Latest news with #InsideSafe
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Councilwoman Traci Park Delivers Fiery "No" Vote on City Budget
Westside Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents Council District 11, blasted the city's proposed budget at a hearing on Thursday, saying that it was rife with the "bottomless pit" of homeless spending while gouging public safety services. 'This budget doesn't reflect our promises,' Park said during a fiery exchange at the hearing. 'It's bloated with homeless spending — a bottomless pit, a taxpayer boondoggle that doubles down on failure year after year. And frankly, at this point, it's just embarrassing. Hundreds of millions of no one can even tell many beds we have.'Park's opposition to the $18.9 billion budget was backed by two other Councilmembers, Monica Rodriguez and John Lee, who voted against the fiscal year 2025-26 spending plan. The budget, which pares down public safety programs, including recruitment planned for the Los Angeles Police Department and new hires for the Los Angeles Fire Department, which was outmanned by the savage Palisades Fire earlier this year, passed 12-3 and will go before the City Council for a final resolution vote next budget does allocate a $46.7 million year-over-year increase to the LAFD budget and $80 million in equipment funding to repair out-of-service rigs. 'I just can't in good conscience vote for a budget that makes our city less safe, less physically sound and even less responsive to our constituents,' Park said, adding that the budget still funds Mayor Karen Bass's Inside Safe program that gives housing to the homeless. Her sentiments were echoed by Rodriguez, who said: 'Inside Safe currently spends upwards of $7,000 a month to house a single individual. That's just room and board and services."Layoffs, which Bass said could number 1,000, has been reduced to roughly 700 in the proposed budget, which also keeps animal shelters open after a citywide outcry over cuts that could shutter shelters. The city is facing a one-billion-dollar shortfall. As the city discussed L.A.'s woeful financial outlook Thursday, longtime City Hall employee Brian Williams, the now former Deputy Mayor of Public Safety, entered into a guilty plea on federal charges that he called in a bomb threat to his workplace. Williams, a spokesperson for Bass said, retired last month, which makes him eligible to collect a taxpayer-funded pension despite his felony. City Hall officials have refused to provide details on Williams's retirement date - he collected his full salary after his arrest last year, and his yearly pension - despite multiple requests from Los Angeles.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
L.A. City Council approves $14-billion budget, scaling back Bass' public safety plans
The Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $14-billion spending plan for 2025-26 on Thursday, scaling back Mayor Karen Bass' public safety initiatives as they attempted to spare 1,000 city workers from layoffs. Faced with a nearly $1-billion budget shortfall, the council voted 12 to 3 for a plan that would cut funding for recruitment at the Los Angeles Police Department, leaving the agency with fewer officers than at any point since 1995. The council provided enough money for the LAPD to hire 240 new officers over the coming year, down from the 480 proposed by Bass last month. That reduction would leave the LAPD with about 8,400 officers in June 2026, down from about 8,700 this year and 10,000 in 2020. The council also scaled back the number of new hires the mayor proposed for the Los Angeles Fire Department in the wake of the wildfire that ravaged huge stretches of Pacific Palisades. Bass' budget called for the hiring of 227 additional fire department employees. The council provided funding for the department to expand by an estimated 58 employees. Three council members — John Lee, Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez — voted against the budget, in large part due to cost-cutting efforts at the two public safety agencies. Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades, voiced alarm over those and other reductions. "I just can't in good conscience vote for a budget that makes our city less safe, less physically sound and even less responsive to our constituents," she said. Rodriguez offered a similar message, saying the council should have shifted more money out of Inside Safe, Bass' signature program to address homelessness. That program, which received a 10% cut, lacks oversight and has been extraordinarily expensive, said Rodriguez, who represents the northeast San Fernando Valley. "Inside Safe currently spends upwards of $7,000 a month to house a single individual. That's just room and board and services," she said. "That doesn't include all of the other ancillary services that are tapped from our city family in order to make it work, including LAPD overtime, including sanitation services, including the Department of Transportation." Councilmember Tim McOsker, who sits on the budget committee, said the fire department would still see an overall increase in funding under the council's budget. Putting more money into the police and fire departments would mean laying off workers who fix streets, curbs and sidewalks, said McOsker, who represents neighborhoods stretching from Watts south to L.A.'s harbor. McOsker said it's still possible that the city could increase funding for LAPD recruitment if the city's economic picture improves or other savings are identified in the budget. The council authorized the LAPD to ramp up hiring if more money can be found later in the year. "I would love to put ourselves in a position where we could hire more than 240 officers, and maybe we will. I don't know. But today we can't," McOsker told his colleagues. Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who joined the council in December, also defended the budget plan, saying it would help create "a more just, equitable and inclusive Los Angeles." "This budget doesn't fix everything. It doesn't close every gap. But it does show a willingness to make some structural changes," she said. Bass aides did not immediately respond to inquiries about the council's actions. A second budget vote by the council is required next week before the plan can head to the mayor's desk for her consideration. Bass' spending plan proposed about 1,600 city employee layoffs over the coming year, with deep reductions in agencies that handle trash pickup, streetlight repair and city planning. The decisions made Thursday would reduce the number to around 700, said City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, who helps prepare the spending plan. The remaining layoffs could still be avoided if the city's unions offer financial concessions, said Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who heads the council's budget committee. For example, she said, civilian city workers could cut costs by taking four to five unpaid furlough days. "My goal, my fervent goal and hope, is that labor comes to the table and says 'We'll take some furloughs, we'll take some comp time off,'" Yaroslavsky said. The city entered a full-blown financial crisis earlier this year, driven in large part by rapidly rising legal payouts, weaker than expected tax revenues and scheduled raises for city employees. Those pay increases are expected to consume $250 million over the coming fiscal year. To bring the city's budget into balance, council members tapped $29 million in the city's budget stabilization fund, which was set up to help the city weather periods of slower economic growth. They took steps to collect an extra $20 million in business tax revenue. And they backed a plan to hike the cost of parking tickets, which could generate another $14 million. At the same time, the council scaled back an array of cuts proposed in Bass' budget. Over the course of Thursday's six-hour meeting, the council: * Restored positions at the Department of Cultural Affairs, averting the closure of the historic Hollyhock House in East Hollywood, protecting its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. * Provided the funds to continue operating the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office, which had been threatened with elimination. * Provided $1 million for Represent LA, which pays for legal defense of residents facing deportation, detention or other immigration proceedings. That funding would have been eliminated under Bass' original proposal, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said. * Moved $5 million into the animal services department — a move requested by Bass — to ensure that all of the city's animal shelters remain open. * Restored funding for streetlight repairs, street resurfacing and removal of "bulky items," such as mattresses and couches, from sidewalks and alleys. Even with those changes, the city is still facing the potential for hundreds of layoffs, around a third of them at the LAPD. Although the council saved the jobs of an estimated 150 civilian workers in that department — many of them specialists, such as workers who handle DNA rape kits — another 250 are still targeted for layoff. 'We took a horrible budget proposal, and we made it into one that is just very bad,' said Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who represents part of the west San Fernando Valley. 'It took a lot of work to do that, but it is better and we did save jobs. But the fundamentals are still very bad.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. City Council approves $14-billion budget, scaling back Bass' public safety plans
The Los Angeles City Council signed off on a $14-billion spending plan for 2025-26 on Thursday, scaling back Mayor Karen Bass' public safety initiatives as they attempted to spare 1,000 city workers from layoffs. Faced with a nearly $1-billion budget shortfall, the council voted 12 to 3 for a plan that would cut funding for recruitment at the Los Angeles Police Department, leaving the agency with fewer officers than at any point since 1995. The council provided enough money for the LAPD to hire 240 new officers over the coming year, down from the 480 proposed by Bass last month. That reduction would leave the LAPD with about 8,400 officers in June 2026, down from about 8,700 this year and 10,000 in 2020. The council also scaled back the number of new hires the mayor proposed for the Los Angeles Fire Department in the wake of the wildfire that ravaged huge stretches of Pacific Palisades. Bass' budget called for the hiring of 227 additional fire department employees. The council provided funding for the department to expand by an estimated 58 employees. Three council members — John Lee, Traci Park and Monica Rodriguez — voted against the budget, in large part due to cost-cutting efforts at the two public safety agencies. Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades, voiced alarm over those and other reductions. 'I just can't in good conscience vote for a budget that makes our city less safe, less physically sound and even less responsive to our constituents,' she said. Rodriguez offered a similar message, saying the council should have shifted more money out of Inside Safe, Bass' signature program to address homelessness. That program, which received a 10% cut, lacks oversight and has been extraordinarily expensive, said Rodriguez, who represents the northeast San Fernando Valley. 'Inside Safe currently spends upwards of $7,000 a month to house a single individual. That's just room and board and services,' she said. 'That doesn't include all of the other ancillary services that are tapped from our city family in order to make it work, including LAPD overtime, including sanitation services, including the Department of Transportation.' Councilmember Tim McOsker, who sits on the budget committee, said the fire department would still see an overall increase in funding under the council's budget. Putting more money into the police and fire departments would mean laying off workers who fix streets, curbs and sidewalks, said McOsker, who represents neighborhoods stretching from Watts south to L.A.'s harbor. McOsker said it's still possible that the city could increase funding for LAPD recruitment if the city's economic picture improves or other savings are identified in the budget. The council authorized the LAPD to ramp up hiring if more money can be found later in the year. 'I would love to put ourselves in a position where we could hire more than 240 officers, and maybe we will. I don't know. But today we can't,' McOsker told his colleagues. Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who joined the council in December, also defended the budget plan, saying it would help create 'a more just, equitable and inclusive Los Angeles.' 'This budget doesn't fix everything. It doesn't close every gap. But it does show a willingness to make some structural changes,' she said. Bass aides did not immediately respond to inquiries about the council's actions. A second budget vote by the council is required next week before the plan can head to the mayor's desk for her consideration. Bass' spending plan proposed about 1,600 city employee layoffs over the coming year, with deep reductions in agencies that handle trash pickup, streetlight repair and city planning. The decisions made Thursday would reduce the number to around 700, said City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, who helps prepare the spending plan. The remaining layoffs could still be avoided if the city's unions offer financial concessions, said Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who heads the council's budget committee. For example, she said, civilian city workers could cut costs by taking four to five unpaid furlough days. 'My goal, my fervent goal and hope, is that labor comes to the table and says 'We'll take some furloughs, we'll take some comp time off,'' Yaroslavsky said. The city entered a full-blown financial crisis earlier this year, driven in large part by rapidly rising legal payouts, weaker than expected tax revenues and scheduled raises for city employees. Those pay increases are expected to consume $250 million over the coming fiscal year. To bring the city's budget into balance, council members tapped $29 million in the city's budget stabilization fund, which was set up to help the city weather periods of slower economic growth. They took steps to collect an extra $20 million in business tax revenue. And they backed a plan to hike the cost of parking tickets, which could generate another $14 million. At the same time, the council scaled back an array of cuts proposed in Bass' budget. Over the course of Thursday's six-hour meeting, the council: * Restored positions at the Department of Cultural Affairs, averting the closure of the historic Hollyhock House in East Hollywood, protecting its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. * Provided the funds to continue operating the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office, which had been threatened with elimination. * Provided $1 million for Represent LA, which pays for legal defense of residents facing deportation, detention or other immigration proceedings. That funding would have been eliminated under Bass' original proposal, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said. * Moved $5 million into the animal services department — a move requested by Bass — to ensure that all of the city's animal shelters remain open. * Restored funding for streetlight repairs, street resurfacing and removal of 'bulky items,' such as mattresses and couches, from sidewalks and alleys. Even with those changes, the city is still facing the potential for hundreds of layoffs, around a third of them at the LAPD. Although the council saved the jobs of an estimated 150 civilian workers in that department — many of them specialists, such as workers who handle DNA rape kits — another 250 are still targeted for layoff. 'We took a horrible budget proposal, and we made it into one that is just very bad,' said Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who represents part of the west San Fernando Valley. 'It took a lot of work to do that, but it is better and we did save jobs. But the fundamentals are still very bad.'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
