Spring is finally here: just in time for summer. As with all cities and the county, it's budget time. This is a stressful time for every public official, since this is when we have to look straight into the face of limited resources and seemingly unlimited wants and needs and make often unpopular decisions.

What makes it even more difficult is that the community often insists on its wants, when the Council's first priority is needs. It is challenging to look the community in the proverbial eye and say "I'm sorry, we can't give you what you want." Such was the difficult decision to eliminate the preschool program run by our Recreation Services Department. We love our families. We love our employees. But there were fatal flaws in the program, including a building that is long past its useful life and will be removed as soon as possible, underenrollment, and a perpetual search for childcare employees. It just wasn't possible to provide that service anymore. We know how disappointing that is to our 44 children served, and the staff who takes them under their wing each day. We had to make a tough and unpopular decision. As business owners, I'm sure you can understand.