Will the union leadership for the fire department, the police department and the miscellaneous workers at City Hall come up with salary and benefit reductions significant enough to stave off an additional 33 layoffs?

Hopefully, but if past behavior - particularly from the firefighter's union which has been all too happy to invoke binding arbitration - is any indication, it's unlikely. Despite story after news story about property tax decline, despite continuing falling retail sales tax revenue, despite ongoing state takeaways from city coffers, the unions have thus far chosen to play a negotiating game of "chicken."

That's at the expense, of course, of the newer and younger brethren who are in grave danger of losing their jobs. Let's not forget, too, that perhaps - just maybe - there is an obligation to the residents of Gilroy who pay the taxes to maintain as many services as possible for a reasonable cost.

2. City's annual retirement obligation has skyrocketed to $4.1 million

Consider:

-Of the city's $45 million annual budget, upwards of 75 percent goes to pay and benefits for public safety employees.

-The city of Gilroy's retirement obligation is now $4.1 million annually, up from $900,000 in 2001.

Those facts place an incredible strain on city services and leave precious few discretionary dollars. The pressure on all the other city programs like parks and recreation, for example, is extreme.

Should Gilroy abandon ship on all other quality of life programs and become a "public safety" city?

Shall Gilroy stop maintaining parks, outsource planning and building responsibilities and cancel everything under the sun like Kids Discover Arts, youth basketball leagues and swimming programs for the sake of lavish benefits and pay?

Paired with ill-advised past City Council-approved policies like the "best of the best" which affirmed that City Hall employees be paid 10 percent more than employees in similar cities in like positions, the bloated city budget has become a house of cards.

3. Pretty soon there will be no more city reserves, then it will get ugly

That house is caving in under its own weight and the weight of a struggling economy.

As early as Friday, the city could be issuing the next round of pink slips.

The unions could come through, as requested by the city administration and elected Council members, with proposals that actually mean something. That would be wonderful news to report and welcomed by most residents.

There has to be a major structural change in government. What's going on now with inflated salaries, retirement spiking, benefits beyond the wildest private sector dreams is absolutely unsustainable.

It's time for city workers to come to grips with reality and force their union leaders to take their heads out of the proverbial sand.