It seems that with some budget monkeying, Commissioner of Public Safety Ron Kim has found a way to keep three or four police officers from losing their jobs, and possibly some fire fighters.

However, he didn't bring these suggestions to the table until Monday's agenda meeting, a meeting held the day prior to City Council meetings. Unfortunately, that meeting was less than 24 hours before the comprehensive budget become law by default -- the budget garnered just two votes at a special meeting last week.

It appears to be too late for Kim or anyone else to amend that budget by the midnight deadline, so Kim will, instead, attempt to amend it at tomorrow's regularly scheduled council meeting. The trick is, we've all been operating under the assumption that the budget cannot be changed until Jan. 1, when Commissioner-elect Richard Wirth will come into office.

Kim says when the 2010 can be changed is more a matter of interpretation. I think there will be some interesting discussions at the table tomorrow night.