Laserfiche WebLink
10 <br /> <br />Our staff, and the community members they serve, are a big component of what makes San <br />Leandro great. Instead of hearing more about their work from me, I thought you might want to <br />hear from the folks who do this work. Let’s take a look. <br />Video (8 minutes) <br />Thank you to all the staff and community members who participated in the video and shared <br />their experiences. <br />We have so much planned as we move ahead. New development, housing, parks, sustainability <br />efforts, businesses, schools and partnerships are what make San Leandro vibrant and exciting. <br />We can’t make these plans together without also acknowledging the need for responsible <br />stewardship of our finances. We are in a region where there is tremendous economic growth <br />occurring, along with the challenges posed by aging infrastructure. Cities are all facing the tension <br />of balancing needs and obligations with budgetary limitations and service level desires. Our City <br />Council takes this responsibility very seriously and with a strong commitment to our residents. <br />City & Financial Sustainability <br />Our financial stability depends on our ability to plan for the future. Personnel costs are the largest <br />part of any city’s budget and San Leandro is no exception. Our goal is always to work with our <br />employees who are the backbone of our organization, to create fair and beneficial contracts <br />while maintaining fiscal responsibility. <br />Rising pension costs and financial obligations from years past continue to be one of our biggest <br />challenges. We created a plan to address unfunded liabilities related to employee pensions. The <br />plan is referred to as the PULL Program, which stands for Prioritizing Unfunded Liability <br />Liquidation. In short, it’s a “savings account” that sets aside half of the proceeds from the sale <br />of City-owned property or unspent funds at the end of each fiscal year to go towards pension <br />costs and related obligations. When I became Mayor, we set a goal to put aside $5 million <br />towards these needs and, due to careful planning and strong revenue years, we have surpassed <br />that goal and have actually set aside over $14 million. It’s also notable that City employees have