Parks, trails and the lake

Lago Santa Margarita, the trails and the parks are what people actually use in this city. They are also the easiest thing in a budget to quietly underfund, because nothing visibly breaks in year one.

Deferred maintenance is not a saving. It is a loan against a future council, taken out at a bad rate. The pattern is always the same: skip the small repairs for a decade, then present residents with a capital project and ask them to feel good about it.

I would rather spend steadily on the things that make this place worth living in than spend spectacularly on the things that make it look impressive from the road.