The Daily News
written by Rick Orlov, Staff Writer
Monday January 1, 2010 05:50:21 PM PST
Despite a chorus of complaints from community activists, a City Council committee advanced a plan Monday to lay off up to 1,500 workers and slash spending across the board - including the previously untouched Los Angeles fire and police departments.
The aim of the plan is to make $400 million in cuts to help close a massive budget deficit. While Los Angeles officials say some layoffs can be averted if unions agree to concessions, they say they must plan for the worst.
With that in mind, Councilman Bernard Parks moved to include police and fire departments on the list of agencies facing cuts.
"We are asking you to give us a plan with no restrictions," Councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the Budget and Finance committee, told City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana at a committee hearing.
"You cannot balance the budget when 70 percent is tied up in police and fire services. It is the elephant in the room that no one is talking about."
Santana is drafting the budget plan, which the City Council is expected to debate - and possibly decide - on Wednesday.
Parks, a former police chief, asked that the budgets of council members and the mayor also be considered for cuts, even though they have been scaled back in recent years.
The budget and finance committee heard from a parade of speakers who pleaded that neighborhood council and cultural affairs budgets remain intact. Some also opposed plans to merge the Disability Department into another agency.
But committee members and Santana said the city had few other options.
"We are facing difficult times and there are not many choices," Santana said. "If we don't act quickly, it will mean we need to cut more people."
In addition to the 1,000 to 1,500 layoffs, Santana said the city needs to look at developing a public-private partnership for its parking garages as well as developing a new arrangement for the operation of the Los Angeles Zoo.
Santana said the city has been fortunate compared to other cities that have been forced to lay off police officers.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has resisted efforts to cut police below the current level of 9,963 officers, saying public safety has to be the city's top priority.
Several members of neighborhood councils protested the proposal to cut in half the annual $45,000 subsidy that each group gets from the city, saying it would end many of the programs they now offer the community.
"These are a valuable resource for the city," said Shawn Simons of South Los Angeles. "We provide thousands of hours of volunteer work that the city will lose."
Barbara Monahan Burke of Studio City said any cut in the budgets would violate the spirit of the city's neighborhood council program.
"If they do this, they will eliminate what much of us can do," she said.
Councilman Paul Koretz said the city should ask voters to impose new taxes to help balance the budget.
"I think we can make a case that we can tax car rentals, oil drilling and billboards and there won't be a lot of opposition," he said.
Judith Rio of the Association of Deputy City Attorneys protested the proposed cut of 100 prosecutors from the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and complained elected officials have not had any cuts.
Parks said both the mayor's office and that of council members took cuts in each of the last two years and would face reductions this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment