EDITOR”S NOTE: Union leaders are angry and many of their members are angry at them. Community leaders on Neighborhood Councils are ready to go to war over the loss of their funding. And so are hundreds of other people who participate in city affairs and see the damage that the Mayor and City Council will cause with their panicked budget-slashing plan.
Christopher Robleto is one of those people who has given his time and energy to solve some of the city’s problems with the help of the small amount of money provided to the Los Angeles Youth Council. Here is his story:
By Christopher Robleto
Chapter Coordinator, Northeast Division, Los Angeles Youth Council.
In the midst of budget deficits last year, the City Council voted and Mayor
Villaraigosa approved the consolidation of the following in order to
form the new Human Services Department (HSD).
• Commission for Children, Youth, and Their Families
• Commission on the Status of Women
• Human Relations Commission
And
yet, not even a whole year later, the department is up on the chopping
block and facing possible elimination, with a decision to be made as
early as this month.
The HSD only operates on $2.1 million
per year which represents 0.1% of the city’s budget. This is a small
cost to pay when considering what the department does for the City of
Los Angeles on a budget that has already been slashed significantly.
Some things that the HSD does includes:
• Proactively addressing tensions in the community and task forces before they erupt
• Mitigating factors that cause poverty and disenfranchisement
• Empowering youths to make a difference in their communities by housing the Los Angeles Youth Council
• Engaging youths in the civic process and linking them to opportunities and resources
• Promoting awareness of the problems that women in the City of Los Angeles face
• Actively addressing the issue of children and school safety by training parents for the KidWatch Safety Valet Program
•
Serving as the eyes and ears for city policymakers on various issues
including: Juvenile justice, LGBT concerns, education, homelessness,
housing, immigration, interfaith activities, LAPD and LAFD Instruction
and Curriculum Development, and more!
WE NEED YOUR HELP to tell
City Council and the Mayor that cutting the Human Services Department
is not a great idea. The department is an investment that will pay its
dividends on the back end. We gain from having this department in the
long run.
Apart
from that, isn’t it outrageous that the City contemplated using
taxpayers’ dollars for the Laker’s parade? Private donors ended up assuming a $900,000 chunk of the
total cost.
Not only that but City Attorney Carmen Trutanich says that he will not accept cuts to his department. Yet, click here to see where the money is going to…
So
much for “ask[ing] everyone to come together, pitch[ing] in and be[ing]
a small part of a bigger solution” and not “taking a meat cleaver to
essential services.”
I attended the State of the City Address last
year, and I had hope that things would change for the better. Now, I am
not all that sure.
The
Budget and Finance Committee Hearing on the new budget proposals will
be on Monday, February 1, 2010 at the Los Angeles City Hall at 1:00
p.m. We need your help.
See — this is the problem. Everyone says “the City must cut expenses NOW” but no one wants it to be them, or their “pet” program.
It’s not as if it should be such a shock, anyway. Ever since the agencies were consolidated and cut last year, it’s been pretty much an open secret that they would probably go this year.
The City has to get back to basics — fund the core responsibilities of City government FIRST. Human Relations Commission, or department, or whatever … not so much. There are lots of programs like this, that may do good work but that have to be put aside so that other programs, the ones that directly affect the quality of life here, the ones that affect the most people most directly, get the funding they need.
Thank you for demonstrating the problem, Mr. Kaye. The city makes ONE decision, and your blog posts why it is a bad idea. I bet if the city made a million suggestions, you would have a million reasons against it. BOO HOO HOO, we have to cut Human Services. Is that the business the city is in?
Fluff agency. Should go.
9:56 is right. This blog and likeminded critics-of-everything demand more cuts and then when a cut is suggested you explain why it’s a bad idea because it’s only a couple of million anyway. And since when do you support “poverty programs?” More inconsistency from the critics.
One thing that is valid is WHY a year later, has no one actually done anything about consolidating? Looking at how ALL depts. can be better consolidated should be a first-step priority, which might fall under the Controller’s purview. BUT of course she can’t do such audits since Carmen has tied her up in court and now, tells Paul Hatfield on his blog and others that even the Charter Amendment he allegedly committed to write as a stalling tactic is MAD and a bad idea. So WHO is authorized to conduct such a review and issue mandates?
Santana did the best he could here, but it’s arguably true as his critics say that slashing depts. with a heavy red pen rather than letting dept. heads get together and make such cuts more strategically is another crude effort which will lead to unanticipated negative results like how ERIP will hurt services by getting rid of experienced people and replacing them with newer, cheaper inexperienced ones (the strategy the LA Times took and look at them now). But wait, the latest round of city cuts WILL target the youngest with least seniority. The Controller is the closest to the official with both the staff, mandate and authority to do this in conjunction with Santana – free her up to do it.
While I respect the comments that have been posted, I must disagree with several points.
The Human Services Department is not a “fluff agency.” It is essential. There are staff members working out there on real issues that affect different communities: LGBT, women, youths. (I find it ironic that one person commented on how the city should fund its core responsibilities, yet everyone raises hell when we want to give more money to the police and fire department.)Anyway, one service that the department provides is to the people who work for the city themselves. When necessary, the department provides training on what you may deem to be common skills: mediation, conflict resolution, etc.. Do you realize how much money the department has saved the city by training staff and intervening in situations?
I just had to laugh after reading this.
Last I checked, IT WAS THOSE WITH THE SENIORITY, THOSE WHO ARE OLDER AND ‘WISER’ THAT SCREWED THE CITY!
Thanks for providing a youth prospective, Christopher! Glad to know that the young folks care.
Keep up the great work, you and the Los Angeles Youth council. I’m rooting for you all!
I was a neighborhood budget advocate last year, and in the last two years, there have been youths at the table.
In this private meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that is limited to roughly 20 attendees, most folks were of the older generation, but the there were two youths present who were very articulate in their thoughts and demonstrated a deeper understanding of the city budget and the processes than the average Joe.
They certainly have a place at the table, and I applaud Christopher for sharing his concerns. Everyone should have a place at the table, and if this is something the youths want, I am in full support. Having had interacted with the Los Angeles Youth Council and the Commission for Children, Youth, and Their Families, I can tell you that they do an amazing job, and I would hate to say goodbye to this department.