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City Manager's 2005 Budget Memo Page 5 of 27 justifies a departure from our normal priorities. Of course, all of us should also remain mindful of maintaining a healthy and dynamic balance among these spending priorities. For example, to say that public safety is our first priority is not saying that city resources flow solely to public safety until there is no more that can be done in that area. Public safety is a priority but not the only priority. It's never all or nothing; it's always balancing and a matter of degree. These priorities are not new or novel. They are similar to the spend- ing priorities, stated or unstated, in most American cities. They re- flect a city resident's need, first and foremost, to be reasonably safe and free from fear in their daily life. Just as the national govern- ment's first priority is to protect us from foreign threats, the first pri- ority for local government is to protect us from crime and more local and immediate threats to our person and property. This priority list reflects next the special municipal responsibilities to construct and maintain city streets and other basic infrastructure es- sential to the conduct of daily life. Cities have always had a special duty and responsibility to help enable residents city, to have a safe supply of water to drink, and stormwater and sanitary sewer systems. to get around their to have reliable Next are the "new" infrastructure issues for the 21st century, all re- volving around the flow of information. If "old" infrastructure con- sists of asphalt streets then "new" infrastructure consists of "electronic streets" and more robust ways of communicating. Then we have the unique functions of cities to zone land for appro- priate uses and to make sure buildings constructed consistent with those zoning rules are reasonably safe for public use. In the last 20