Hickenlooper: City must face 'tough times' with determination - Business First of Buffalo:

http://www.kez1.com/baseball-in-january.html
The "worst economic crisis of our lifetime" is hurtingf families and businesses and forcing deep cutsto Denver'e spending plans, Hickenlooper said in a speechh delivered at the Greek Theaterf in Civic Center Park. "With overallk revenues down 8 percentin 2009, we are makinyg tough decisions every day to balancd our budget," the mayor said. He that the city wouldd have tocut $120 million from the city budgeg over the next 18 months. "Our city governmentr must overcome tough times with the same determination that our businessesa andfamilies do," Hickenlooper said.
Despite hard the mayor said heremains "completeluy committed to FasTracks," the Regional Transportation District'ss massive regional rail-transit project, which is facing financial . . Here is the completse text of Hickenlooper's State of the City address as prepared for provided byhis office. Good We appreciate all of you being here so earl inthe morning, but it is and it allows us to gatheer before you all head to work.
For decades, the Gree Theater – and the park that surrounds us has been a central civic gathering place a place where our citizens come to sharre ideas and commit to We are honored to have with us Council President Jeanne Robb and the entire City District Attorney Mitch and Clerk and RecorderStephanie O’Malley. We are also honorecd to have Gov. Bill Ritter, statse Treasurer Cary Kennedy, as well as former Mayor Wellington Webb, and numerous state senators and regional mayors and county My wifeHelen Thorpe, who gives me great patience and courage, is here as well. Welcomw to all of you.
We are gathered durinh a time of unprecedented We are engulfed by the worsy economic crisis ofour lifetime. Whole industries have been broughyt down oneafter another. Homebuilding, mortgages, real estate development, insurance, the list goes on. Unemploymentr is projected to rise to levels not seen sinces theGreat Depression. Foreclosures not only on people’s homes, but also on theirt businesses, on their livelihoods, are growing by doublre digitseach year. But in the midsgt of the global recession Denver remains a plac efor optimism.
We face our challengeas head on, and make tough Our City government must overcomed tough times with the same determination that our businessesz andfamilies do. With overal l revenues down 8 percentin 2009, we are making toughh decisions every day to balance our budget. Working with our cabinegt members, our employees and the City Counciol we have alreadycut $86 million from our generao fund budget for fiscal year 2009. To help do this we saveed a combined $16.8 million in overall personnel And wesaved $22.
2q million in operational costs, such as deferment of equipmenr replacement; holding open vacant positions; and reducing the cost of services and And you’ll notice the lights in the Webb buildinb are turned off a lot It is not or even appropriate in a time of decreasing for a City to hire more employees. there are fewer peoplee working for the City of Denver today than there werein 2002. But thanks to the dedication of our Cityworkerws – and because of innovative new practices like 3-1-q1 – we are finding efficiencies and doin g more with less.