Author: Maeve Reston

In the midst of a standoff with the Department of Water and Power over proposed rate increases, members of the Los Angeles City Council plan to roll out a series of proposals to rein in the power of the public utility, which has long been criticized for its lack of transparency.

Councilman Greig Smith said members plan to introduce as many as eight motions Wednesday, including a change to the city charter that would allow the City Council to exert control over the utility’s budget.

“We want to see what they are spending their money on, we want to know what they’re doing. We don’t know, so we need to know that,” Smith said.

Other proposed charter changes, which would go before voters on the ballot next March, would allow the City Council to remove the department’s general manager and members of the DWP board, moves that are now under the purview of the mayor.

The interim DWP general manager, S. David Freeman, angered City Council members this week when he recommended that the DWP board abandon plans to transfer a promised $73.5 million in “surplus revenue” to the city’s cash-strapped treasury. Freeman said his recommendation was based on the fact that the City Council did not approve a rate increase last week that was needed to cover the agency’s bills. Freeman said the utility was losing money regularly due to higher fuel costs so there was no such available "surplus."

The City Council agreed last week to allow the DWP to increase bills by 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed. DWP board members rejected that, however, and said they wanted an increase of 0.7 cents per kilowatt hour instead. The council then vetoed that proposal.

Both proposals would have provided DWP with 0.5 cents per kilowatt hour to pay for the utility’s existing financial obligations. Any additional money — 0.1 cents under the council’s proposal, 0.2 cents from the DWP board’s proposal — would have been directed toward new energy conservation and renewable power initiatives.

Smith said another proposal that was being introduced Wednesday would change the makeup of the five-member DWP board. Currently the mayor nominates the members and the council confirms them.

Under a plan advanced by Smith and others, two DWP board members would be appointed by the mayor, including one who is an expert in the utility field. Two other members would be named by the City Council, with one serving as a representative from the business community. A fifth would be chosen by neighborhood councils. Commissioners and the general manager could each be removed on a two-thirds vote of the council.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

A paparazzo was arrested Friday night after fighting with a competitor curbside at Los Angeles International Airport while jostling for shots of the British singer Pixie Lott, according to airport police.

Around 10 p.m. “there was pushing and shoving for position and a fight ensued” between two of the paparazzi, said Sgt. Belinda Nettles, a spokeswoman for the airport police. Stefan Saad, 42, was arrested on suspicion of battery with great bodily injury, which is a felony, police said.

The other person involved in the scuffle was treated at local hospital, but Nettles said she did not have any information about his condition.

Saad was booked on $50,000 bail and released at around 3:30a.m. Saturday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website.

— Maeve Reston and Ruben Vives

Photo: British singer Pixie Lott. Mercury Records Music Group

Supporters of immigrant rights rallied for reform in Los Angeles on Saturday in a march that was scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. at Broadway and Olympic Boulevard, wind its way north to Temple Street and end back at the Olympic and Broadway intersection. 

The event is part of an orchestrated effort across the country to pressure lawmakers to move ahead with immigration legislation this year. Last Sunday, tens of thousands of immigrant rights proponents rallied on the National Mall in Washington.

Sens. Charles E. Schumer  (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) outlined a framework for the legislation in mid-March that would provide a path to citizenship for some of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., enhance border enforcement efforts and create a program that admits temporary workers. The plan would also create biometric Social Security cards for workers that would allow employers to verify their status.

President Obama has said he is committed to seeking bipartisan consensus on the issue this year. But Graham also warned that the bitter fight over passage of Obama’s healthcare legislation would dim the chances of getting legislation though the Senate this year.

— Maeve Reston

Spending a lazy Sunday afternoon at L.A.’s public libraries may no longer be an option because of a citywide hiring freeze and the early retirements this year of more than 100 library employees. The Board of Library Commissioners will vote Thursday on a plan for Sunday closures at the city’s Central Library and eight regional libraries, which house larger collections than the 64 branch libraries scattered throughout the city.

Friday-morning hours were cut at regional and branch libraries in November to absorb the city employee furloughs that were part of this year’s budget deal. Though the city set aside money for 1,132 library positions this year, nearly 100 of those jobs are vacant and cannot be filled because of the hiring freeze. In addition, 107 library employees signed up for the city’s early retirement plan, which was offered to 2,400 Los Angeles employees last fall to help address the budget crisis

Library officials say Sundays are one of the days with the fewest patrons. If the plan is approved by commissioners, employees will be reassigned to ensure that other branches can stay open. The 64 branch libraries are already closed on Sundays.

