City Needs to Utilize Next 10

For several years I have pushed for the City of Long Beach to get our budget on line in a format that residents can use to provide their input on what cuts need to be made to the City budget and for those cuts to be shown in a graphic way so residents can see what the cuts will do to services.

This will also actually help the City Council see the impact and the input of our residents.

The California Budget project (http://www.budgetchallenge.org/pages/home) though the non profit Next10 has provided such a capability for cities. The City of Los Angeles uses this program as well as the city of Alameda (http://www.cityofalamedaca.gov/Budget-Challenge/sim/budget_master.html).

Next10 has offered this program to the City of Long Beach for $15,000 which I am willing to take out of my neighborhood services budget and provide for the entire city.

As we launch this effort, I look forward to the involvement of all of our residents who have a real stake in the budget decisions that will impact our city services and the quality of life here.

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• Schipske Launches "Open Up Long Beach" Effort (openuplongbeach.com)