Mateo on Budget: “We’re cutting deep with core services”

“I think this morning was quite difficult for me to just listen to some of the testimony, especially when the bulk of the testimony came from a good number of our own departments,” said Molokai council member Danny Mateo.

“It bothered me to hear some divisions talk about: ‘if the proposals says as it is, I will not be able to do this… I’m not going to be able to do that.’  Instead of looking at how we can get the job done, they put the drawbridges up and they said we are not going to be able to do it,” said Mateo.

Council Chair Danny Mateo. File photo/graphic by Wendy Osher.

“Its not only the tough decisions we’re looking at, it’s the tough choices that comes with those decisions.  And it’s not going to be easy,” he said.

“Nobody said it’s going to be easy but this county at this point, we’re not laying off employees.  We are hanging on to them.  We’re cutting deep with core services,” said Mateo.

“The tough decisions are yet to come and decisions are not going to be the most popular, but some how we’re going to have to find the common ground for all of us,” said Mateo.

“I believe there is still room for reconsiderations, by elimination, and that’s just unfortunately where we’re going to have to go because we heard all morning that there are many positions that we need to restore,” said Mateo.

“Looking at sheer numbers and I don’t have to remind anybody, if we don’t address the issues today, FY12 is not going to be any more of a better walk for us.  It’s going to be just as tough.  And what we do today will have implications then,” said Mateo.

“I’ve shared my frustrations this morning.  I took it out on several people and I just hope it’s a wake up call because it’s just going to continue to be quite difficult when we all have wish lists and we all want the wish lists to be adhered to, but that’s not the reality.  We no longer can do business as we did before.  The status quo has changed,” said Mateo.

(Posted by Wendy Osher)