Under the proposal, which would take effect in mid-April, all of the city’s libraries would also close two hours earlier — 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. — on Mondays and Wednesdays. The eight regional libraries –Arroyo Seco, Exposition Park, Frances Howard Goldwyn Hollywood, Mid-Valley, North Hollywood, San Pedro, West Valley and West Los Angeles — would open at noon rather than 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Roy Stone, president of the Librarians’ Guild AFSCME Local 2626, said the early retirements and hiring freeze have created major scheduling headaches, especially when employees are out sick or on jury duty.

“We can barely get by,” Stone said. “This will allow the staffing to be more concentrated during those hours that we’re open, so when you don’t have enough staff you can get by. Everybody is just working as hard as they can to maintain service hours now.”

With the city facing a $485-million budget gap next fiscal year, the city’s libraries could face far more drastic cuts. Twenty librarians, 20 library clerks and 60 messenger clerks are on the list of the first 1,000 job cuts authorized by city leaders this year. But because of an agreement with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, those employees would not be laid off until July 1.

City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who heads the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee, said city officials are continuing to explore options to make sure libraries stay open during their busiest hours, which he said are from 3:30 p.m. to closing. 

LaBonge said the city should also seek partnerships with private donors who could help keep the lights on at branch libraries, which cost $40,000 a week to operate.

“We are trying not to lose the young, dedicated team of professionals,” he said. “We want to keep these libraries open as many hours as we can.”

— Maeve Reston at L.A. City Hall

Photo: Sergio Castillo, shown in 2008, reads a magazine at the Los Angeles Public Library Pico-Union branch. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

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Calligraphers, art instructors, background investigators and video technicians at the city’s public access television channel were among the first 39 Los Angeles city employees to receive their pink slips in a layoff process that began last week.

Los Angeles leaders have authorized the elimination of as many as 4,000 jobs to help bridge the city’s budget gap, which is $212 million this fiscal year and as much as $485 million next year because of the drop in tax revenue. Personnel analysts are working through the list of the first 459 positions identified by the city’s general managers, but many of those employees cannot be dismissed until July 1 because of an agreement with the Coalition of L.A. City Unions.

Maggie Whelan, general manager of the personnel department, told Council members Wednesday that her department could process layoff paperwork for as many 800 employees by June 30. But because of the labor agreement, the city’s top financial analyst, Miguel Santana, said the city would only save about $7 million from layoffs this fiscal year. Next year’s savings from the elimination of 4,000 positions is estimated to be about $300 million.

Council members Paul Koretz and Bill Rosendahl questioned the logic of terminating as many as nine staff members at Channel 35, which carries live City Council meetings three days a week along with other city programming. Rosendahl said he feared that the layoffs would cut off the flow of information to constituents, while Koretz said he did not think members of the Council were aware that public access television services would be “devastated to this degree.”

“There may be some of those positions that we might want to keep on board,” Koretz said. Santana told him the employees had already been notified.  

Many city leaders are hoping to avoid the bulk of the layoffs by convincing the city’s employee unions to concede to a pay cut of as much as 10% for next fiscal year. During Wednesday’s budget hearing, Santana said union leaders haven’t given any indication that they are interested in accepting pay reductions.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

Related:

L.A. City Hall fears ripple effect of layoffs

With as many as 4,000 job eliminations ahead, Los Angeles city officials have issued the first pink slip to a curator at the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro.

City leaders authorized the job cuts last month to address the city’s budget gap, which could grow to $600 million next year. The employee, who was given two weeks notice, was serving at will and was exempt from civil service protections that cover the vast majority of the city’s 48,500 workers. The position of the lighthouse curator, which is paid for by the Harbor Department and not the cash-strapped general fund, will be filled by another historic site curator in the parks department.  

“It was a very unfortunate position to be in and it’s a very unfortunate time for the city of L.A.,” said Jon Kirk Mukri, the recreation and parks department general manager. “I fully expect there will be additional layoffs in my department and others soon.”

The termination notice surprised Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the harbor area. During a council budget hearing Wednesday, she said she was frustrated that job cuts had begun without a report to the City Council about what city services will be affected.

"When are we going to begin to be told honestly what these layoffs mean, what positions and people are we talking about, what services are no longer going to be there?" said Hahn, who added that she got a call this week from the employee who was being let go. "I know Rome is burning, but … I still feel like there are things we can do to save positions, save people at no cost to the general fund."

