By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken says there's a lot for neighborhoods to like in his $2 billion 2003-2004 spending plan: more police, fixed-up recreation centers and 200 miles of street rehabilitation. But residents of Westwood told City Council Monday about things they didn't like:

• Cuts of $220,670 a year in park maintenance.

• The elimination of the Planning Department.

• A 50 percent cut to the Neighborhood Support Program. That program, which gives $10,000 to each of the city's 52 community councils, helps with newsletters, clean-up efforts and other expenses that keep the neighborhood groups afloat.

Community council leaders say that money helps leverage more than 60,000 volunteer hours each year. In Sedamsville, they used $4,800 to spruce up a traffic island neglected by the city. In Mount Auburn, it helps local children play football.

Mr. Luken said tough choices had to be made.

"Some of the groups are using that money very well. Some of them," he said, shrugging, "we're not quite sure."

Speaking at Westwood Town Hall, one of six community centers to be overhauled in his budget, Mr. Luken said his spending plan helps neighborhoods.

"This budget, as I see it, is about the next generation of Cincinnatians," he said. "The first thing parents want for their kids is not to have them walk down the street and run into a drug dealer."

Neighborhood leaders generally support the "clean and safe" focus of the budget. But they said other city services can be just as valuable.

"The conservative side of me says we should keep our eyes on basic services," said John Eby of Westwood. "But the liberal side of me says, don't forget about some of the good neighborhood social programs, either."

Indeed, neighborhood leaders said they see the mayor's budget as a mixed bag.

"The things they've talked about seem pro-neighborhood. For example there's the neighborhood business districts. But that's money we've had all along," said Sue Micheli, president of the community council in Madisonville. "I don't really know whether it's pro-neighborhood or not, especially when you talk about cutting something like the Planning Department."

Neighborhood groups often see the Planning Department as one of their biggest allies, balancing the need for development against a neighborhood's concerns about traffic, noise and property values.

Also eliminated is the "street calming" program, which puts speed bumps on residential streets.

All told, City Council heard from 111 people during two public hearings Monday. Other cuts protested by various citizen groups include:

• The end of the $162,000 Parental Responsibility Program.

• A 22 percent cut to the Grassroots Leadership Academy, saving $48,480.

• Eliminating the city's $57,000 support to the Greater Cincinnati Film Commission.

• Curbside recycling, scheduled to be cut out in 2004.

• The Nature Education Program of the Parks Department, also to be cut in 2004.

The next public hearing will be 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bond Hill Recreation Center, 1501 Elizabeth Place.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com