Good news for Sausalito
Dear Neighbor,
Some good news! Sausalito ended the 2023/24 fiscal year with a more than $2.5 million surplus--one of the largest in our city's history. Read the report here.
Sausalito is financially well managed. The city has been running mostly operational surpluses, not deficits, for more than a decade. The proof is in the numbers: the city's total cash position has doubled, from $16.8 million in 2015 to $35.6 million today.
Much of this $35.6M is prudently allocated for pension, infrastructure, sewer, and for emergencies like Covid, landslides, and economic recessions. But did you know that we have over $8.5 million that is not earmarked for anything at all? (See page 5, category labeled: "unassigned"). This money is the accumulation of previous years' surpluses. We could invest that money today in better roads, or pre-pay our pension. Or we could leave it in savings to be even more financially resilient against economic shocks.
We must always pay attention to sound financial management, but our fiscal challenge is not how to cut the pie up, it's how to grow the pie so there are more resources for residents without raising taxes. With more money, we can strengthen our financial resilience and solve our problems:
Revitalize our infrastructure
Protect our small-town character
Preserve the Working Waterfront
Improve residents' quality of life
We can't nickel-and-dime our way to generating the tens of millions needed to revitalize our infrastructure. I believe we can do these things, without raising taxes, with policies encouraging economic activity.
The choice in this election is between those who simply point out problems and those who have realistic plans for solving them.
The Marin Independent Journal, after a lengthy evaluation process, endorsed three candidates as solutions-oriented and went on to say: "Sobieski is a problem solver".
I have also been endorsed by Congressman Jared Huffman, Assemblyman Damon Connolly, Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters, and eleven former Sausalito mayors and council members, and the Sierra Club.
Over the past four years, I have been part of a team that has delivered real results, including:
Multiple budget surpluses
A 50% reduction in employee turnover
Millions invested in infrastructure--with $24 million more committed
Let's keep Moving Sausalito Forward Together!