— Maeve Reston at L.A. City Hall

Photo: Point Fermin Lighthouse. City of Los Angeles.

twitter.com/LATimesReston

 

 

The Los Angeles City Council plans to vote Tuesday on deactivating 10 rescue ambulances around the city during nighttime hours, which is when those stations historically have the least number of calls.

[Updated at 12:42 p.m.: Councilmembers delayed a decision on whether to reduce ambulance services. They asked the Fire Department to provide more analysis of how much slower response times would be in outlying areas of the city.]

By reassigning those 60 firefighters attached to the ambulances, the move could save as much as $23 million next fiscal year when the city’s deficit could grow to as much as $600 million.

Fire officials have emphasized that there will still be a firetruck with life-saving equipment at each of the affected stations with firefighters capable of responding to heart attacks and other emergencies. The ambulances slated for closure handle an average of 3.5 calls daily, according to city officials.

But a number of council members are worried about slower response times and are exploring whether the department should instead reassign a number of "staff assistants" to the city’s fire chiefs.

— Maeve Reston at LA City Hall

Photo: L.A. Times file

Map: The locations of the ambulances that could be shut down. Credit: Google Maps

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Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked council members last month to lend the city millions of dollars from their discretionary accounts to plug the $212-million budget gap. And he warned that he would veto any effort by members to transfer the flexible funds into their office salary accounts this year.

Villaraigosa followed through on that threat Monday. In a letter to the City Council, the mayor said he was vetoing a recent motion by Councilman Tony Cardenas directing $278,000 from his portion of the council’s Street Furniture Revenue Fund to his staff salaries and several projects in his district, including graffiti removal, sidewalk cleaning and a median irrigation system in Sun Valley.

City Council members have a series of special accounts at their disposal for pet projects in their districts. Money in the street furniture fund comes from advertising on city bus shelters and is apportioned among each of the 15 members for beautification and transit projects of their choosing in their districts.

“It is not intended to augment elected officials’ staff salary accounts,” Villaraigosa wrote in Monday’s letter. “And as I have repeatedly stated, given the severity of the financial crisis we face, uncommitted discretionary funds should be directed to the Reserve Fund.” The mayor added that he thought Cardenas’ request was a “misuse” of street furniture funds that was “fiscally imprudent.”

Cardenas could not be reached for comment. Although the City Charter gives the mayor power over certain monetary transfers, one of the City Council’s top legislative analysts, Sharon Tso, said she is seeking advice from city lawyers on whether the mayor’s veto is valid.

"Historically the mayor has never weighed in on any of these" transfers, Tso said. "I don’t think it’s subject to the mayor’s veto."

The city’s administrative code describes a broad array of possible uses for the street furniture money, including consultant and staff costs for design or construction of transit-related beautification projects and public safety improvements.  

The City Council recently approved a number of other members’ requests for transfers from their discretionary accounts to council members’ staff salary accounts, including a $150,000 transfer to Bill Rosendahl’s office, $95,000 to Herb Wesson’s and $95,000 to Jan Perry’s.

Those three salary transfers were approved by the City Council before the mayor made his veto threat in a Feb. 12 letter. Villaraigosa did not try to block them because they were approved before his directive, according to an aide. They were deemed approved without his signature between Feb. 16 and Feb. 23.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

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Villaraigosa sets sights on City Council’s pet projects

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Pink slips will soon be on their way to Los Angeles city workers now that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his general managers have finalized the first list of 542 positions slated for elimination.

In a memo to 13 general managers Wednesday, Villaraigosa’s chief of staff, Jeff Carr, ordered each agency head to immediately sign off on the proposed layoff list for his or her department, and said he expected “full cooperation” with the directive. The move is intended to help close the city’s $212-million budget shortfall this fiscal year and help shrink next year’s $485-million gap.

“If there was any doubt that that city is moving forward on the original 1,000 position eliminations, this confirms that we are moving forward on that,” said City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana. He added that department heads must now determine whether workers in those positions have already been transferred to other positions.

The initial list includes the elimination of 89 child-care workers in the parks department, more than 100 messengers, clerks and librarians in the library department, and about 50 tree surgeons in the bureau of street services (some of whom may move to the Department of Water and Power).

