Neighborhood Councils Coaltion Calls Emergency Meeting On City Budget

The pow-wow, scheduled for Sunday morning, will "discuss the financial and service crisis facing the city," coalition chair Leonard Shaffer told the Weekly. The city is facing a $400 million deficit that could reach beyond the billion dollar mark, with one councilman stating that bankruptcy is possible if City Hall doesn't right the ship.

Already the City Council is having a hard time approving new police hires, fire companies throughout the city are enduring intermittent "brown-outs," and layoffs seem likely.

"There is truly a crisis situation," Shaffer says. " ... Future meetings may concentrate on what we want to see the actual budget to look like, but first we must reach the point where we are part of the process."