Infrastructure Repairs May Suffer
“Long before state leaders started wrestling with California's gaping budget gap, Orange County cities slipped into a cost-cutting mode. The sour economy, a drop in tourism and a general sense of foreboding that Sacramento would pass along some of the state's economic woes have put municipal governments in a bunker mentality… Officials in most cities said they might put projects such as sidewalk and street repairs on hold to protect critical services such as public safety… In Laguna Beach, City Manager Kenneth C. Frank said officials will probably delay or cancel improvements to infrastructure such as street paving, sidewalk repairs and storm drains.” (Sacramento Bee 1/21/03)