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[pct-l] California - CCC Closures
Well balancing a budget isn't that simple unfortunately.
Even your comparison to a household budget has a problem. There are fixed
costs such as mortgage, car payment, insurance, and it's not always easy to
just reduce your food budget. A government has the same issues. There are
many things funded each year that don't change. When it comes times to cut
things out of a budget (household or otherwise), you look for things that
are not "life threatening". Obviously you can't decide to save money by not
paying your mortgage or rent. You still have to eat and wear clothes and
most likely you need a car in order to keep your income. A state budget has
to look at things the same way. They can't just stop making payments on
thier loans. They must continue to fund things like law enforcement, fire
protection, roads maintenance, etc. They may be able to reduce the amounts
needed in those programs, but you can't always just cut the same % that your
budget has decreased. If my budget went down 20% and I can only take 10% out
of my roads expenditures, then I have to find places I can cut further.
Unfortunately, things like parks and trails are not "life threatening"
services. I am not saying they are not important or that they do not deserve
funding, but I am able to understand why these types of programs get cut in
poor financial times. For example, I work for a city government in the IT
dept. We are in a pretty bad budget crunch, so the city council just
approved a staff reduction (ie job cuts). My department didn't lose anyone
because, frankly, we are already pretty lean. We have a total staff
(including the dept manager) of only 6 people for 400-500 users. The
department that got hit the hardest was our Parks & Rec department. They
employed a lot of people to help out at various rec sites doing things like
renting out skates at the ice rink, or checking out basketballs at one of
the rec centers. While these services are valuable and needed, things like
water, sewer, and trash are more important to more citizens.
Everyone on this list hates to see the CCC lose funding. We are the folks
who will personally feel the effects of changes to the CCC. You have to
realize that not all Californians get any direct benefit from the CCC's
efforts. While the CCC may be a priority to you, it isn't for many others
(possible the majority). I'm sure however, that everyone would agree that
things like roads and electricity and clean water ARE priorities.
I'm not trying to flame you or anything. I hope you don't take this as a
personal attack Dude :-) I'm just trying to perhaps give you a different
perspective. I really hope the CCC does not die. I know several people who
worked for them. I have benefited from their trail work. Luckily, us
outdoors/hiker folks are pretty enthusiastic about our trails and hopefully
we will be able to organize enough volunteer effort to take up some of the
slack.
----- Original Message -----
From: "dude" <dude@fastmail.ca>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] California - CCC Closures
> I'd like to make sure I see the big picture before I condemn any one
> particular politician. (for the record, I do not live in california).
>
> If there is a "budget crisis", then they are gonna have to cut
> something and that is just a fact. What I would be more curious
> about is if the CCC recieved deeper cuts than other agencies.
>
> I always thought that balancing the budget would be a simple task:
>
> 1. figure out how much the deficit is at currecnt spending levels.
>
> 2. evenly distribute enough cuts among ALL programs that are
> eligible for cuts (some programs are legislated to recieve a certain
> percentage of the totaly budget, etc).
>
> I mean, if I get a 20% cut in my salary, then me and my family will
> have to cut 20% out of our entertainment budget, 20% from our food
> budget, 20% of our household products budget, and so on.
>
> As a society, california has already decided the apportionment of the
> budget that each program should get, so as long as the apportionment
> stays the same and everyone shares in the pain of the poor economy,
> how can anyone complain?
>
> peace,
> dude
>
> > What does happen to the PCT in California?
> >
> > That's a good question.
> >
> > With the current budget crisis in California, many of the states
> > programs are taking a hit. One of those programs is the California
> > Conservation Corp.
> >
> > Visit the Save CCC Website:
> > http://www.saveccc.org
> >
> > As you know these folks do a tremendous amount of work on the PCT
> > as well as many other trails. Corpies *love* poison oak! :)
> >
> > Half of the CCC's centers have been closed due to Davis' inability
> > to add. This includes Butte Fire Center, a place where younggins
> > could get their 'Red Card' for firefighting. It's gone.
> >
> > Another center that's on the block is Del Norte Center in Klamath,
> > at the mouth of the Klamath river on the California coast. Due to
> > close in January '04, gone.
> >
> > The Sequioa Center is also on the block. Closed, forever because
> > Davis' can't add.
> >
> > Your help is greatly needed. The CCC has been there for us, now we
> > need to be there for them.
> >
> > A massive, well coordinated effort is underway to save these
> > centers. Please visit the following website to see what
> > contribution you can make.
> >
> > http://www.saveccc.org
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Scott Parks
> >
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > Art : http://DelNorteResort.Com/art
> > Hiking : http://DelNorteResort.Com/pct
> > Home : http://DelNorteResort.Com/stillroaming
> >
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