Durham Mayor Bill Bell struck a pragmatic note Monday night, speaking to a standing-room only audience at City Hall regarding the looming financial difficulties ahead.
In his seventh annual State of the City address, Bell remarked both on the success of several development projects in 2008 and the hard times ahead in 2009.
"As we begin 2009, I must first tell you that, as a city, there will be some tough decisions ahead of us. We, as a city, will have to decide more than ever before what our priorities are," Bell said. "We will have to learn to do more with less, and our primary focus must be on the more efficient delivery of our core city services."
Bell also highlighted public and private improvement projects from the past year, citing the Durham Performing Arts Center and a water connection line with the city of Cary in the wake of the drought as accomplishments.
"Happenings last year, good and bad, laid the groundwork for the next 12 months," Bell said. "It will be essential that for 2009, the city maintain a laser-like focus on the economy, jobs, transportation and green building and energy savings."
The theme of the speech was "Where do we go from here?", a message derived from a Martin Luther King Jr. sermon to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1967 in Atlanta.
The path forward will have greater challenges for Durham, said Bell.
According to city budget projections, there will be a $24 million to $40 million gap between expected revenue and expenditures in the 2009-2010 city budget, Bell said.
Despite the projected deficit, Bell said that the city would not raise either the property or sales taxes, which are the primary sources of revenue for Durham. Instead, Bell emphasized the need to cut spending.
"In my opinion, we should look at this period as an opportunity to further right the size of our city administrative structure using innovative actions," Bell said. "In a sense, city government can provide our own economic stimulus for our community if executed properly."
Other city employees said they are ready to adapt their habits in order to help through this difficult economic period, including efforts to cut costs.
"Well I like to think that we are always mindful of cost, but everything is on the table now," Durham City Council member Diane Catotti said in an interview with The Chronicle following the address. "We're going to reevaluate new projects and closely scrutinize all expenditures."
Although Bell stressed the importance of city government staffers becoming more efficient, he added that efforts to close the budget gap may include eliminating some jobs with the city altogether.
"Notice I said perform our jobs--implied in that statement is that we continue to have jobs, which are no certainty," Bell said. "I am sure that the administration and the council will work hard to see that we can minimize any layoffs, but nothing is promised, so it behooves all of us to work together to keep the city family together."
Some citizens in the audience said they were supportive of the mayor's agenda.
"We really don't have a choice. We have these trying times and we should not be so negative. We should be positive," Durham resident Shirley Lassiter said in an interview with The Chronicle.
Lassiter said that she is grateful to be living in Durham, pointing to others experiencing greater hardship as a result of the recession.
"That could be us," she said.
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