Oakland budget cuts hit zoo, Children's Fairyland Cuts to hit hard at other community favorites -by 40%

Ring-tailed lemurs hang out at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 5, 2011. Keepers say their lemurs may be used to earthquakes since the zoo is located close to the Hayward fault. Ring-tailed lemurs hang out at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 5, 2011. Keepers say their lemurs may be used to earthquakes since the zoo is located close to the Hayward fault. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Oakland budget cuts hit zoo, Children's Fairyland 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Oakland unveiled an austere budget Monday that calls for sweeping cuts to community favorites like Children's Fairyland and the Oakland Zoo but keeps police services intact.

In all, more than $28 million will be sliced from the budget, mostly from the $388 million general fund. The cuts are due to the loss of redevelopment funds, which Oakland used to fund services and programs across the city.

"It's not clean and neat. We wish it were," said Mayor Jean Quan. "For California's older, larger cities, like Oakland, losing these redevelopment funds has been very, very tough."

The City Council will discuss the budget Wednesday and vote on a final version Jan. 31, just hours before the state eliminates redevelopment funding Feb. 1.

Last week, city officials issued layoff notices to 2,500 of about 3,000 employees in anticipation of the cuts. At least 159 full-time positions were scheduled for elimination. Officials said they issued such a wide swath of pink slips because they wanted maximum flexibility in deciding what positions would be cut.

But after reorganizing departments, cutting back on overlapping services and reducing administrative costs, the city was able to lower the number of job cuts to 105. Sworn police officers and firefighters are not affected.

Most of the cuts will come from economic development, particularly programs used to spur growth in lower-income neighborhoods.

"The frustrating part of all this is that it impacts people who can afford it least," said the city's economic development director, Fred Blackwell. "Parts of East Oakland, West Oakland, affordable housing, construction jobs - that's a huge loss."

As part of its reorganization, the city plans to merge several departments, including Parks and Recreation and Human Services. Several recreation centers, including the popular Davie Tennis Stadium, will have reduced hours.

Funding for the Jack London Aquatic Center, which is used by hundreds of kids and adults for rowing, kayaking and other waterfront activities, is being eliminated.

Libraries and most senior services will not be affected.

Other community assets did not far so well, however. Children's Fairyland, the Oakland Zoo, Peralta Hacienda, arts programs and Symphony in the Schools will all see their city funding slashed by 40 percent.

Most of those institutions receive funding from a variety of sources, but as the economic downturn drags on, those sources are drying up, too.

Peralta Hacienda, former headquarters of the historic Peralta rancho and field trip destination for thousands of East Bay school kids, is struggling just to keep its adobe doors open.

"We can't do this without funding. There has to be a phone, a computer, someone to answer the phone, " said director Holly Alonso. "City funding wasn't everything, but it provided the connective tissue we needed to make things happen."

A few years ago, the city's annual funding for Peralta Hacienda was $180,000, a sizable chunk of the facility's overall $517,000 budget. With the latest round of cuts, the city contribution will be $27,000.

"Honestly, the private sector needs to step up," Alonso said.