Many of those job eliminations won’t happen until July 1, however, because the workers are protected by an agreement struck last year between city leaders and the Coalition of L.A. City Unions. In the next few months, the most vulnerable workers are those who are not represented by any union or employees who are part of the Engineer and Architects Assn.

Though the City Council approved the elimination of 4,000 positions last month, the list initiating the process seemed to catch some members off guard. Flipping through the thick document on the council floor, Councilman Bill Rosendahl questioned the logic of the list drawn up by general managers and the mayor’s staff. 

“Are these the right jobs to eliminate especially if we want our trees trimmed, our parks open, our libraries going, or is there is another strategy within the department that can be used?” Rosendahl said. “It definitely means a cutback in services.”

Officials said they expect to finalize the remaining positions on the 1,000 job cut list within the next few days. The mayor plans to outline the 3,000 additional job cuts when he presents next year’s budget, which is due next month. 

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

The Los Angeles City Council voted Thursday to give up $12 million that would normally pay for pet projects in their districts and instead use it to replenish the city’s emergency reserve. The city’s credit rating has been downgraded in recent days in part because officials plan to tap that reserve to counter the city’s $212-million budget shortfall.

With the city facing up to 4,000 job cuts, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked council members last month to loan the reserve as much as $40 million from their discretionary accounts, which they have used for projects such as crosswalks, pocket parks, street repair, graffiti removal and, on occasion, their staff salary accounts.

Council members agreed that each of their 15 offices could determine which accounts to draw money from to reach their $800,000 share of the total. City officials expect most of the money to come from a fund replenished with tax revenue from redevelopment areas. The money is currently earmarked for economic development projects in the council districts that encompass those redevelopment areas.

Councilman Greig Smith said Thursday’s action was a first step and that budget analysts would continue to scour the accounts to identify other money that may be available to help cover this year’s gap. For some of the accounts, such as one for mitigation measures around the Sunshine Canyon landfill, there are legal restrictions limiting how money can be used.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

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Villaraigosa sets sights on City Council’s pet project funds

Child-care services provided by the city of Los Angeles will be scaled back dramatically by this summer as the city rushes to patch a $212-million shortfall. The move is one of the harsh realities facing city officials as they move toward eliminating as many as 4,000 city jobs to deal with a budget deficit that could grow to $1 billion within the next few years.

About 900 children are enrolled in the city’s 26 licensed child-care centers. While those programs cost the city more than $7 million annually, the city collects just $2 million, in part because officials charge an average of $250 per month.

“We are subsidizing excessively our program and we can’t afford to do that,” City Councilman Greig Smith said during a budget debate at City Hall on Tuesday. “… I don’t think we have a system that we’ve really proven is very effective. Some things government does well, some they don’t.”

Council President Eric Garcetti noted that the city’s services cover a fraction of the families in Los Angeles. “We took a lucky 1% or 2% of people who need child care and said ‘You’ve just won the lottery,’” he said. “Well in bad times, maybe that’s not the best approach.”

Recreation and Parks officials plan to shift their licensed child-care centers to facilities that are open for 15 hours a week instead of 40. Instead of offering full-time preschool and day care, officials said many operations would instead offer after-school and sports programs, in some cases partnering with adjacent recreation centers that offer those kinds of programs. 

The change will allow the parks department to meet the target set by city budget officials for eliminating 125 jobs as part of the city’s first 1,000 job cuts. Because some of the child-care positions are part time, about 132 city workers will be affected, parks officials said.

The preschools at Jim Gilliam Recreation Complex and at the Expo Center will continue to operate because they are funded through grants. Garcetti and Smith said the city should look for organizations willing to operate the city’s 24 other child-care centers.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

twitter.com/LATimesReston

Photo: L.A. Times file of L.A.-area child care facility.

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Some Los Angeles City Council members didn’t appreciate the tone of the audit released Wednesday by their former colleague, City Controller Wendy Greuel.

The morning after Greuel called on them to give up some of the money in their council-controlled accounts so it could be used to help rebuild budget reserves, multiple copies of a document detailing some of Greuel’s own discretionary spending while she represented the San Fernando Valley mysteriously appeared on a table in the council chamber.

Greuel’s audit showed that $25 million had flowed into the accounts over the last 12 years from fees and the sale of city properties — though only $10.7 million is still available. Half of the money from most city property sales historically has been deposited in the discretionary account of the council district where the property was located. The controller called on members to permanently change the city’s policy to ensure that 100% of the money gets deposited in the general fund, which pays for basic services like police. That fund is currently $212 million short.

