On Jan. 15, Mayor Todd Gloria had a message for the city: This is the year of austerity.
He was determined to “right-size” the ship and finally tackle the city’s more than $300 million deficit. With the city reeling from the failure of a sales tax increase Gloria said he would take on the responsible stewardship of “every dollar.”
Early on, he got rid of the city’s chief operating officer, proposed cuts to libraries, and crafted a paid parking plan for Balboa Park. He talked about looking at the way we’ve done things and analyzing if that’s how we should continue. He also asked city departments to hunker down on their budgets and issued a hiring freeze…