Haschak: County’s budget woes and hiring freeze are bound to impact residents

The following is a column submitted by Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mendocino Voice.

The budget process rolls on to the June deadline. What started as a $28 million deficit was reduced to $17 million. Cuts have been proposed that would bring it down to $2.5 million. These cuts will hurt. It is one thing to say that we agree to a hiring freeze but when that freeze affects county operations whether it be public safety, processing of building permits, or the ability to respond to a social service crisis, this will be felt by Mendocino County residents. I have proposed to rescind the Supervisor salaries, undoing last year’s raise and cutting the out-of-state travel and education line items. While these are important, we just can’t afford them right now.