But even one of the council’s fiscal hawks, budget chairman Bernard C. Parks, said Greuel’s policy change proposal didn’t make sense because it would prevent council members from taking immediate action on safety issues.

“What does a council office do if they have a burning problem of fixing a stoplight so that they don’t have a child killed?” Parks said in an interview Wednesday. “Do you tell a parent in the community: ‘We know this is an unsafe crosswalk, but you’re on the list for eight years.’” 

"I don’t think [Greuel] was ever reluctant in using them while she was in office," Parks said.  

Greuel’s audit followed a Times story Tuesday about the $40 million in council-controlled discretionary accounts, which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to borrow to shore up the city’s reserves this year. Council members have emphasized that many of the accounts were set up to create flexibility in each district for improving streets and neighborhoods. Some of the accounts, such as a fund to mitigate the effect of the Sunshine Canyon landfill, have specific legal restrictions.

The spreadsheet circulating Thursday on Greuel’s discretionary spending showed items such as $150,000 to repave a portion of Moorpark Avenue, $50,000 for security cameras to catch taggers and illegal dumpers in locations identified by neighborhood councils and $13,000 for decorative crosswalks in Sherman Oaks. She designated an additional $64,000 from her share of the city’s pipeline franchise fees for salaries and other expenses to fix curbs and gutters at an intersection in Studio City.

"This is simply a distraction from the fiscal crisis the city is facing, with a $212-million budget deficit. It is ironic that time is being spent circulating a list of the streets and potholes we repaired instead of balancing the budget," Greuel said. 

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

twitter.com/LATimesReston

With the city facing a $212-million shortfall, Controller Wendy Greuel called on City Council members Wednesday to give up their discretionary funds from the sale of city properties to help rebuild shrinking reserves.

Greuel’s audit of the so-called real property trust funds found that over the last 12 years, property sales and fees have generated almost $25 million for council offices to use as they please. More than a quarter of that money was collected in the last five years from franchise fees for miles of pipelines that run under city streets.

Last week, the city’s budget analysts identified nearly $40 million in a series of off-budget accounts controlled by the City Council, including almost $10.7 million remaining in the real property trusts. A Times story detailing the discretionary accounts showed many council members used some of the money to cushion their offices’ salary budgets.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who ordered the elimination of 1,000 city jobs last week, has asked the council to loan $40 million from those accounts to replenish the city’s reserves, which could be nearly drained by this summer. But even a loan could require the council to change the laws that created the trusts, council aides say.

In years past when a city property was sold, half the proceeds went into the discretionary accounts controlled by the council member who has that property in his or her district. The other half went into the general fund, which pays basic services such as police, libraries and parks. Venice has a special policy to ensure that the full proceeds from sales in that area are used for Venice projects and programs.

As a council member representing the San Fernando Valley, Greuel sponsored legislation to divert the full proceeds from property sales to the general fund for two years. The temporary change will expire in June. On Wednesday, the controller urged council members to make the change permanent. 

“It simply does not make sense that properties are acquired using money from the general fund, yet when they are sold they go directly to particular districts and doesn’t benefit the entire city,” she said. 

“This is much-needed money for balancing our city’s budget deficit,” Greuel added. “Everyone is going to need to sacrifice to help solve our current fiscal crisis.”

The controller’s office said the city is negotiating property sales that could total $7 million this year. Auditors identified an additional 12 unused city properties, including libraries, animal shelters and fire stations, which they said could generate an additional $15 million if the council agreed to sell them.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

twitter.com/LATimesReston

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Members of the Los Angeles City Council will renew their efforts to address the city’s budget problems Tuesday as they consider a three-year plan to deal with the deficit. But as they’ve debated how to whittle down the city’s costs, we’ve noticed that some have been moving money into their office’s salary accounts.

This year’s budget set aside $21.4 million for salaries in the 15 council offices and allocated $7.9 million for salaries in the mayor’s office, according to a recent budget memo from the city’s top financial analyst.

In our story today, we detail some of the council-controlled accounts that members can use for their special projects. One is their "street furniture" fund, which captures revenue generated by ads on city bus shelters. We note that:

Since November, amid dire warnings from their financial analysts about plummeting tax revenue, nine council members requested transfers of at least $1.6 million from their street furniture accounts to buttress the money available to pay their aides.

