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Councilman Brandt said it might be necessary to cut positions; Councilman Ward stated that he would prefer consideration of better wages £or fewer employees than the question of wage raises versus increased taxes. Councilman Bricken asked whether a contingency program has been formulated £or the Recreation and Parks Department. Mr. Spragg responded that "all of the frosting was squeezed out last year". He stated that a philosophy has been developed by Staff which includes the "equal sacrifice con- cept'', and that each Department head is being asked to determine~where he would make a 5% to 10% cut, forcing Staff into a contingency framework. Councilman Ward noted that in the Preliminary Capsule Summary it appeared that revenues were over $6 million more than the previous year, or up about 15%~ Mr..Spragg replied that the Revenue Capsule has been revised to indicate that discretion- ary growth revenue is much less than that, or about 7.1%, approximately the inflation rate. At the same time, he said, expenditures without adding anything new tend to go up for many:reasons,~'and~one of.the biggest items is insurance. Councilman Brandt asked about the anticipated growth in property tax revenue; the City Manager stated that the rate in use is a 10% increase in the Assessed Valuation, which, it is hoped, may be a little conservative. Councilman Ward stated that he would like to continue the Crime Program, but not necessarily at the expense: of all other programs; that he doesn't want to see other programs totally sacrificed, such as the Community Centers. Councilman Yamamoto expressed his opinion that the existing west and south Centers have been effective and should be retained, and that recreation programs should be continued in deprived areas. Councilmen Brandt and Ward agreed. Councilman Brandt stated that he is very concerned about reducing the:size of: the: Fire Department. . Councilman Bricken complimented Assistant City Manager Ron Wolford on his successful use of CETA employees in the Public Works Department on sidewalk projects, and suggested development o£ a philosophy for use of CETA employees on "one shot benefit", highly visible work by other City departments, Chief':Davis commenled that 8'0% of the employees in his Crime Prevention Program are CETA. CA 65B RECESS EXECUTIVE SESSION ADJOURNMENT tions. At 9:05' P:.M. Council recessed.for an Executive Session to discuss wage negotia- Councilman Bricken left the meeting at 9:40 P,M. Council reconvened at 10:00 P.M. and the Mayor immediately adjourned the meeting. ASSISTANT CLERK OF THE COUNCIL CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 164 APRIL 27, 1976