<\/div>\n
And together with the council, I am committed to a budget that preserves jobs and protects the social safety net.<\/b><\/p>\n
Here are examples of some modest sacrifice<\/b>s we all can make:<\/p>\n
If every city worker – beginning with me – takes off just one unpaid hour per week<\/b>, we will prevent more than 500 layoffs.<\/b><\/p>\n
If we each contribute just 2% more to our health and pension benefits, <\/b>we will prevent another 700 layoffs.<\/b><\/p>\n
By simply deferring automatic pay raises<\/b>, we will save as many as 1,300 jobs.<\/b><\/p>\n
And I will make our city workers this iron-clad commitment: <\/b>We will
\nwork immediately to repair the damage this economic storm has inflicted
\non our pension systems. Working with the City Council, I intend to
\nexplore a series of responsible public-private partnerships<\/b> and
\nadvertising opportunities<\/b> with the potential to generate more than $1
\nbillion<\/b> over the next several years. Money that we can put in a lock
\nbox <\/b>to help shore up your retirement security and address other
\ncritical city priorities long into the future.<\/p>\n
I know these options aren’t easy. But there are thousands of jobs
\nat stake. Thousands of families looking to us to do the right thing.
\nAnd it’s up to all of us to see the bigger picture<\/b>, to take action to
\nprotect jobs, save pensions and preserve vital services when our
\nfamilies need them most.<\/p>\n
Now, more than ever, we need to focus our city efforts on promoting
\neconomic recovery.<\/b> Our office is pursuing an aggressive multi-pronged
\nstrateg<\/b>y. <\/p>\n
It begins with training people for the jobs of tomorrow<\/b>. I’m
\npleased to say that over the last four years we’ve laid a foundation
\nfor economic growth and progress<\/b> in our workforce development strategy.
\nWe’ve invested millions of additional dollars each year in summer youth jobs programs. <\/p>\n
Working with nonprofits, the Chamber of Commerce and local
\nbusinesses, we’re getting thousands of young people onto the economic
\nladder, in reach of good jobs and secure employment.<\/p>\n
And I am proud to announce today that this city and its partners
\nhave a strategy in place to put 16,500 young people to work <\/b>– placing
\nmore students in good jobs than at any time in the last 15 years.<\/p>\n
We know that career training starts with our community colleges. That’s
\nwhy from Trade-Tech to the Harbor, these campuses will soon be home to
\nour WorkSource Centers c<\/b>onnecting students to jobs and education to job
\nplacement.<\/p>\n
We now have $1 billion<\/b> in Prop. J funds to build satellite campuses
\nfocused on job training, to retrofit community college buildings, to
\npower campuses with renewable energy and to train students to build and
\ninstall solar panels.<\/p>\n
And with a federal stimulus package<\/b> hitting our streets and a
\npresident ready to invest in our urban areas again, I believe the City
\nof L.A. will once again have the resources to put thousands of our
\nyoung people to work, off the streets and out of trouble. <\/p>\n
Second, we are using this crisis to confront the need to reinvent
\nthe way this city provides services to our poor<\/b>: by refocusing our
\nefforts on programs that work; and reviewing each investment to make
\nsure that it meets the highest standards of transparency and
\naccountability.<\/b><\/p>\n
We are going to better connect help to the people who need it by
\ncreating 21 Family Source Centers <\/b>located in our hardest-hit
\nneighborhoods. Where people will be able to seek assistance for
\nthemselves and their families, file for critical tax credits, access
\naffordable medical care, and benefit from programs at every level of
\ngovernment – and all on a single form. Each year, this program will
\nserve at least 50,000 people.<\/p>\n
And in the coming months, we will roll out a $30-million program to
\nprovide rental assistance<\/b> and supportive services to 4,000 of our
\nlowest-income families – the households hardest hit by this crisis.<\/p>\n
With this strategy in place, we are sending the message that we will not leave our neighbors behind no matter what the cost.<\/p>\n
Third, here in Los Angeles, we know that our ultimate prosperity is
\ngoing to be determined on the laptops of small-business owners. <\/b> From
\nVan Nuys to Venice, from Brentwood to Boyle Heights, these
\nentrepreneurs are the true engines of our recovery. They represent the
\nbackbone and the building blocks of new industries and new markets.<\/p>\n
And in Los Angeles, we are working to attract, retain and offer
\nassistance to small businesses at every turn. After a record-setting
\nfirst term in new development.<\/b> After bringing $17 billion of new
\nconstruction into L.A<\/b>. and creating 140,000 well-paying job<\/b>s in the
\nprocess. It is now time to change our tune and focus our time,
\nresources and energy on our city’s start-ups and smaller enterprises.<\/p>\n
And it’s time to take our game to a higher level.<\/b><\/p>\n
In the next year, our Business Team will assist over 1,000 local,
\nsmall businesses <\/b>throughout our city. In the coming months, we will
\nbuild on the success of our Minority Business Opportunity Center<\/b> to
\ncreate a broader “Office of Small, Local, and Disadvantaged Business,”
\nwhose sole purpose is to use federal funds to help businesses succeed
\nacross L.A. Businesses that employ local workers and recycle dollars
\nback into local communities.<\/p>\n
Last month, I approved a $15-million loan fund <\/b>to increase credit
\nopportunities for small businesses. And starting on July 1, we will
\ndirect the Community Development Department to make an additional $15
\nmillion available to loan out to business owners, to help them
\nreinforce their bottom line and allow them to continue providing
\nessential jobs, products and services to our residents.<\/p>\n
Fourth, we are aggressively growing the industries of the future
\n<\/b>here in L.A. We need to build a future in which clean technology
\nis as synonymous with Los Angeles as motion pictures or aerospace.