Just last week, four council members asked for transfers into their office’s salary accounts: Richard Alarcon ($389,000), Tony Cardenas  ($278,000), Janice Hahn($100,000) and Bernard C. Parks ($95,000). Their motions said the funds were needed to assist on transit-related projects. These have yet to come up for debate.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

twitter.com/LATimesReston

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Villaraigosa sets sights on City Council’s pet projects funds

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Representatives from two credit rating agencies expressed concern Monday about Los Angeles’ precarious financial position and the City Council’s indecision on budget cuts last week.

In a memo to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council members, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said Fitch Ratings told one of his aides they were monitoring a number of factors that could lead them to downgrade the city’s credit rating. They included the erosion of the city’s reserves, the city’s structural deficit and the failure of city officials to reduce the size of the city’s workforce.

Later Monday afternoon, Moody’s Investors Service also told city budget analysts they were concerned that the council had not adopted certain midyear budget adjustments to deal with a $212-million shortfall. Next year, the city’s deficit is expected to rise to $484 million.

Last November, Fitch downgraded the city’s credit rating on $2.94 billion in debt — a move that made it more expensive for the city to borrow money.

Santana’s memo quoted a representative from Fitch stating Monday that there was “an amazing opportunity for the elected officials to show leadership and for a valid reason. According to the press, though, they can’t seem to step up and make decisions. So if it can’t be done now, then when?”

On Tuesday, the council plans to revisit the three-year budget plan outlined by Santana.

Villaraigosa, who last week ordered the elimination of 1,000 jobs, is expected to make a guest appearance at the council meeting to lay out his plan to deal with the budget crisis. 

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

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A day after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered the elimination of 1,000 jobs to address the city’s budget crisis, Chief Deputy City Atty. Bill Carter wrote a memo stating the mayor does not have authority under the City Charter “on his own to order layoffs.”

In the Friday memo, Carter advised employees in the office of City Atty. Carmen Trutanich that Villaraigosa lacks the power to compel city department heads to lay off employees, an opinion that puts the city’s top lawyer at odds with the mayor. Trutanich has strenuously opposed City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana’s proposal to eliminate 100 positions in the city attorney’s office as part of the plan to cut 1,000 jobs from the city’s rolls. City attorney officials say to do so would limit their ability to prosecute criminal cases.

Carter opined in his memo that the mayor’s “urgent directive” Thursday is “not binding on department heads," who the mayor can hire and fire as he sees fit. He also said the office has "no intention" of laying off any staff until the City Council directs them to do so.

Because Trutanich is an elected official, Carter wrote, “the mayor’s limited authority under the Charter does not extend to this office or other elected offices.”

“The mayor’s authority extends only to ‘departments, agencies and appointed offices’,” Carter wrote. “Although department heads and elected offices have the power independently to manage their personnel and budgets, including laying off personnel as they deem necessary, the mayor cannot compel such action. He certainly cannot compel it in this office.” 

In an interview, Carter confirmed that he wrote the memo, obtained by The Times, but said he could not discuss whether his office had given legal advice to general managers of other city departments about their options Friday. “This email went to our employees in order to alleviate any anxiety they may have based on the reporting of the mayor’s action,” he said.

Aides to the mayor said they would not comment until they have reviewed the memo.

[Updated at 4:51 p.m.: Brian Currey, counsel to the Mayor, praised Trutanich’s efforts to alleviate the city’s budget problems through debt collections and by reducing lawsuit judgments and settlements. He added that Villaraigosa doesn’t “have any intention of trying to force the city attorney to lay off or transfer any of his employees.”

 

But Currey also noted that Villaraigosa is the city’s chief executive officer and that general managers answer to him. “He has said he is going to work through his department heads to effectuate transfers and layoffs, and we fully expect those managers to comply with the mayor’s wishes,” Currey said. So far, all of the city’s general managers have been cooperative, he said.]

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

In a chaotic eight-hour budget hearing Wednesday, members of the Los Angeles City Council set aside a slew of budget proposals designed to prevent the city from going bankrupt. But they did approve a reduction to one subsidy program that covers the trash fees of at least 58,395 low-income senior citizens and disabled residents in Los Angeles.

Most Los Angeles customers who live in single-family homes pay $36.32 per month in trash and recycling fees, while apartment dwellers pay $24.33, according to city officials. But disabled residents and seniors (62 or older) whose household income is less than $31,700 can apply for the Solid Waste Lifeline Rate Program to cover 100% of those fees.

