Villaraigosa stumps for more cop hiring: Mayor who created the problem makes his case in meeting with neighborhood council

Villaraigosa stumps for more cop hiring
Mayor makes his case in meeting with neighborhood council
By Rick Orlov, Staff Writer from DailyNews.com
Updated: 10/10/2009

Appealing to the neighborhood activists who agreed to pay for a police buildup, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Saturday threw down a challenge to the City Council's plans to slow police hiring.

The council is scheduled to debate Tuesday whether to reduce police hiring because of the city's projected $400 million deficit.

But even as other city services face steep cuts, Villaraigosa vowed to maintain past commitments to build up the police force.

"Promises made, promises kept," Villaraigosa told more than 400 neighborhood council members gathered at City Hall for their annual meeting.

"You don't see me going on TV criticizing people," Villaraigosa said. [That better be a swipe at someone else, and not directed toward Zuma Dogg.]"I don't like fights. When I was a kid they called me Tony Rap because I would talk my way out of fights. [They should have called you "full of crap, liar," because that's what you are now.]

"But I will fight for this," Villaraigosa said.

Several council members have argued the city cannot afford to have a 10,000-officer Los Angeles Police Department.

"We can't afford to hire more police now," said Councilwoman Jan Perry. "The idea of promises made doesn't deal with reality. We just can't afford to do it."

Councilman Bernard Parks, chairman of the council's Budget and Finance Committee and a former police chief, said the city is facing a problem with demands for services.

"Also, I don't think we ever agreed that the money would go only for the LAPD," Parks said. "Public safety involves more than police. It's fire service. It's the city attorneys. It's the anti-gang programs. That money went for all those programs."

But Villaraigosa, who won support from the neighborhood councils five years ago to increase the trash fee to pay for the LAPD expansion, said he would not give up on the issue.

"It cost us $174 million to build up the Los Angeles Police Department to where we are, with $158 million coming from the trash fee," Villaraigosa said. "If we do what the City Council wants, all that will be lost in one year."

Villaraigosa went through a series of charts with the group, showing how crime has dropped in each of the past five years as the department has grown.

The San Fernando Valley, Villaraigosa said, has seen two new police stations open in recent years because of the LAPD expansion.

Deputy Mayor Jeff Carr said the mayor hopes the neighborhood council leaders will communicate with their members and pressure City Council members to support Villaraigosa.

[SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT...DOUCHTONIO VILLARAIGOSA IRRESPONSIBLY CREATED THIS MESS AND NOW THE COWARD IS TRYING TO PRESSURE COUNCIL INTO DOING MORE IRRESPONSIBLE STUFF. Unfortunately, it shows shows how Antonio is out of juice and is reduced to being a gadfly at the council level like Zuma Dogg, trying to put pressure on them in the media. ANTONIO...you are SO over, it's passe. And the big plan is Jeff Carr asking Neighborhood Councils to pressure Council. IT'S A DIVERSIONARY TACTIC CAUSE VILLARAIGOSA'S ASS NEED TO BE RUN OUT OF TOWN AND HE KNOWS IT'S COMING. HANDCUFFS, BABY! GET READY FOR THEM. THERE IS NO WAY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT CAN ALLOW AN INEPT BAFFON LIKE YOU AROUND. COWARD, VILLARIAGOSA. Just gave away the city and now has to have Jeff Carr run around and beg Neighborhood Council to presure Council. WHAT A FUCKING LOSER COWARD THIS GUY IS. And an official "FAILURE" according to LOS ANGELES Magazine. (LOL! They're not even political.)