SOAP LAKE - The city of Soap Lake will decrease crime rates, fix crumbling streets and heal a multitude of other problems over the next few years.

They just need to reverse a steady decline in revenues first, said Soap Lake Mayor Raymond Gravelle, who marked his first 90 days in office with a "state of the city" presentation at last week's council meeting.

Gravelle said addressing the city's chief concerns - including crime rates and street conditions - is contingent on halting a 2-year, 24-percent revenue slump. The city's 2010 budget of about $4 million decreased to $3.6 million last year and is projected to fall again this year to $3.1 million as state cuts kick in, he said, pointing to an estimated $5,000 loss starting either this year or next that stems from the privatization of liquor sales.

"(Declining revenue) is the most serious problem facing our city and the solution to which, of course, will solve all of those previous problems," Gravelle told a crowded council chambers last week. "The previous administration did an incredible job squeezing all of the money they possibly could out of the budget and getting it into the essential functions of the city. Now we have to focus on the revenues side."

To do that, Gravelle recommends the city focus on promoting as many events as possible to bring more tourists to town. "More events bring in more people who spend more money," he said, noting the city would benefit from the resultant increase in hotel/motel occupancy tax revenues and income tax revenues. "Having more events is going to help us with the budget."

Gravelle went on to give a brief overview of the city's police department, which had a weekly call average last year of 27 for a total of 1,423. He said he'd like to find a way of increasing funding to the city's police force while bringing more accountability to the department.

He related that each 15 minutes police officers spend at a crime scene equals about an hour of paper work.

"You start to begin to see how the limited man-hours in our police department get eaten up with paperwork," Gravelle said.

The mayor also discussed the 2005 Downtown Master Plan, saying it's currently being updated and will serve as the template for a steering committee to implement over the coming year. As part of the plan, Gravelle is looking for matching funds that could parlay a $610,000 state Transportation Improvement Board grant already slated for improvements to Main Street into further road improvements.

Gravelle introduced a laundry list of projects he's spearheaded since coming into office at the beginning of the year, including a community garden; a city-wide yard sale aiming to earn $4,000 toward two reserve police officers; a Citizens on Patrol program; a city entrance sign that will span all four lanes coming into Soap Lake's south end; and free outdoor movies at East Beach this summer.

"I've spent my first 90 days in office organizing these projects and finding people to drive them to completion and I'm optimistic that all of these will be in place by June," he said.

He also briefly outlined a "wish list" of other projects he'd like to see started, with the help of council, including offering free wireless Internet downtown, launching a city newsletter and tourism-specific website and bringing the Soap Lake Wellness and Research Institute to fruition.

"I believe that we have a very strong city council and we're doing a very good job of working together, working through issues, solving problems," he said. "Its been encouraging to see this council in action."

Gravelle concluded his presentation with a nod to the hard work of city staff and a call to action for "citizen ambassadors" to help spread word of what Soap Lake has to offer.

"Each of us need to start talking to our friends and our relatives and people that are out of the area about all of the great things that go on in Soap Lake and all of the wonderful things that we have to do," he said. "I encourage you to be involved as an ambassador, to tell the story. What we have here compared to the other communities, we're ahead of them - hands down."