The number of applicants for the program has climbed steadily in the midst of the economic downturn. This year, the city budgeted $16.6 million for the program and it is already $6.7 million over budget.

Councilman Greig Smith had proposed reducing the subsidy to bring it line with other large cities in California. (The city’s survey of the 10 largest California cities showed Los Angeles offered the most generous aid program. The city that came closest was San Jose with a 30% discount; Los Angeles County offers a 25% discount).

But Smith’s proposal drew vociferous criticism from Councilman Richard Alarcon and several others who said it unfairly targeted the most vulnerable residents. 

“This is just absolutely, fundamentally wrong,” Alarcon said. “Everywhere in the state they have lifeline programs to ensure that people get service, and I just think the city has been a vanguard on these programs and I don’t think now is the time to stop.”

Smith noted that many cities do not offer a discount program. “We are still giving a lifeline that is well within the realm of what everybody else in the state of California is doing,” Smith told Alarcon during a heated debate. “….This is a realization of the fact that we don’t have money to give. If you can come up with $6 million somewhere that we’ve missed, we’ll take a look at allocating it to that.”

Ultimately, the Council members voted 11 to 4 to reduce the subsidy over two years with council members Alarcon, Smith, Ed Reyes and Council President Eric Garcetti opposing that change. In a separate vote, 13 council members voted to impose a cap that would bar new participants from the program.

Under the new fee structure, lifeline customers who live in a single-family home will have to pay $12.71 per month for trash fees beginning as early as July. During the second year those monthly fees will rise to $25.42. City officials also plan to begin more aggressively verifying whether current participants still qualify.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall 

twitter.com/LATimesReston

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As the Los Angeles City Council debated how to close a budget shortfall that is expected to grow to nearly $484 million next fiscal year, the city’s top budget analyst for the first time identified more than $30 million in accounts controlled by City Council members that are generally kept off the books—reserved for special projects in their districts.

When City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana outlined options last week for closing this fiscal year’s $218-million budget gap, some city officials privately grumbled that the offices of council members looked to be untouched. During a budget hearing Monday, Councilman Bernard C. Parks ordered Santana to generate an addendum report showing all possible cuts across the city, including the Police Department.

In a spreadsheet obtained by The Times that was not publicly released as part of Wednesday’s addendum budget report, Santana’s office showed $26.6 million in the council’s “discretionary special accounts.” If the council agrees, some of that money could be used to replenish dwindling city reserves, analysts said.

Within those discretionary accounts is at least $6.5 million generated by the sale of surplus properties, according to the memo. (Historically when a city property was sold, half of the proceeds went to the council district where the property was located, while the other half was deposited into the city’s general fund, which pays for basic services such as parks and libraries.)

The $26.6 million also includes $4.8 million in “street furniture” money, which is generated by ads on bus shelters and kiosks, that can be used by council members for beautification projects, or in some cases to pad their salary accounts. There are also a number of small trusts that council members use to award scholarships and rewards to residents whose tips lead to the conviction of vandals and taggers. 

But several city officials cautioned that not all of the $26.6 million is available because some is tied to specific areas of the city. For example, although there is $7 million in a council account called “community amenities funds.” Councilman Greig Smith noted that at least $5.6 million of that money must be spent for community benefit projects within a few miles of the Sunshine Canyon landfill to mitigate the effects of the dump on neighbors. Smith’s office plans to direct those funds to two major projects—a park in Aliso Canyon in Granada Hills and for the relocation of baseball and soccer fields for children in Granada Hills that were scheduled to close.

In addition to the $26.6 million, Santana’s memo showed that there is at least $10 million available in a separate account controlled by council members that is generated in the city’s redevelopment areas, which certain council members can use for economic development projects their districts.

According to the memo, there is also $3.5 million left over this year that was designated for items such as heritage month celebrations and special events citywide such as an El Grito celebration, as well as events in council members’ districts, such as 10k races, Halloween carnivals, parades and street fairs.

In their report, budget analysts also calculated possible reductions to the offices of the mayor and council. Santana said a 5% cut to the $21-million salary accounts of the 15 council members would save more than a $1 million, while a 5% cut to the nearly $8-million salary account in the mayor’s office would save $395,245.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall 

A plan to close Los Angeles’ budget gap by eliminating at least 1,000 positions in Los Angeles city government is headed to the full City Council for consideration Wednesday, but it failed to win majority support from members of the council’s budget and finance committee. 