L.A. council panel votes to save 1,000 city jobs, reducing layoffs to 650
A key committee of the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to cut the number of employees targeted for layoff by Mayor Karen Bass by more than half, bringing the total down to an estimated 650. The council's budget committee took steps to save more than 1,000 jobs by pursuing an array of cost-cutting measures, such as hiring fewer police officers and scaling back funding for Bass' Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people into temporary or permanent housing. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the committee, said those and many other moves would help the city protect core services, including tree trimming, street resurfacing, street light repair and sanitation teams that address illegal dumping. "We looked for ways to save positions — not for the sake of job counts only, but to make sure the departments can still do the work our constituents need them to do for their quality of life," said Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside. The committee's recommendations for the proposed 2025-26 budget now head to the full council, which is scheduled to take them up on Thursday. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who sits on the committee, expressed some optimism after the vote. "We were in very rough waters, and a very different landscape, when we started this process," said Hernandez, who represents part of the Eastside. "And now there seems to be some light between the clouds." As part of Friday's deliberations, the budget committee voted to recommend a slowdown in sworn hiring at the LAPD, which would leave the agency with 8,400 officers by June 30, 2026. That represents a reduction of about 300 from the current fiscal year and 1,600 compared with 2020. The budget committee also agreed to eliminate 42 emergency incident technicians at the fire department, a move opposed by interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva, while also canceling Bass' plan for a new homelessness unit within that agency. In addition, the five-member panel recommended a hike in parking meter fees, which is expected to generate $14 million in the upcoming fiscal year. Yaroslavsky said the changes endorsed by the budget committee on Friday would save about 150 civilian workers in the police department. Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council, said she believes that city officials will keep finding ways to reduce the number of layoffs, by transferring workers to vacant city positions or to agencies that are unaffected by the budget crisis, such as Los Angeles World Airports and the Port of Los Angeles. "I think we're going to be able to truly get that number down to less than 500," she told the committee. Bass, faced with a nearly $1-billion shortfall, released a proposed budget last month that called for the layoff of about 1,600 employees, a fourth of them civilian workers at the LAPD. Some of the largest reductions were planned at agencies that handle sanitation, street repairs and maintenance of city facilities. Friday's deliberations set the stage for many positions to remain intact, particularly at the Department of City Planning, which had been facing 115 layoffs. Kevin Keller, executive officer with that agency, said the committee found the funding to restore more than 100 of those positions. "I know there's a lot of city workers that are breathing a big sigh of relief tonight," said Roy Samaan, president of the Engineers and Architects Assn., whose union represents planning department employees. L.A.'s budget crisis has been attributed to a number of factors, including rapidly rising legal payouts, lower-than-expected tax revenue and a package of raises for the city workforce that is expected to add $250 million to the upcoming budget, which goes into effect on July 1. Bass and the council have been hoping to persuade city labor unions to provide financial concessions that would help avoid more cuts. So far, no deals have been struck. On Friday, before the committee began its deliberations, Bass said she is optimistic about avoiding layoffs entirely. At the same time, she spoke against a budget strategy that pits the hiring of police officers against the preservation of other jobs, calling it "a Sophie's Choice." If the LAPD slows down hiring, it will have fewer officers in the run-up to next year's hosting of the World Cup, she said. "I'm not going accept that as my choice," she said. During the final minutes of Friday's five-hour meeting, council members made some last-minute restorations, identifying additional funds for youth programs, tree trimming and fire department mechanics. Hernandez pushed for the committee to restore $1 million for Represent LA, which provides legal defense of immigrants facing deportation or other enforcement actions, and $500,000 for graffiti paint-out crews. Hernandez said the city needs to stand by immigrants amid a harsh federal crackdown. And she described graffiti removal as crucial for public safety in her district. "Getting graffiti down quickly prevents a lot more people from getting shot, prevents them from getting killed," she said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. council panel votes to save 1,000 city jobs, reducing layoffs to 650
