The city is facing a $58 million shortfall, and city officials must find ways of cutting services to have a balanced budget. No single piece of city infrastructure was considered too small to avoid scrutiny.

Exhibit A was a piece of fire-fighting equipment at Station 6 in Willow Glen. Mayor Ron Gonzales had recommended that the hose wagon, a truck with a larger diameter hose, be retired, eliminating the cost of keeping that truck in service. However, residents and firefighters came out in force at a June 13 public hearing to speak against that move.

"Added response time is the difference between life and death," firefighter Richard Constantine said. "We should be talking about how to expand this department, not cut it. We're not blind to the crisis of budget cuts. We bear a responsibility to work hard to get through this hard time, but we're not talking about an extravagance."

At the council meeting the next night, District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager suggested that all current machinery and personnel be maintained by taking money out of four programs that are not directly providing service to residents.

"When you think of the air unit in Willow Glen, this equipment serves all of the city," he said. "This is not a district issue. It's a city-wide issue."

The amendment passed, with Gonzales casting the lone no vote on the proposal, calling the effort of taking apart the budget "bad public policy."

City branch libraries also benefited from a council compromise. The mayor had proposed keeping all libraries open seven days a week, with reduced service on one day.

At the public hearing, librarians and patrons rallied strongly against Gonzales' plan. They said not enough patrons use libraries on Sundays to warrant being open. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the city's main library, is already open on Sundays, but other branches don't get the same amount of traffic, they said.

"I worked four Sundays at Evergreen Branch [recently]," part-time librarian Lorena Mata said. "It's a waste of tax payers' money when there are hardly people there."

Other librarians were worried that their hours would be cut and said the level of service would inevitably decrease.

"These librarians help get jobs. These people help with resumes," librarian Hilda Arenas said. "Kids come to the libraries because they know the librarians are there."

District 2 Councilman Forrest Williams suggested that the city keep all library hours as they are, which would free up money because Sunday hours would no longer come at the expense of Monday hours. The council would decide at a later time which libraries should get Sunday hours. This amendment was approved unanimously.

Council members also approved retaining the San Jose Police Department's neighborhood watch programs, which was under threat of being eliminated.

"Our neighborhoods are at the core of San Jose's community policing effort," the mayor said.

Following Gonzales' recommendation, the council also approved retaining the Young People's Theater, which was championed by Yeager. By increasing parent fees and volunteer participation, the city will be able to avoid the program's elimination.

Gonzales acknowledged that it has been hard deciding how to balance the budget.

"We didn't get into a career of public service to reduce public service," he said.

The council made its decision after a public hearing the night before. A packed crowd filled the chambers, with residents and employees making impassioned pleas to the council to save their cause.

San Jose firefighters were there in force: At least 150 firefighters and their supporters filed into the chambers, with some waving posters reading "Glen Willow Apartments" and "Remember Santana Row," references to recent large fires in San Jose.

Firefighters decried any loss of equipment and personnel because they say they are already understaffed. They argued that cutting any firefighters would hurt the department and San Jose residents.