Suisun City Council Passes Budget, With Work Still Ahead

The Suisun City Council passed a city budget Tuesday that imposes more than $530,000 in reductions to spending, but uses one-time money to get the city to a point where a Walmart Supercenter could potentially inject more than $1 million into city coffers.

The city calls it its “bridging strategy”, designed to cut in places it thinks the public won’t notice, such as mowing park lawns less often, eliminating a police dog and an open management analyst position at city hall.

The council voted in a hiring freeze, and to give it ultimate control of hiring in the future. The council will also return to deal with other issues brought up just before the vote, including a review of membership fees and an examination of vehicle maintenance costs.

City Councilman Mike Hudson tried unsuccessfully to throw in an increase to the waterfront business improvement district because he said the Fair Political Practices Commission had recently ruled he could vote on the matter.

Earlier this year, with Hudson conflicted out of a vote because of his business’ membership in the BID, Councilman Mike Segala and Councilman Sam Derting voted to cut the BID’s funding. Mayor Pete Sanchez said he was forced to vote along with them to ensure the BID got some funding at all.

That vote came back to bite Segala after he tried to get support for cutting a $30,000 city subsidy to Caltrans used to keep Highway 12 from becoming overgrown with weeds.

Hudson said his lack of support for the measure was payback for cutting the BID funding. Hudson also voted against passing the budget as it stood.

Sanchez expressed skepticism yet again that the city’s use of one-time monies was a wise decision. Nonetheless, he cast his vote for the budget.