In addition to a $208-million shortfall this year, the city is facing a $484-million deficit in the 2010-11 fiscal year. The city’s top budget analyst, Miguel Santana, has warned council members that credit rating agencies are closely monitoring their actions and that the daily cost of delaying layoffs ($338,000) is equivalent to four more positions that will need to be eliminated to balance the city’s books.

But on Monday night, three council members said they were not ready to vote for cuts of that magnitude. Only the committee’s chairman, Councilman Bernard Parks, and Councilman Greig Smith supported advancing the layoff plan.

Councilman Jose Huizar said he believed layoffs were inevitable, but still needed to do “a little homework” to understand the proposals.

“I’m not there yet; I may be there on Wednesday,” he said.

At first, Councilman Bill Rosendahl voted in favor of the layoff plan, but moments later he switched his vote, stating that he needed further clarification about whether jobs could be preserved in several departments, including human services, disability and environmental affairs.

Throughout the evening, Councilman Paul Koretz said he was not comfortable with eliminating 1,000 positions “until we actually have our priorities straight.”

“When we’re still hiring in some areas of the city budget and we’re laying off in others — we’re hiring police and laying off firefighters, I don’t think we have our act together,” Koretz said.

Santana clarified that while his proposal would do away with 64 firefighter positions, those firefighters would be moved out into other vacant jobs in the field.   

Frustrations flared during the 11-hour session that ended after midnight. Rosendahl and Koretz led efforts to block the elimination of the city’s human services, environmental affairs and disability departments. At one point, Rosendahl warned city budget analysts that doing away with the disability department was “pennywise and dollar foolish.” 

Several minutes later, when Rosendahl and Koretz again teamed up to oppose dissolving the environmental affairs department, Smith questioned whether his colleagues were ready to show leadership on the “tough choices.”

“I’m seeing an erosion of being willing to do the hard things that we have to do in the next few months,” Smith said. “We’ve talked about it a lot, and now we’re presented with those opportunities to do those hard things and people are saying, ‘I don’t want to do this; I don’t want to do that.’”

“It’s the reality, folks, that’s where we are right now,” Smith said. “If you want to start picking and choosing every single department that comes here and complains, then we’re going to come out of this right where we were expecting to be on July 1st: We’re going to be out of money, out of cash, and bankrupt.”

— Maeve Reston

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Concerned for the safety of several witnesses, prosecutors with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s  office obtained a grand jury indictment last month of a former Los Angeles neighborhood council president who had been charged in October with misappropriating city funds.

James Harris, who headed the Empowerment Congress Southwest Area Neighborhood Development Council in South Los Angeles, is the fifth neighborhood council leader to face criminal charges for misuse of taxpayer funds. The money had been allotted to the groups, which received $50,000 annually until this year when their budgets were reduced to $45,000. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Harris in mid-February, but Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman said the indictment would allow the case to go to trial more quickly.

At his arraignment Friday, Harris pleaded not guilty to four counts in the superseding indictment, which accused him of misappropriating $152,000, embezzlement and falsifying receipts and neighborhood council minutes (documentation required to justify a neighborhood council’s expenses.)

Huntsman said that because of Harris’ prior federal conviction for bank robbery in 1985 and two state felony robbery convictions in 1986, he could face up to 14 years in prison under California’s three-strikes law. Harris’ lawyer could not immediately be reached.

According to Huntsman, Harris had contacted several witnesses in recent months. In one instance, Huntsman said Harris offered to send a car to pick up a witness and drive her to an undisclosed location to meet him.

“I think that would make anyone nervous if somebody’s talking to them who has strike priors and alleged gang ties,” Huntsman said, adding there are a number of witnesses “who feel their safety is in danger.”

Harris’ bail was reduced from more than $1 million to $100,000 after supporters at a previous court hearing praised his work in the community. He was required to post bond today.

He was removed as president of the neighborhood council by the city’s Department of Neighborhood Empowerment last year. That department, which oversees the neighborhood council funding program, could face deep budget cuts as the city tries to close a $208-million budget gap this fiscal year.

The city’s top budget analyst, Miguel Santana, has asked City Council members to consider a 50% reduction in the neighborhood councils’ budgets in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. In his three-year budget plan, Santana also called for eliminating the bankcard system that allows certain neighborhood council leaders — who are not subject to background checks — to make cash withdrawals and credit-card purchases.

— Maeve Reston at Los Angeles City Hall

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