A key committee of the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to cut the number of employees targeted for layoff by Mayor Karen Bass by more than half, bringing the total down to an estimated 650. The council's budget committee took steps to save more than 1,000 jobs by pursuing an array of cost-cutting measures, such as hiring fewer police officers and scaling back funding for Bass' Inside Safe program, which moves homeless people into temporary or permanent housing. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the committee, said those and many other moves would help the city protect core services, including tree trimming, street resurfacing, street light repair and sanitation teams that address illegal dumping. 'We looked for ways to save positions — not for the sake of job counts only, but to make sure the departments can still do the work our constituents need them to do for their quality of life,' said Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside. The committee's recommendations for the proposed 2025-26 budget now head to the full council, which is scheduled to take them up on Thursday. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who sits on the committee, expressed some optimism after the vote. 'We were in very rough waters, and a very different landscape, when we started this process,' said Hernandez, who represents part of the Eastside. 'And now there seems to be some light between the clouds.' As part of Friday's deliberations, the budget committee voted to recommend a slowdown in sworn hiring at the LAPD, which would leave the agency with 8,400 officers by June 30, 2026. That represents a reduction of about 300 from the current fiscal year and 1,600 compared with 2020. The budget committee also agreed to eliminate 42 emergency incident technicians at the fire department, a move opposed by interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva, while also canceling Bass' plan for a new homelessness unit within that agency. In addition, the five-member panel recommended a hike in parking meter fees, which is expected to generate $14 million in the upcoming fiscal year. Yaroslavsky said the changes endorsed by the budget committee on Friday would save about 150 civilian workers in the police department. Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council, said she believes that city officials will keep finding ways to reduce the number of layoffs, by transferring workers to vacant city positions or to agencies that are unaffected by the budget crisis, such as Los Angeles World Airports and the Port of Los Angeles. 'I think we're going to be able to truly get that number down to less than 500,' she told the committee. Bass, faced with a nearly $1-billion shortfall, released a proposed budget last month that called for the layoff of about 1,600 employees, a fourth of them civilian workers at the LAPD. Some of the largest reductions were planned at agencies that handle sanitation, street repairs and maintenance of city facilities. Friday's deliberations set the stage for many positions to remain intact, particularly at the Department of City Planning, which had been facing 115 layoffs. Kevin Keller, executive officer with that agency, said the committee found the funding to restore more than 100 of those positions. 'I know there's a lot of city workers that are breathing a big sigh of relief tonight,' said Roy Samaan, president of the Engineers and Architects Assn., whose union represents planning department employees. L.A.'s budget crisis has been attributed to a number of factors, including rapidly rising legal payouts, lower-than-expected tax revenue and a package of raises for the city workforce that is expected to add $250 million to the upcoming budget, which goes into effect on July 1. Bass and the council have been hoping to persuade city labor unions to provide financial concessions that would help avoid more cuts. So far, no deals have been struck. On Friday, before the committee began its deliberations, Bass said she is optimistic about avoiding layoffs entirely. At the same time, she spoke against a budget strategy that pits the hiring of police officers against the preservation of other jobs, calling it 'a Sophie's Choice.' If the LAPD slows down hiring, it will have fewer officers in the run-up to next year's hosting of the World Cup, she said. 'I'm not going accept that as my choice,' she said. During the final minutes of Friday's five-hour meeting, council members made some last-minute restorations, identifying additional funds for youth programs, tree trimming and fire department mechanics. Hernandez pushed for the committee to restore $1 million for Represent LA, which provides legal defense of immigrants facing deportation or other enforcement actions, and $500,000 for graffiti paint-out crews. Hernandez said the city needs to stand by immigrants amid a harsh federal crackdown. And she described graffiti removal as crucial for public safety in her district. 'Getting graffiti down quickly prevents a lot more people from getting shot, prevents them from getting killed,' she said.
