The City of Campbell has been floundering in fiscal emergency since 2004.
Different people in power have different plans to get back to solvency, and they're not all on the same page. A couple weeks ago, Mayor George Krinos vetoed city council's 2010 budget proposal, but on Wednesday night, council used its power to override that veto.
Two different spending bills emerged after city leaders already cut down a $463,000 deficit.
"Because we were going to be that much in the red...we had to go through all the departments and everything and come up with a budget that would get rid of that deficit because the state wasn't going to accept that," said 4th Ward City Councilwoman Juanita Rich.
Rich said council and the finance director drafted a balanced budget that does not include the salary of a recently recalled firefighter, and allows for a $30,000 surplus at the end of the year.
"Whereas the budget that we were looking at, that I had proposed, would allow us to keep the firefighter, the street equipment and have a $140,000 surplus," Krinos said.
Krinos said he worked on his version of the budget with two people who each have 25 years experience working in the finance department.
But council said the mayor's plan would take about $100,000 away from the City Park Fund to spread to other departments.
"That really bothers me," Rich said. "Because we have so many youth activities at the park. That park is utilized so much."
The dispute between the two sides bothered some citizens, who said it appears Council is not supporting the newly elected mayor.
"They voted for him for a reason, to make decisions for us," said resident Cliff Chuey. "I think that council is not agreeing with him and that's sad, because what happens? Who suffers? The city, the citizens."
So while the mayor said he can't support it, the city must now move forward with this version of the budget.
"Their biggest concern is making sure we reach the bottom line and that it's good for the city," Krinos said.
The State Financial Planning and Supervision Commission will hold its monthly meeting Thursday to talk with city leaders about the recovery plan to get Campbell out of fiscal emergency. They couldn't go ahead with the meeting without a budget in place.
