2015 February PASO Magazine

Where are
we going in
– 2015? –
By Paso Robles
City Manager
Jim App
In the Spring of
2013, as the economy
began to stabilize, the
City Council established three recovery
goals: enhance public safety;
begin restoring maintenance services;
and, further economic development.
Given the depth of cutbacks
necessitated by the recession,
coupled with rising costs and a very
modest, slow moving “recovery,”
much remains to be done.
The recession claimed 35% of the
City workforce – and with them the
capacity to provide the normal array
of public services. The bleeding
has stopped. In the Police Department,
a couple of vacant positions
have been filled so patrol operations
now provide broad basic service on
all shifts, and a special enforcement
team is again combating drugs and
the gangs. Similarly, basic public
facility maintenance is coagulating
with the filling of a number of vacant
staff positions, along with new
supplemental tax revenue for road
maintenance.
But, today it would cost more
than $6 million per year to replace
all the lost staff and the services
they provided, with an additional
$4 million needed to complete
public facility repairs (other than
roads) that were deferred due to the
recession. Only $1 million per year
is forecast (in excess of expenses).
So, the million dollar question
is, what is most important? Do
I asked several community leaders to
give me their thoughts, from their unique
perspectives, on where we are going as a
City and as a County in the new year.
Last month we heard from newly
elected Mayor Steven W. Martin, the
new President of the Paso Robles
Association of Realtors Cody Wilcoxson,
and Part 1 of my interview with newly
hired Superintendent of Schools Chris
Williams.
This month, we’ll get new year perspectives
from Supervisor Frank Mecham,
Paso Robles City Manager Jim App, and
more from Williams.
...Bob Chute
What to expect in the new year
TO THE FUTURE, AND BEYOND!
we spend even more on roads,
or repair parks, or add back
more police, or paramedics, or
do we reopen Centennial pool?
Or, do we protect investments
in public facilities by attending
to deferred maintenance?
These are the questions the City
Council will debate this Spring
(when they convene their next
biennial goal setting).
On the economic front, significant
new investment in hotels and
attractions are being made, Paso
Robles was named the 2014 international
wine region of the year, and
core industrial companies are growing.
The High School is completing
new academic facilities, and Cuesta
College gained voter approval to
repair and replace obsolete North
County campus buildings. These
facilities are central to increasing
education and training for the community’s
labor force.
An educated and well trained
labor force is the foundation for
growing industry and commerce.
But what else is important to increase
private business investment
and spur job growth? Certainly,
support for established businesses
is vital; fortunately it can be provided
by organizations like the
Chamber of Commerce, Main
Street, Economic Vitality Corporation,
and the Paso Robles Wine
Country Alliance. Attraction of
new businesses is also important.
Our history suggests that private
investors and business owners
were attracted to the Paso Robles
lifestyle, and once hooked on the
appeal of the Paso Robles area,
they invested…building businesses
and creating jobs. This
continues to be the most promising
path to business attraction.
Preservation, enhancement and
promotion of the Paso Robles
lifestyle are, therefore, key to
growing new business and jobs.
How? By show-casing our setting,
natural assets, and agriculture.
Wine, olive oil, artisan food
production, and dining - all attract
interest and visitors. And, by taking
care that built places are of good
design and quality, and are well
maintained – from streets to public
parks, to buildings and neighborhoods,
visitors, once in the area, will
get hooked. And over time, they
will invest (as have many others).
It will be economic growth built on
an appreciation for the unique place
that is Paso Robles.
Above and beyond the continuing
work to recover services and intensify
economic activity, considerable
energy must be spent to address
concerns about the sustainability of
the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin.
This issue will involve complex
technical, legal and financial questions,
as well as close cooperation
with many, many stake holders, each
with differing perspectives.
The basic question is “will there
be enough water, year in and year
out, for all to grow and thrive as
in the past?” Recent studies suggest
the groundwater basin is being
pumped more than it can replenish
each year. And while its deeper
aqueous layers “hold” considerable
water, and big rain years can recharge
it, recurring and protracted
droughts coupled with increasing
demands can impact access to the
more accessible (shallower) water
(in some areas). This has the attention
of farmers and rural residents
that rely on groundwater. The City
too is alert as we use groundwater
basin water to supply residences
and businesses.
In summary, when faced with
complex choices, people can prioritize
their needs, cooperate to moderate
use and/or look for more (of
whatever is in short supply). Such is
the challenge ahead - finding ways
to balance demands and increase
resources. The ways are varied; the
tricky part is that opinions about
each vary even more.
2015 will be a year for such
choices. The community’s capacity
to invigorate investment, economic
activity, and recovery depends on it.
20 Paso Robles Magazine, February 2015