I happen to know that Los Angeles City Council will be addressing ONE SPECIFIC ISSUE, very soon; and it will be sucking the air out of the room on all other issues, anyway. And not that you would know about it from radio, the council meeting or other blogs...but THE BUDGET (pension, loss of employees, loss of revenue, loss of ability to function) happens to be on the mind of at least a few people at city hall. And I'm gonna take a guess and say the issue is about to go from the back-burner to a bon fire.
YES, COUNCIL WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO KEEP THE ISSUE HIDDEN AND OFF THE RADAR. IT'S ABOUT TO GET MORE ATTENTION THAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA COLLECTIVES...AND THAT'S WHEN EVERYONE WILL BECOME AWARE...INCLUDING PEOPLE LIKE CNN, FOX NEWS & WSJ. EVEN THE L.A. TIMES, DAILY NEWS & L.A. WEEKLY NEWS FLIERS WILL HAVE TO START WRITING ABOUT IT (AND ON THE "FRONT PAGE.")
So here is the move I would ask you to make, at this given moment of time:
SIMPLY LET COUNCIL KNOW THAT YOU SUPPORT THE CAO'S RECOMMENDATION TO ELIMINATE THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT; TO ENACT PENSION REFORM and call for CAO report of further measures to enact. And there is still nothing like a hard envelope with a letter sent by mail, to pile up in the offices to make a dramatic statement...AND TO GIVE THE COUNCILMEMBERS SOME LEVERAGE/FUEL FOR THE FIRE.
In other words, a SMART councilmember would bring the box of letters into the council meeting, hold them up and say, "Here's why we need to do this...ALL THESE LETTERS CALLING FOR THIS SPECIFIC ACTION!"
So this is something easy that EVERYONE CAN DO, since you don't even have to show up for a meeting, get signatures or do any heavy lifting. NO DECISIONS BY A BUNCH OF PEOPLE IN A ROOM WHO CAN'T MAKE A SINGULAR DECISION. (Hopefully, everyone reading this, no matter what other issues you are advocating for can agree on this issue, as well. So all you have to do is print out this letter, sign it however you want, and send it in the mail. (Even in these hard times, I know you can still afford a stamp.)
And I'm requesting you send the letter to ONE councilmember, again for impact -- and, because I'm scared SOME Councilmembers would just throw them all in the trash. SO I AM SUGGESTING YOU SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE L.A. CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT, since symbolically at least, they are..well...THE PRESIDENT of the Council. (If you didn't know better, isn't that who you would THINK should be getting council's act together on the budget, at this point? If not, elect the Budget & Finance Chair as Council President to get it done.)
PRINT BELOW THIS LINE
_______________________
January 14, 2010
L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti
200 N. Spring Street, Room 475
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear Council President Garcetti,
I am sending you this letter as a written and formal request that Los Angeles City Council take these three specific and immediate actions toward the goal of addressing L.A. City's budget emergency:
1. Pension Reform
2. Elimination of one single city department. (Specifically, the Human Services department, since CAO Miguel Santana has already made this recommendation.)
3. Call for a report of CAO recommendations, and then enact them*.
Although there are many challenges ahead regarding the L.A. City budget, these three measures would not only help financially, but show constituents that this Council is able to make a decision; take action; and make something happen.
*= I know that City Council has always felt they were the ones best suited to make these hard decisions, but you have proved over the past two years that you are not able to make a decision, and therefore have taken no action. At this point, you must defer to the expert department heads to make these decisions. It is your job to enact (pass) them. YOUR TIME HAS CLEARLY EXPIRED ON THIS MATTER.
Thank You,
L.A. City Constituent
xxx
Mailing address:
L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti
200 N. Spring Street, Room 475
Los Angeles, CA 90012
HERE ARE THREE VIDEOS THAT THIS BLOG POST IS BASED UPON:
Posts
