DURING the last election campaign, when I was the mayor’s Republican opponent, Mayor David Cicilline was quite clear that he expected the state and federal government to come to the city’s aid with increased funding, even though it was quite clear the state was about to face its own budget crisis, and the federal government had long since abandoned the city.

In both of our debates, the first at Classical High School, in September, and the second at the Gregorian School, in October, the mayor rejected the proposals put forth by me and the city’s Republican Party to budget without further outside aid.

I challenged him to “fix our own house” without outside aid and challenged him on the effectiveness of our Democratic General Assembly representatives in getting aid he said we needed; he said he could count on our General Assembly members “if only the governor” would support him. But our Democratic representatives have not been able to get us any increased outside aid. So perhaps now is the time to again look at the Republican proposals to close the nearly $20 million budget gap.

In the last election, we Republicans supported generating additional revenue by shedding unnecessary assets, such as unused or under-used city-owned land. Putting these tracts back into the hands of private citizens would generate short-term revenue and expand the property-tax base. We favor selling large portions of the Scituate Reservoir watershed no longer needed to protect the water supply. Because new technology has diminished the need for the full watershed, huge tracts could be sold for development.

Many areas in Providence are simply unused but possess high property values and could be sold for development, generating long-term profit and taxable property for the city and private developers. One example is River Road, on the East Side. We can privatize Triggs Memorial Golf Course with a restricted deed sale, and develop private concessions at Roger Williams Park.

We Republicans supported lifting the moratorium on charter schools — public schools freed of many of the regulations imposed on traditional public schools. We would give principals greater authority over hiring and firing teachers. That is one of the most effective ways to improve instruction without more money.

We Republicans supported regionalized administrative school services, such as transportation or meal services, and regionalized specialty schools in the arts and sciences.

We Republicans supported a “Voluntary Pilot School Choice Program,” first proposed by former Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, which would let Providence residents legally attend public schools in other districts. The criteria for the program would be as follows: Children must come from failing districts in Providence.

Accepting school districts could reject students because of a lack of capacity or prior disciplinary problems. Accepting school systems would be compensated in full and up front for the cost of education in accordance with three cost categories: regular student, English as a second language, and special education. Accepting school districts would not be penalized under the No Child Left Behind Act for lower scores for at least two years.

We Republicans supported means-tested vouchers to let students attend private schools if their parents so chose. Even small vouchers ($2,500) would give families the incentive to move their children to private academies and relieve the city schools of costs that now run over $10,000 per high-school student per year.

We Republicans supported fulfilling the city’s pension obligations through bond issues that would have immediate short-term savings, while fully funding our obligations.

We supported immediate changes in the ongoing pension system, moving to a pay-as-you-go system, something the all-Democratic City Council has refused to move on. We supported plans for a full review and audit of the city’s finances, including its alarming pension obligations, and of a tax structure oppressive for many individuals and businesses.

We Republicans have supported affordable housing with plans to ease construction by speeding permits and by streamlining the zoning exceptions these housing units almost always need. In a city of 180,000, there are only 125 affordable-housing units built each year. With hundreds on wait lists, Providence residents have to fight too hard to find affordable housing.

As it becomes clear that the city is not going to have the state and federal money that the mayor talked about for his budget, now is the time to re-evaluate the Republican proposals from the last election, and begin putting our own house in order with our own resources.

Daniel S. Harrop, M.D., is a psychiatrist and was the 2006 Republican candidate for mayor.