By CHELSEA CODY
Numbers
have long been thought of as a universal language. The vast majority of
cultures today use the exact same numeric symbols to communicate quantities of
goods and wealth. Mind you, this was a long-drawn-out process, the shift from
literal quantities to numbers.
But it
appears that the City of Los Angeles
is still, even today, struggling with numbers. Controller Wendy Greuel’s most
recent audits of the city’s use of ARRA funding to create jobs is a perfect
example of how the city fails to accurately account for just how much money is
spent to achieve a specific outcome – namely creating jobs.
Now, allow
me to temper what I am about to say with the following personal confession – in
the interest of honesty and transparency – I am a lowly unemployed journalist
struggling with bouts of cynicism and depression. I mention this because after spending a year
working with a man once described as the “crazy pirate ship captain of the
Daily News” on his OurLA.org project, I am wondering if there are ARRA funds enough to create me a job
somewhere in Los Angeles.
One can
hope. But lets get back to the numbers. 
In her audits, Controller Greuel focuses
solely on the Department of Public Works and the Department of Transportation.
In just these two city departments a mere 55 jobs were created with $111 million
in federal stimulus money. The controller outlines some of the ingrained dysfunction in
both structure and process that accounts for this gross misuse of funds but the
problem is larger still.
The City of
Los Angeles has
reportedly received a total of close to $600 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act funds to be used by a variety of departments in a number of different ways.
Back in February, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana issued a memo in response to requests from
the Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Recovery and Reinvestment in which he made
clear that the city had created or retained only 347 full-time jobs, 860
temporary summer jobs, and 67 jobs in the private sector using ARRA Funds.
Contrast these numbers to those spit out by the city’s LA Recovery website, which is supposed to monitor and provide
records of how the city is utilizing ARRA money, that says the city’s ARRA funding
program was originally expected to create or retain 8,118 jobs with $55 million
of the amount received.
In March,
those job numbers were called into question and the city reduced this estimate
down to 4,763. The Mayor’s Office (tellingly) stated that further reductions
might be necessary. This was then followed up by the CAO’s Office reporting
that the funds would create or save 2,822 jobs.
Are you
confused yet? Good. You’re not alone.
These
numbers are puzzling as they are all over the place. But more importantly they
are worrisome. They illustrate just how little is being done to create jobs in
the City of Angels.
Think about
it like this: Over 14 percent of people are unemployed in this city and 25 to
30 percent of Angelenos have given up looking for work or are severely
underemployed.
Meanwhile,
the city is cutting services in a desperate but ineffective attempt to save
money. The number of layoffs and furloughs continue to grow and shift, as the
city is poised to walk a rather short path toward bankruptcy.
But this
story of number confusion and financial turmoil is not unique to L.A.
There are billions
of dollars in stimulus funds floating around all over the United States. Los Angeles is merely a
microcosm of federal stimulus dysfunction. Ever changing rules and means for
counting money and jobs created do little to help people looking for work and
an opportunity to get their lives back on track.
Former L.A.
City Controller and now State Inspector General Laura Chick who was appointed
by Governor Schwarzenegger to oversee the state’s stimulus spending responded
to Greuel’s audits saying:
“It is distressing that the City of Los Angeles is
bogged down in bureaucratic red-tape and unable to spend the stimulus funds in
a timely manner. The state has worked to expedite getting the Recovery Act
funds out to local communities and those dollars were meant to create new jobs
for people who desperately need them.”
Perhaps,
now is the time to cut some of that red tape – to take things a step beyond
simply streamlining and short-circuiting plans to assess and allocate funds and
just spend some of this damn ARRA money.
The numbers
may not make sense, but they don’t lie. Something is not working at City Hall or in Sacramento or Washington and that leaves this frustrated journalist and a large portion of the population not working, too.
The problem is NOT federal dysfunction; it is the failure to implement it on a timely basis on the local level. The failure is on the local level, not the federal level. And spare me the socialist argument. This is not an issue of federalism; it is the issue of implementation. As long as we keep trying to demonize a reasonable economic theory, we will never address the real issue.
And, I am curious. I wonder what the story is for the funds that New York City received during this same period.
