The City Council approved a $25.7 million general fund budget after resolving a $418,000 projected shortfall and agreeing to the closure of City Hall on alternate Fridays.
More than 400 people crammed City Hall and an adjacent outside courtyard Tuesday, as City Council wrestled with ways to slash $2 million from its annual budget.
Members of Neighbors for Arcadia, the grass roots organization opposed to Santa Anita's proposed Arts and Entertainment Center, appeared at City Hall to file over 5000 signed initiatives with the city clerk's office.
City Council recently approved a five-year $34.6 million capital improvement program that will include some refurbishing of City Hall and library facilities, along with a new fire department and preparations for a new police facility.
About 40 Arcadia High School students showed up outside City Hall at 3:15 to demonstrate against the city's 50 year old curfew, which subjects those under 18 to a misdemeanor citation if they loiter in public after 10 PM.
Survival-of-the fittest strategies have swept City Hall, where employees fearful of looming budget cuts are waging campaigns against their colleagues and other departments in an effort to protect their jobs.
111 City Hall employees may earn an extra $50-110 a month by walking, bicycling, carpooling, or using public transportation to work. The City Council approved the plan to satisfy South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations requiring worksites to provide incentives to employees who reduce vehicle trips to work.
City Council approved a 12% pay increase for City Clerk June Alford. The raise comes just as city voters are considering changing the city clerk's office from an elected one to an employee position.