Councilors had barely sat down when they were hit with bad news at their Monday, Oct. 19 meeting. Financial staff said the city is looking at a $12 million shortfall for the 2010 budget due to falling sales tax income and other revenues. The Council was told not to look to the Legislature for help because there just isn’t any money there, either. Come Dec. 1, when Mayor-Elect Richard Berry and the new Council take over, there will not be much of a honeymoon. Councilor Sally Mayer was excused from the meeting and much of the agenda was deferred to later dates. A couple of people spoke about what they called a rising problem of police brutality in the city. One resident, Sterling Sherwood, said when he leaves his house he is not afraid of robbers, terrorists or drunk drivers—he’s afraid of the city’s police department. “They seem to have an us-against-them attitude,” he said.A building moratorium was extended around the fragile Tijeras Arroyo biozone while a sector plan protecting the area is completed. And the Sawmill Trust area will see some dollars after the Council approved spending grant money.
Council Watch:
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