no single solution that will solve this financial challenge. As incoming co-chair of the Coachella Economic Partnership, I know economic development is a critical component; however it will not fix the entire problem. We continue to work with local brokers … in filling locations they have for lease.

“Business Development Teams are speaking with current businesses and meeting with new businesses. We offer matching grants to improve the appearance of their buildings. Every week the hotel/golf course project moves closer. This project is slated to bring over $3 million dollars into the general fund.

A third component is not filling positions as they become vacant.

“Finally, Cathedral City received … approximately $600,000 in grants for police and fire in 2007-08. For 2008-09, we have received approximately $420,000 in grants for both departments and several grants are still pending.”

Paul Marchand

”If Measure L does not pass, the new mayor and council will need to adopt immediately a three-track approach to fiscal housekeeping.

Retrenchment: Expenditure must be controlled through targeted cuts, review of redundancies and duplication in providing city services, deferring certain big-ticket purchases, and, where appropriate, letting positions remain vacant until our fiscal issues have been adequately addressed.

Investment: Though hiring a dedicated economic development professional may seem counterintuitive, it is actually necessary to prime the pump. The tough economic times we are in demand professional expertise to grow our municipal economy, and with it, our municipal tax base.

Innovation: We must, among other things, reopen our discussion of the feasibility of a waste to energy electricity generation plant, as I have long advocated, and as the incumbent mayor has stoutly resisted.

“None of these three is a panacea by itself, but taken together, they may help keep our ship of state afloat.”

Roe Little

”First, we need to look at how our leadership and management created such a deficit in four years time. We must stop all this excessive spending and loaning dollars for golf course studies for the past three years. We are not a lending institution, spending thousands of dollars on consulting firms from out of town that have no local knowledge of our situations ...

“The reality of today's economy — it would take magic to solve the budget problems in two years. It only took four years to get us here. We must put everything on the table and everything but the most essential items be eliminated.

”Fortunately, we enjoy a substantial redevelopment fund that could be used to develop new sources of revenue, However, this takes time. There are a lot of different issues to be studied and resolved. There is more than one answer. There are a lot of new fresh ideas to be considered.”

City Council

Robert Morford

”If the tax increase passes or not, I will be diligent in moving Cathedral City forward.

Create new revenue and jobs.

Work with government entities to build a renewable energy plant in North City and establish an Enterprise Zone in the Northwest. This would bring significant dollars to the city.

End costly dispute with downtown developer and complete project.

Stop wasteful spending.

Address the $400,000 plus in escalating legal fees due to poor leadership decisions.

“Did we have to spend $132,500 to market a tax increase to the voters?

“The budget must be cut starting with the City Council's budget of $151,043 and working through the organization to find further budget cuts.

“As a retired executive, I will dedicate 100 percent of my time to this city with no hidden agendas or political aspirations.

“Every dollar counts — saved and earned!

“Join the ‘Bob Revolution' www.bobmorford.com.

Ron Garcia

”The council had an obligation and a duty to the citizens to work on these issues long before now. The question is why didn't they? If the tax measure does not pass, we the council must direct the department heads to tighten there belts even more than they are ... Every time there is a problem, the council uses fear by intimidation ... what happened when the city decided that they needed money for the watering and the maintenance of the parks? They told the citizens the water would be turned off. So they let the grass die and the parks were neglected. They did an assessment, and the city got their money.

“I do not believe we are in that bad of shape. Give the new council a chance to prove to the citizens we can move forward even in these trouble times. Change needs to happen, and only the citizens can make that change.”

Don Thompson

”However important the passing of measure L might be, we have to face the possibility that, like measure Q before it, it might fail. So we do have to make contingency plans. For a start, no more developments like the soccer park that, however nice or popular, are not absolutely necessary. Only basics matter now — we really do have to reduce expenditures. Some city staff members are leaving; they should not be replaced until we are in a better financial situation. Volunteers need to be recruited to do police work that doesn't need a sworn officer and removing graffiti instead of paying staff to do that. I would volunteer to help. We really need to diversify revenue sources — relying on the auto dealers to such an extent in these financially trying times is not enough. Development downtown is urgent. Revenue enhancement is the absolute priority.”

Gregory S. Pettis

”Should Measure L not be successful, I will immediately call upon my colleagues on the City Council to cut $2 million from the current fiscal year's budget, and $3 million from next year's budget. I would propose to do this by leaving several management positions open that are becoming vacant due to retirements, expand on contracting out other positions to save on benefit expenses, spread out scheduled maintenance on various city projects and resolve lawsuits that the city has begun.

“These items will provide an additional two years of general fund reserves to work with. Ideally, this will provide the needed time for the federal and state government to resolve national economic issues, but will also allow the city the time to work with our neighboring cities in determining if savings could be won by consolidating various services.”

Charles "Bud" England

”We will continue to build our economic base in all areas, small, mid-size and quite possibly larger box style retail/commercial businesses. In a slowing, national economy this may prove even more difficult. This is why we need to hire economic development personnel with proven track records. We will need to have these people in place ASAP as it can take a couple of years for some businesses to complete the process in opening their doors, like Burlington Coat Factory.

“Continue developing and utilizing state and federal grants that may be available to help supplement staffing deficiencies.

“We may also need to cut the city's budget 1.5-2 million dollars and back-fill the remainder deficit with reserves to balance. We would ask each department head to look at their respective department for those cuts. Unfortunately, this may mean cutting some staff positions. So please vote yes on Measure L.”