Latest news with #LosAngelesCityCouncil
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
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Los Angeles hotel executives warn distress to follow wage hike
The Los Angeles City Council will hold a final vote on a proposal to increase minimum wage for hospitality workers to $30 an hour by 2028 on Friday, May 23. If it passes, which most expect it will, and Mayor Karen Bass signs it, distressed hotel sales and skittish investors and developers could follow. 'I've never seen so many hotels on the market right now, and none of them are selling,' Hotel Angeleno owner Mark Beccaria said. 'No one wants to pay anywhere close to what they're worth,' because they know the cost they'll incur owning a hotel in Los Angeles. One expansion has already been killed. Los Angeles' hotels suffered throughout the pandemic and haven't fully recovered. More labor costs mean more pain. Hotel sales will fall further, Atlas Hospitality Group president Alan Reay believes. 'The higher the wages, the lower the net operating income, the lower the net operating income, the lower the sales price,' Raey explained. Sellers want to sell at what they believe the hotels are worth, but buyers can't purchase at that price while considering operating costs. Increasing hotel costs when revenue is flat is a concern, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust chairman and CEO Jon Bortz said. Adding that he won't expand his Los Angeles portfolio. 'We won't make any further investment,' Bortz said. 'There's no return on that money…there'll be no transactions in the market other than lenders taking properties back. There'll be no new development—doesn't pencil, doesn't make any economic sense, and it's not financeable.' The proposal requires hotels with more than 60 rooms and companies that do business at Los Angeles International Airport to increase wages over a three year period ending 2028, the same year the Summer Olympics will be held in the city. For hotel workers, it's a 48-percent increase. But for hotel owners, developers, brokers and investors, it's the last nail in the coffin. Beccaria didn't mince words: 'It's only going to get worse once this goes into effect.' Hotels will have to reduce services and amenities, raise rates and lay off workers. And when hotels raise rates for stays, people go elsewhere, and they lose business, he said. In anticipation, his hotel has made layoffs. Beccaria's loan comes due next July. Hotel Angeleno has also already defaulted on that loan. He doesn't know that he'll secure another, so he is holding off on renovating. Beccaria may consider selling or choosing another location where he'd get a better return. Beccaria and Bortz mentioned an earlier piece of legislation that reduced hotel housekeepers' workloads, capping floor space cleaning. Bortz said that was the last straw, but that was before the current proposal. Bortz said he'll probably shrink or eliminate food and beverage at his hotels; Beccaria floated getting rid of valet. In either case, it appears jobs will be lost. Not to mention, it could hurt the Olympics atmosphere. Bortz suspects hotels will be in poor conditions and provide poor service once the Olympics come around. Beccaria said some hotels are attempting to pull out of their Summer Olympics stay agreements. 'The L.A. hotel industry is in a depression,' Bortz said. 'I'm not exaggerating. It's horrible.' At ICSC, retail smiles through headache of macro uncertainties Celebrity restaurants at hotels drive up average room rates, revenue Stream Realty OK'd for 100K sf warehouse in Cudahy This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.
Time Out
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The city of Los Angeles unveils new street signs honoring Malcom X
Malcolm X played a significant role in the American civil rights movement but especially so here in Los Angeles, where the human-rights activist famously held a press conference and delivered a powerful eulogy at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in 1962 to bring international attention to the violent LAPD actions that resulted in the death of Ronald Stokes. And in honor of what would be the icon's 100th birthday, the City of Angels is unveiling new street signs in his honor. Over the weekend, Los Angeles City Council members, community leaders, neighborhood residents and devoted activists gathered in Leimert Park to honor civil rights leader Malcolm X on what would have been his 100th birthday. As part of Saturday's celebration, L.A. officials revealed that a five-mile stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard will now officially be known as Malcolm X Way. The route intersects other landmarks that spotlight fellow Black-American icons, including Obama Boulevard and Nipsey Hussle Square. '[Malcolm X] was a truth-teller, unafraid to speak uncomfortable truths and his words (ignited) the Black power movement. His dedication to human rights transcends borders, connecting the American struggle to the global movements for social justice," said L.A. City Councilmember Heather Hutt, per the Los Angeles Daily News. Along with the historic street-sign dedications, Saturday also marked the 33rd Annual Malcolm X Legacy Celebration & Festival in Los Angeles's Leimert Park Plaza, which included powerful performances, film screenings and youth-led activities honoring Malcolm X's centennial. The theme of this year's event was "Human Rights, By Any Means Necessary"—with that ethos in mind, the festival also honored Andre Parvenu/Msonga Mbele, Sabir Majeed, and Roman Combs for their significant contributions to community service, entrepreneurship and photography.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LA Mayor Karen Bass Issues Executive Order to Streamline Film Permitting Process
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has issued an executive order calling for changes to city rules for on-location film and TV shoots in an effort to reduce costs and permit processing times for productions. Bass signed the executive order at the SAG-AFTRA headquarters on Tuesday alongside city councilmember Adrin Nazarian and multiple Hollywood union officials, including SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles local president Jodi Long. 'The City is taking bold action to support our legacy industry,' Bass said. 'Keeping entertainment production in LA means keeping good-paying jobs in L.A., and that's what we are fighting for.' 'We've allowed the industry to slip away from us…impacting the industry here, impacting families here, as well as ruining the fabric of what the industry brought,' Nazarian said. 'We cannot allow the heart of Los Angeles to leave Los Angeles.' The order comes three weeks after the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion calling on city agencies to report back on ways to reduce permitting fees, which include feeds to fire and safety officials as well as multiple fees for road inspection and closures, among others. Staffers for Nazarian, who first introduced the motion, tell TheWrap that they are pushing for agencies to provide information from the report back to the city council in the weeks ahead with the hopes that Bass' executive order will create a greater sense of urgency. The executive order and the council motion will look to allow productions to bypass fees where they do not apply, such as fees for firefighters to be present on set that can be lifted when pyrotechnics and other potential fire hazards are not being used. Under Bass' executive order, only one city staffer will be required to be present on shoots. The order also seeks to expedite permit processing and lower costs for high-demand locations such as the Griffith Observatory, the Port of Los Angeles and Central Library. It also orders the city to look for 'assets' that could be used as shooting locations and parking for productions and calls on police and fire officials to meet with FilmLA and other entertainment industry organizations monthly to solve 'any ongoing issues' that are hampering film shoots. Bass says the motion will encourage a 'proactive film friendly approach to communication between city departments and production, including the communication of upcoming infrastructure projects that could impact filming schedule.' 'I will tell you that each item in the executive directive are items that have been raised specifically by the industry, that they have come before the mayor's office and members of city council, and said, you know, there are certain obstacles that we face right here, and City Hall can make a difference. So today represents the beginning of that difference,' she said. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Sacramento are working on a major expansion to the California Film & TV Tax Credit Program, which would include loosening eligiblity requirements and raising the program's cap from $330 million to $750 million. Gov. Gavin Newsom did not lower the proposed cap raise in his revised budget proposal earlier this month despite a growth in the expected state deficit to $12 billion. The post LA Mayor Karen Bass Issues Executive Order to Streamline Film Permitting Process appeared first on TheWrap.
