To put it bluntly, the city council’s policies — refusing to implement fiscal and operational reforms — and not making public safety the top city priority — might very well have killed that toddler.

Your scenario of local government focusing on its top priority of public safety would be a dream come true.

The reform vs. revenue debate is quickly getting old, with each side throwing out sound bites and digging their heels in. They either are protecting the “special interests” Donna Frye alludes to or are trying to make a name for themselves with an eye on re-election or higher office. All this occurs with no resolution in sight, and at the expense of the seemingly bottomless wallet of the taxpayers. We citizens are really tired of the B.S., and it is exactly why approval ratings of elected officials and bureaucrats are in the toilet and continue to sink.

When Susan Golding was Mayor she convened a panel of business leaders that studied the city budget to identify opportunities for cost savings. They identified many chances for reform, from recommending zero-based budgeting and ending transfers from water to general fund, to implementing efficiencies in fleet vehicle maintenance, purchasing and much more. The suggested savings were significant. We are now two mayoral administrations down the line. I wonder how many of the suggested reforms have been implemented.

Government continually pisses money away because there is no accountability. Yeah, elections are supposed to be our chance to vote the bums out, but politicians and their slick consultants (sorry to all my friends on Rostra reading this…nothing personal) know how to spin their way to reelection while using the power of incumbency to raise funds and blow opponents out of the water. And then you have the bureaucrats – more interested in keeping the paychecks coming and building their retirement funds than implementing any reform that could make their workday harder or jeopardize their position – who have figured out how to work around elected officials, who they know will be gone in a few years anyway.

In the private sector, your services or products need to be competitive in the market. If not you soon will be out of business. You cannot keep charging your customers more and more while delivering less and less. Further, times change and business adapts. Layoffs and manpower reductions are an unfortunate but real part of life. Not just eliminating unfilled positions. I’ve been laid off. I’ve also had to lay off employees. I’m sure you know plenty of friends in the newspaper business who have been affected. It sucks but it is life.

Government seems stuck in a time warp, totally disconnected from the real world. They don’t want to adapt and they don’t want to make the painful decisions necessary to survive. At the City, I still believe there are huge layers of fat between the decision-makers and those doing the actual work. If you’re willing to walk into a burning building or chase an armed murder or rapist then you deserve to be compensated appropriately. I’m not so sure about the six layers of directors and deputy directors along with their assistants and deputy deputies.

I could keep going on but I’d end up writing a book.

In that case, the cutbacks are a public safety danger. And since public safety is supposed to be government’s highest priority, it’s worth looking into what else in the city budget could have been cut instead. San Diego has a notorious history of financial profligacy on non-essential items, such as budget-busting pensions. We didn’t get named Enron-by-the-Sea for nothing. So I’d suggest a hard look into how the city budget could have been reallocated, complete with questions about whether city government has been distracted from its basic duties by the building spree the city and mayor are contemplating. Have we really learned the lessons from our financial catastrophe, or are the politicians back to their old ways?

I’d also look at less expensive alternatives, such as extending basic emergency training so there are skilled members of the public throughout the community who can help in such situations. I’m sure that’s being done already, but could it be stepped up?

Raising taxes is the path of least resistance for governments. And tragedies such as Bentley Do’s death are easy to demagogue for higher taxes. So failures of government can be perversely rewarded by giving government more money. Responsible news coverage should push back against this demagogy — not encourage it.

Admittedly, I am not familiar with typical response times and processes. Based on the data provided, emergency personnel (police) were en route within 2 minutes of the 911 call and arrived within 6 minutes. Further, the victim was being transported via ambulance within 14 minutes of the call. Again, I am not familiar with emergency response times and procedures, and do not want to appear callous, nevertheless to me this seems a tragic accident to a little boy, and I am unclear if there truly would have been a different outcome if, following these procedures, the boy would have been in the ambulance any earlier?

From the U-T article…

Tuesday’s Emergency call timeline

8:28 p.m. — 911 call made.

8:29 — Call entered into dispatch system. Uncle reports boy is choking on gum ball. Lots of screaming in background.

8:30 — Officers en route to scene.

8:33 — Fire dispatcher on the line asks for Vietnamese translator.

8:34 — Two officers arrive. Report boy is not breathing. Begin CPR.

8:36 — Officer asks that medics expedite.

8:39 — Firefighters arrive.

8:41 — Officer and boy in the back of the ambulance.

8:42 — Ambulance heads for hospital.

SOURCE: San Diego police

It will be interesting to see how the Union-Tribune treats Monday’s press conference. Since at least one U-T reporter is tired of hearing from the usual suspects, maybe the business owners will get some attention.