Forwarded with permission from Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman....
David, I did indeed vote against the budget and spoke out frequently in opposition to the priorities set this year by my more conservative colleagues. The Governor told us to cut $41 million from our budget for social services alone. We were able to restore $5 million of those cuts, and while that's a good thing for the few agencies that succeeded in getting add-backs (like Sexual Violence Center, Southside Services, Jewish Vocational Services), it's hardly reason to celebrate. Many more services, both county and vendor-provided, will see deep cuts in 2004 in the areas of mental health, child care, job training, community-based group homes, supporting seniors in their homes, etc. The big winner in the '04 county budget is the Sheriff, a purely political decision, not based on public safety needs. The problem with these cuts is that they're not sustainable over time. More uninsured will drive up hospital and emergency room costs at HCMC. Cuts in drop-in centers for the mentally ill will create higher costs at the HCMC Crisis Center, at the detox unit, shelters, and the jail. This mandated shift from prevention and early intervention programs that work to crisis management is not cost-effective and will hurt our most vulnerable citizens and ultimately all taxpayers in Hennepin County. While we couldn't restore all the state legislative cuts, we could have made different decisions about our priorities. Four of my colleagues chose to limit the levy set. Four of my colleagues decided to give the Sheriff an additional $2 million ($1m. in contingency). I voted against the budget (also the first time I've done so) for these reasons and to send a strong message to the Governor and Republican legislature that cuts in services to our most vulnerable citizens go against the basic mission of county government and are just plain cruel. Thanks for alerting folks to the importance of what we do at the county toward building healthy communities. Gail Dorfman [Forwarded by List manager David Brauer] REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
