Save Our Libraries (San Diego, Vista, Poway: insurance, public schools, tax)

[kcda]

This is really sad. I agree they should charge for trash. Chula Vista charges. I've noticed that our friends in San Diego are very careless with their trash (they don't recycle or try to minimize their bulky trash). Maybe charging would encourage more recycling and less waste.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by kcda

This is really sad. I agree they should charge for trash. Chula Vista charges. I've noticed that our friends in San Diego are very careless with their trash (they don't recycle or try to minimize their bulky trash). Maybe charging would encourage more recycling and less waste.

It would, I saw a newspaper article a while back ago showing how San Diego throws away more trash per capita compared to all the other large CA cities, a decent amount more too. In other cities they usually have two sizes of trash cans which they charge different rates while everyone in San Diego has these giant trash bins that no one is charged for. My mom, with a household size of 5, has a trash can less than 1/2 the size of mine, which is just for 2 people.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

I'm afraid the only way we are going to reel in the pension mess is ch 9 or 11. The debt keeps getting bigger and bigger and by 2015 or so we won't have money left over to fill in even one pothole. We will be paying people to do nothing as there won't be money to buy materials so people can work. As Mayor Sanders put it, the City doesn't exist just to fund the pensions of 11,000 employees. 3 million people are being held hostage here.

As far as the trash service I saw several posts in the UT that the original charter set aside money for trash service? If this is true I'd like to see where that money is being spent.

If anyone wants to know why everyone is leary of a trash collection fee you can look no further than the multiple water/sewer and other rate increases that went for other unintended projects and into the general fund to fuel the out of control pension. We've been lied to enough.

[RD5050]

The answer to this issue is simple.

Just charge an annual fee for a library card.

If we have around 200,000 card holders, then a $10 annual fee will cover the $2,000,000 we need to keep the libraries open.

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by RD5050

The answer to this issue is simple.

Just charge an annual fee for a library card.

If we have around 200,000 card holders, then a $10 annual fee will cover the $2,000,000 we need to keep the libraries open.

I have lived all over the country and I have never heard of charging a fee for a library card. You have to figure that out of 200,000 cardholders there are families with multiple cards that would probably just have one card if they had to pay for it.

Libraries in San Diego are sub-par compared to the East Coast and Midwest, it is just sad that they now face closure. I take it as a sign of what is valued and children and learning just aren't that high on the list in San Diego.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by CrissCT

I have lived all over the country and I have never heard of charging a fee for a library card. You have to figure that out of 200,000 cardholders there are families with multiple cards that would probably just have one card if they had to pay for it.

Libraries in San Diego are sub-par compared to the East Coast and Midwest, it is just sad that they now face closure. I take it as a sign of what is valued and children and learning just aren't that high on the list in San Diego.

That's why private schools do so well here. If you saw the makeup of the public schools well, then you'd know.

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by CrissCT

I have lived all over the country and I have never heard of charging a fee for a library card. You have to figure that out of 200,000 cardholders there are families with multiple cards that would probably just have one card if they had to pay for it.

Libraries in San Diego are sub-par compared to the East Coast and Midwest, it is just sad that they now face closure. I take it as a sign of what is valued and children and learning just aren't that high on the list in San Diego.

I'm not saying there are exactly 200,000 card holders in San Diego. Honestly, I have no idea how many card holders there are.

But assuming we had around 200,000, they would only have to pay $10 a year to make up for the $2 million we are short in the budget.

The reality is the money has to come from somewhere. So why not charge the people who actually use the library, rather than put a fee or tax somewhere else, such as trash pickup?

The taxpayers are ultimately going to pay for it in some format.

True ... there probably are few public libraries which charge for a library card. However, San Diego's budget doesn't have enough money. So my idea seems like the easiest solution to this problem.

The city could raise taxes ... but what does that solve? We would still be paying extra money each year, so what difference does it make whether we pay more in taxes, or pay it as a fee for a library card?

And if households chose to pay for a single card ... it wouldn't matter. They still would be limited to 5 dvds at a time, and up to 40 items. They would have to juggle the one card between multiple people which would probably become tedious.

Personally, I would have no problem paying $10 a year for a San Diego library card. I feel it's well worth it. San Diego has a great library system.

I've lived on the east coast as well ... and I consider San Diego's libraries to be as good, if not better than those I've belonged to. I use many of the branches in San Diego ... I don't just go to one branch. My favorites are Mission Valley and La Jolla. I also go to PB, Clairemont, Balboa, and Linda Vista since they are all in my area.

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

That's why private schools do so well here. If you saw the makeup of the public schools well, then you'd know.

I have seen the make up of public schools, my children attended them until this year when we moved back East. I was very pleased with the job the teachers did on a small budget but we were in Poway school district.

[kcda]

My husband is from the PNW and he thinks the San Diego libraries are great.

[jghall00]

I think city should charge for trash pickup. It's really silly that the city provides the service and doesn't charge for it. What other free services does the city provide?

The city also needs to get pension benefits under control before it ends up like GM.