Here’s something for the two remaining mayoral candidates to ponder: The latest budget projection from the city manager says we’ll have about 2 percent fewer cops in 2011-2012 than we had this fiscal year. We also don’t have any money for ambulance overtime.

Mary Suhm doesn’t use the word layoffs, of course. The projection says we’re going to lose 50 cops through attrition — not hiring those who quit or retire. Maybe we’ll get lucky and only 45 will leave. And let’s hope that no one reading this needs an ambulance outside of the regular working week. I suppose you can load the patient into your car and hope you make all the green lights on your way to the hospital. That’s how it’s done in a world-class city, no?

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Most of the budget presentation is the usual sort of self-serving foolishness that those of us who read these things get a giggle out of. Like that the on-going budget crisis had nothing to do with any bad decisions made by the city council or city officials, and that each has been working valiantly to overcome the evil and nefarious forces that caused the budget crisis.

You can read it yourself, if you don ‘t mind braving 46 pages of one of the city manager’s infamous Power Point presentations. Click on the budget workshop link.