\nWhere L.A. is acknowledged as a growing capital of the green economy.<\/b><\/p>\n
With our Solar L.A. plan,<\/b> we’re working to cut our carbon footprint
\nand to transform L.A. into a clean energy powerhouse<\/b>. With the
\nnation’s most far-reaching green building ordinance, we believe we can
\ncreate America’s most vibrant job site in sustainable construction.
\nAnd at the Port of Los Angeles, I’m proud to say tonight that we’ve
\nsent 2,000 dirty diesel trucks to the junk yard <\/b>and replaced them with
\nvehicles that run on natural gas and electricity.<\/p>\n
I believe L.A.’s economic future starts right here, in places like
\nBalqon, where the next generation of electric trucks are being
\ndesigned, tested and manufactured; where we are literally revving up
\nthe engines of our Clean Truck Program; where the wheels of a clean,
\ngreen port are turning; and a new high-tech venture is producing clean
\nfuel vehicles IN L.A., for the betterment of LA.<\/p>\n
This facility will serve as the model for our Harbor Clean Tech
\nCenter<\/b>; for investments in the latest vessels for green development;
\nfor the San Pedro Bay Port Technology Development Center — home of
\ngreen companies serving our port.<\/p>\n
A few miles up the 110, we are building a literal “Clean-Tech
\nCorridor.”<\/b> A business corridor bringing together researchers,
\ndesigners and manufacturers from around the world dedicated to
\nsustainable solutions and to creating green-collar jobs.<\/p>\n
Located just outside of downtown, this corridor will house our Clean
\nTech Manufacturing Center, a catalyst for smart growth that could
\ncreate as many as 1,000 high-paying jobs.<\/p>\n
It will host our Clean Innovations Research Center, where the
\nworld’s leading experts will come together to define future renewable
\nenergy sources, water conservation strategies and green building
\nadvances.<\/p>\n
The Clean Tech Corridor will rest alongside the Cornfields Arroyo
\nSeco – the first and only LEED-pilot neighborhood by any big city in
\nthe United States of America. A cluster of pedestrian-friendly streets
\nsitting along public transit lines. A model for future communities
\nwhere residents walk more, drive less and have access to quality jobs
\nand affordable housing.<\/p>\n
This is a unique moment of opportunity. It’s an opportunity to
\nstand at the forefront of the clean-tech revolutio<\/b>n; to transform our
\nold industrial core into ground zero for green jobs and sustainability.<\/p>\n
And if we follow this path, we can turn a new page toward a green
\ntomorrow. Write a defining chapter in L.A.’s economic future and start
\na new book where environmental progress and economic growth go hand in
\nhand. <\/p>\n
In the end, we know that responding to our current crisis requires
\nthat we forsake short-term politics for long-term investments.<\/b><\/p>\n
We can’t lose sight of our core values<\/b> – recognizing that the
\nlong-term building blocks of economic growth and vitality in Los
\nAngeles have always been public safety, public education and public
\ntransportation. We know that safety is the fundamental precondition to
\nprosperity<\/b>. And we’ve made tremendous progress over the past few years.<\/p>\n
The numbers speak for themselves: crime at historic lows; our
\npolice force at historic highs; homicides down to levels unseen in
\nalmost four decades; and a new citywide gang prevention and
\nintervention strategy already proving itself on our streets.<\/p>\n
Our budget will protect police and fire, keep our commitment to put
\n1,000 cops on the street<\/b> and continue to attack the root causes of gangs and youth violence. <\/p>\n
I respect the critics who say we can’t afford it, but frankly, they
\nhave it backwards;<\/b> we can’t afford not to. We cannot break the compact
\nwe made with the public on police hiring. An investment that grows
\nonly more urgent in a struggling economy.<\/p>\n
This is why our budget also expands our investment in gang prevention<\/b>. On April 1, with the close of the Bridges program, we changed the math. We
