The City Manager has said she expects to present the 2009-10 budget to the City Council today, and I’ll watch for it. My gut feeling? The budget cuts will be bad, but Suhm will perform one of her usual feats of legerdemain and it won’t be quite as horrible as she has hinted.

And, there is some welcome news: The city has posted – on the front page of its Web site – details about the Labor Day weekend furlough that will close city offices and services for an extra day next month. This, of course, is a far cry from the way it handled the July 4 weekend furlough, which was a deep, dark secret to most city residents.

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The post, written in Bureaucratese, is not exactly clear: “As one of many initiatives implemented to address budget challenges, the City of Dallas is implementing a mandatory furlough program.” But it’s better than before.