The community is going to continue to lose forever if they are always reporting on things after it already happened. Where was everyone on this all last year when it was being brought to your attention. And it was brought to anyone’s attention who watched the council meetings on TV all last year. Keep snoozin’ and losin’ and wait until the next controller’s audit to post about something.
We need a list of the jobs created, the kind and with names. The city should have this information. If not, we want a Fed investigation and indictments.
Tremendous amounts of ARRA money have been funneled into the hands of SEIU, Teamsters, and other union non-profits for bogus job training programs. Hundreds of thousands from Mayor Tony to the Teamsters for that stupid truck driving school on top of the Lopez Canyon landfill.
As long as Mayor Tony is sending this money to the unions, he is pissing down a rat hole of corruption.
Isn’t this what the grand jury is for?
Beutner is going to make news and is not going to be flattering. It had to happen sooner or later with this amateur. Antonio has collected every dishonest,incompetent, wreckless moron to work for him, after the good people deserted him or they were dumped.
Gimme a break, and stop sitting around waiting for the government to create a job for you.
That’s how we got in this mess in the first place — electing politicians whose only definition of economic development is to spend more taxpayer money to put more people on the public payroll. That’s a money pit that this blog has railed against repeatedly.
The ARRA stimulus was designed to promote investment and consumer spending during the recession, which in theory and in practice should create both private- and public-sector jobs (particularly if the promised spending on public works and infrastructure rehabilitation gets untracked).
But ARRA WAS NOT designed simply to “create jobs” by pumping money into salaries and benefits for more people on the public (or even private) payroll.
City Hall, the statehouse and the Congress are indeed filled with mediocre intellects doing boneheaded things. I applaud efforts here and elsewhere to rise up and smite the incompetent bastards.
But please, spare me the boneheaded bleatings of a callow twentysomething “frustrated journalist” who is “struggling with bouts of cynicism and depression” because ARRA funds haven’t trickled down “enough to create me a job somewhere in Los Angeles.”
Stop looking for a golden ticket, honey. Your goal should really be to stay OFF the dole…
I think she made a valid point about the lack of accountability and the implication of possible deception. Although, there may be a lack of evidence, at this point anyway, of any overt wrong doing, there are enough inconsistencies in the City’s numerical budgetary claims for further investigation, whether it be internally or by a higher government branch.
You know, from the money that’s not currently being spent or used for it’s intended purposes, there could be a substantial amount of interest being accrued. It was not identified as to a specific account where the money is being held, after it was received from the depositing government. Where, in City government, is the money currently being held, pending disbursement? City treasury, Trust fund, Special fund, Special General Fund, General Fund, or where?
I would think that taxpayers, City or Federal, should be entitled to that specific information.
As usual, Wendy is a day late and a dollar short. Actually two years late and a $100 million short. Just goes to show she has no sense in setting audit priorities, but what do you expect from someone who could never balance a checkbook when she was on the City Council’s Budget Committee with Bernie”double-dip” Parks.
Welcome back Chelsea! I can’t tell you how many people I know with Bachelors degrees that cannot get a job right now. And each of these “young adults” has a degree in various disciplines – and they all are pretty much back at home from college – living with their parents.
A few years back, you could pick your job when you were leaving college. Now, I think many jobs are out sourced – sent over seas?
How pathetic that every week we are reading about the lack of leadership and bullshit corruption going on in our city. But there is no will or passion to go after the politicians as strongly as the City of Bell. What will it take for people to want to get up off their lazy asses and do something? People usually don’t react until it directly affects them. Well wake the hell up because with the mess these city council members and Mayor have made of our city by drastically cutting services is directly affecting you. If everyone took Ron’s lead and others who are on LA Clean Sweep or LANCC that give a damn this city would have to change and be a much better place for it. SO GET INTO ACTION and start emailing this info to everyone you know
Wow! She’s much cuter than Bruno.
Ummm the city does not hire journalists. You don’t see dance majors complaining about the city not using ARRA funds to give them jobs.
Second, exactly what job on the city personnel website did you apply for? I’d love to know if you even tried or are just being reactive and complaining.
I’m also suprised Ron, being who he was, couldn’t use professional connections to hook you up with a job at the Daily News.