Mayor Lionel Rivera in an interview with Bloomberg news
An uptick in sales tax revenue will allow the city of Colorado Springs to start hiring more police officers and firefighters sooner than expected, Mayor Lionel Rivera said in a TV interview yesterday.
“Sales tax revenue are significantly better than we projected for the 2010 budget, and that’s giving us a little bit more flexibility to add back some of the services we cut back on,” Rivera said during an interview with Bloomberg news.
“And frankly,” the mayor added, “plan for a police academy and a fire academy even earlier than we expected.”
Rivera did not immediately return a call for comment and clarification, including whether or not the city planned to include a police academy and a fire academy in the 2011 budget.
City spokeswoman Sue Skiffington-Blumberg referred calls to the mayor.
In yesterday’s interview, Rivera also said a reduction in the city’s workforce – 300 positions were eliminated from 2008 to 2010, the mayor said – has pushed all city departments to become “much more productive and efficient.”
“That’s going to allow us to start returning services with a lot less overhead,” he said.
In a softball question from one of the TV reporters, the mayor was asked whether the story of Colorado Springs was one of tragedy or success. Colorado Springs has been portrayed by some media outlets as a city whose conservative roots and small government mentality have pushed it to the brink of financial crisis.
“I think the story is the creativity and innovativeness of our community,” Rivera said.
To watch the interview on YouTube, click here.
maybe more money can be saved by letting go the City Spokesperson. This is one job description that definitely needs to be redefined.
All this talk about “strong mayor” may have Lionel getting a little ahead of himself, since any decision on whether to hire new cops and firefighters will be made collectively, by City Council, when we get down to the real work of budget-balancing. Such decisions won’t be made, can’t be made, until we see the actual numbers and have a chance to debate the trade-offs.
Public safety certainly is a priority, but it’s not the only priority. The up-tick in sales tax revenues and the decision to spend the PILT may have some on Council thinking that the worst is behind us and we can just go back to doing things as we always have. But I’m more guarded in my assessment.
Not that the mayor asked me, before he began making such announcements on national TV.
Sean Paige
Does this mean that Evening and weekend public transportation will return?
I heard that there will be protest about that on friday august 20, 2010
at noon in front of City Hall.
Sean Paige’s Libertatian Theory is crap.
Check this out, this is probably a typican conversation between paige and rivera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbx5-BQv3YQ
I think Lionel Rivera forgot that he is not part of a Strong Mayor form of government. It’s his type of “I manage the city and make all the decisions” that has put our city in the financial situation it is in.
Can anyone say $53 USOC deal, etc.
can anyone see the USOC deal is investor funding, NOT tax or general fund money?
Did you rally mean $53.00, beepbeep? That’s what Dougie thinks is his next tax refund -for all his properties.
I’m Glad the city gave the olympics all that money, I am awesome and the citizens of Colorado Springs should give up the city services and bow at my feet
Jock, thank El Pomar and the Hybl family, in honor of WS Stratton long before you arrived. Then thank the investment bankers, not the citizens.