Neighborhood Councils vs. Villaraigosa: How come the city is still in the red despite higher rates, taxes and fees?
The mayor will have to be at his smooth-talking best Saturday when he meets with hundreds of NC members for Budget Day or it likely will become a Day of Reckoning.
Until now City Hall has had an easy time of it as it gouged the public and gave away the treasury in sweetheart contracts and deals but
the hole in the budget keeps getting deeper and resistance to the nine tax and bond issues on the Nov. 4 ballot is growing.
Concerted efforts by the Dept. of Neighborhood (Dis)Empowerment and the City Council have kept NCs fragmented and confused but they are growing more sophisticated and better organized and may be ready to challenge the way the city does business.
"I think one of the things the mayor and his staff will hear is that we understand the need to cut back," Jill Banks Barad, president of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils told Rick Orlov. "What we don't want to hear is more tax or fee increases. What we want to hear is where the city will be cutting back and that it's getting back to basics and don't start new programs we can't afford."
Cut city spending? What a novel idea. The truth is there's little room left for creative bookkeeping with a phony budget in place, revenue falling and costs soaring through with many employees getting raises of up to 5 and 6 percent.
The mayor will have to be at his smooth-talking best Saturday when he meets with hundreds of NC members for Budget Day or it likely will become a Day of Reckoning.
Until now City Hall has had an easy time of it as it gouged the public and gave away the treasury in sweetheart contracts and deals but
the hole in the budget keeps getting deeper and resistance to the nine tax and bond issues on the Nov. 4 ballot is growing.Concerted efforts by the Dept. of Neighborhood (Dis)Empowerment and the City Council have kept NCs fragmented and confused but they are growing more sophisticated and better organized and may be ready to challenge the way the city does business.
"I think one of the things the mayor and his staff will hear is that we understand the need to cut back," Jill Banks Barad, president of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils told Rick Orlov. "What we don't want to hear is more tax or fee increases. What we want to hear is where the city will be cutting back and that it's getting back to basics and don't start new programs we can't afford."
Cut city spending? What a novel idea. The truth is there's little room left for creative bookkeeping with a phony budget in place, revenue falling and costs soaring through with many employees getting raises of up to 5 and 6 percent.
Villaraigosa's goal is to defer the pain until after the March primary when he hopes to win re-election but the nation's economic crisis may be worsening so fast that tough decisions likely will have to be made sooner.
In honor of Helen Bernstein: One of L.A.'s few true leaders
Today, at 10 a.m., the new Helen Bernstein High School in Hollywood at 1309 N. Wilton Pl. will be formally dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Bernstein, the brilliant leader of the teachers union who embraced genuine reform of the schools and City Hall, died tragically in 1997 when she was hit by a car crossing Olympic Boulevard rushing to a community meeting on city charter reform.
Few civic leaders earned the respect of so many across political lines as Bernstein and I often heard people suggest that the course of L.A. history in the last decade would be far different of Bernstein had lived. It's certainly something I believe.
Clean money, ridiculously dirty politics
I'm slowly coming around to thinking "clean money" -- public financing of political campaigns might be a good idea since the local and state electoral processes have been taken hostage by the dirty money of special interests.
But the state legislature's recent approval of a measure to put the issue before voters in 2010 is more like a satire on the subject than real reform.
George Skelton notes that the ballot measure if approved would provide $1 million for candidates for secretary of state who refuse private money.
"The financing would be a little weird: $350 annual fees assessed to Capitol lobbyists and their employers...No legislation is perfect," Skelton comments..
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
This is a great opportunity for the Neighborhood Councils to flex their muscles on our behalf. They should demand to see a list of planned cut-backs and provide input before decisions are finalized. That way they can ensure that our communities still have decent services, such as graffitti removal, adequate staffing at local parks, building and safety code enforcements, etc.
I agree that the Mayor probably won't be able to postpone making painful cutbacks until after the March election. I just wonder how much borrowing the city does to keep itself it going....
Thanks so much Ron for mentioning the ribbon cutting for the Helen Bernstein High School. Helen was an amazing woman whom I first met when I was 12 and she was a counselor at Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar. She wasn't even *my* counselor, and yet she took me under her wing and mentored me and was the most fabulous example of an educator, woman, mother and friend. I owe her an enormous debt and I'm glad to see her honored in this way. We need more like Helen Bernstein.