LA City Council Will Not Cut Cops But Will Have to Cut EVERYTHING ELSE (Like City Services Across The Board)

Gotta love the way City Council uses "transformational vocabulary" (like shady ballot language) to soften the blow. The mayor declares a financial emergency; says the city will have to cut services across the board; comes up with budget cuts that the CLA says won't do much; everyone agrees massive, massive cuts are needed -- and City Council calls it, "belt tightening measures". Belt tightening? You would expect that term from YOUR Los Angeles City Council. If someone was bleeding to death and they needed an emergency tourniquet, council would call it, "moisture loss prevention".

IT'S NOT BELT TIGHTENING!!! IT'S MASSIVE CUT BACKS NEEDED ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS. HOW ABOUT CUTTING BACK ON THE CORRUPTION? HOW ABOUT LESS FRAUD, WASTE AND ABUSE/FUNNELING OF MONEY INTO YOUR CRONY NON-PROFITS AND ALL THE OTHER GRAVY TRAINS YOU ARE RIDING. WHY DON'T YOU START THERE, INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT CUTTING COPS. (Don't worry, that's the one thing everyone can agree on. No one wants to be seen cutting cops, so unless it's done by a secret ballot, no cops will be cut! Just everything else.)

THE CITY IS STILL IN DENIAL! They will talk about it and argue about it until people are fleeing LA City to sneak into Mexico for better municipal conditions. Don't worry, I think bigger fish are going to have to step in and make some hard and fast decisions. LA City Hall simply has NO discipline under Loserosa and his coffer draining tactics and the 15 egomaniacs who do nothing but campaign for office from their council seats. (Wait till all the waste starts to come out publicly, as it will under these conditions. You'll see.) NO ONE IS CAPABLE OF MAKING THE REAL, HARD, DISCIPLINED DECISIONS IN THAT TOXIC BUILDING.

So the only thing that has been agreed on is that we are in an emergency, we need cuts, but the ones proposed so far are either ineffective, or rejected -- without any real action taken (except the drop in the buckets mentioned below). How long do you think it will take for everyone (CC & Mayor) to agree (or to stop disagreeing)?

If the City of Los Angeles were a an ETF stock, it would be called "Short 15 Municipal Districts". It's an ugly scenario. I THINK ALL LA CITY ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE UNANIMOUSLY RE-ELECTED. It's not like we have the cast of Barnum & Bailey's Circus running the City. (Oh, yes it is!)

EXCERPT FROM LA TIMES:

Despite deepening worries about the region's economy and a growing municipal budget deficit, Los Angeles city leaders Tuesday refused to back away from a Police Department buildup even if it means sacrificing other basic services.

Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller told the council that the cost of more police, along with fire and sanitation services, would require cuts of up to 14% in all other departments in the coming budget year. The reductions would come on top of cuts of as much as 10% this fiscal year.

In its latest budget hearing, the council Tuesday slashed $2 million from the city library system. Officials also trimmed $477,000 for new neighborhood councils to pay for graffiti removal, and $600,000 was taken from a fund for sidewalks and street services to pay for left-hand turn signals. The mayor also will have a say in the cuts the council makes. (Good luck getting him to agree with Council.)

Chief Administrative Officer Karen Sisson also painted a bleak picture of city finances Tuesday. She told the council that city expenses are again expected to grow faster than revenue next fiscal year and that the widening gap will contribute to a budget deficit now projected at nearly $400 million. [It was projected to Zuma Dogg by a City Hall insider as more like $600-$700 million.]

In the past, city officials relied on strong revenue growth or unanticipated money from real estate transactions to fill the gap. Those sources have disappeared as the housing market has cooled.

[A lot of people think these are scare tactics. I think the problem is real. As property values fall, the city collects less property tax as properties are re-assessed at the lower value. Plus, at the same time, costs are rising.]

Good Daily Breeze article, too

Here's the CLA report:

The Mayor has raised a number of important issues that merit discussion. However, in most cases it is unlikely that these initiatives will result in savings for 2007-08, but we recommend focusing these efforts for the 2008-09 budget.

1. The committee requested alternatives to the following proposed reductions:
Graffiti removal and Community Beautification Grants: $900,000
Library - reduce overall cut: $500,000
Left turn signals: $600,000
Sub-Total: $2,000,000

Sales of surplus property: 10,800.000
Total Requested Reductions: $12,800,000

There are no additional revenues to be used to fund these items. In fact, as the CAO states, there remains a budget gap of $37.6 million in the current year budget and continuing concerns that revenues will have to be adjusted downward again this fiscal year. Accordingly, adjustments to the above items will require alternative spending cuts.

2. Short-Term Alternative Spending Reductions:

The following spending reductions can be instituted immediately to partially address the Committee's concerns:

Reduction in Neighborhood Council funding: $477,000
Transfer of current-year street furniture funding: $600,000 ($40,000 per CM office)
Reduction of the March Police Academy Class: $1,000,000
Total: $2,077,000

A. Fleet Reduction
The Mayor proposed the elimination of 236 home-garaged executive fleet vehicles for a "combined savings and one-time revenue receipts in excess of $1 million." We requested, but did not receive, information from the Mayor's Office on how these savings were determined. (Antonio is like a student in trouble for not having his homework done properly. He's sorry he didn't get the info to you CLA...he was busy flying all across the country, multiple times for Hillary who didn't even win.)

Click here for full pdf file report or click here if pdf file won't open for you

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