\nended the old divide-by-15 calculus that has historically governed
\nanti-gang and other spending. I am proud to say that today every new
\ngang reduction dollar we spend in L.A. is being focused for maximum
\nimpact in neighborhoods of need.<\/b><\/p>\n
Jeff Carr, our citywide anti-gang leader, is creating innovative new
\ntools to identify and serve youth most at risk of joining gangs. This
\nyear we will expand our successful Summer Night Lights program<\/b> from
\neight to 15 parks. And in the coming months, we will be developing a
\njoint initiative with the county to break the cycle leading from
\njuvenile detention to a lifetime of trouble with the law.<\/p>\n
We know our long-term prosperity depends on improving our
\ninfrastructure. <\/b>With the passage of Measure R, I’m proud to say that
\nLos Angeles is in the business of building again.<\/p>\n
Some people didn’t think we had a chance, not with the two-thirds requirement, not just weeks after the meltdown on Wall Street.<\/p>\n
But Angelenos didn’t buy the politics of no. They said yes. Yes to
\na $40-billion investment in new transit, rail and highways. Yes to a
\nSubway to the Sea. Yes to a funding stream that will create some
\n210,000 jobs and will give Los Angeles the world-class,
\nstate-of-the-art public transportation system it deserves.<\/b><\/p>\n
Finally, the effort to bring reform to L.A.’s schools has never been
\nmore urgent. In less than one academic year, our Partnership schools
\nare becoming models of efficiency, accountability and transparency.<\/b> We
\ncleaned up the campuses and made them safer. The teachers and students
\nare getting more support. Parents have been empowered to get involved
\nand take the reins of leadership on their children’s campus.<\/p>\n
At Locke High School – where just 3 out of every 100 students go to
\ncollege – Green Dot has broken down the barriers to reform and created
eight
\nsmall college prep schools – taking their success in charters citywide
\nand applying it to a campus once considered a lost cause.<\/p>\n
On the Eastside, the Alliance has partnered with Cal State L.A. to
\nbuild a school focused exclusively on math, science, technology and
\nengineering, equipping students with the skills to thrive in the 21st
\ncentury.<\/p>\n
These are just some of the things that are happening because we raised our voice and said it is time for fundamental reform.<\/b><\/p>\n
We can no longer afford to tinker around the edges<\/b>. I am committed
\nto leading the charge for reform until every last child in Los Angeles
\nhas the chance to succeed.<\/b><\/p>\n
With Ray Cortines at the helm, the LAUSD now has a leader with the
\nvision, commitment and nerve to step up to the chalkboard and answer
\nthe toughest questions. <\/p>\n
But he cannot do it alone. We are helping Ray recruit a team of
\nchange agents to help lead the district – Change Agents NOT
\nbureaucrats; innovators who will demand high expectations for students
\nand will stop at nothing to make that happen.<\/b><\/p>\n
I am committed to raising private funds to hire this reform team.
\nAnd tonight, I’m announcing that we have already secured more than $4
\nmillion over the next three years to put this team in place.<\/p>\n
Here in Los Angeles, we are blessed with some of the
\nhighest-performing charter schools in the country – schools run by
\nexperienced educators; by individuals who know how to open new campuses
\nand transform old ones; by men and women who understand the problems we
\nface and have the expertise to solve them.<\/p>\n
These organizations must not get shut out of the conversation simply
\nbecause they upset the status quo. Every new school we build must be a
\nreform campus — committed to measurable outcomes and results.
\nCharters must be able to partner with the district, propose their
\nideas, offer their input and play a central role in the wider effort
\nfor reform.<\/p>\n
And when our lowest-performing schools fail, when campuses reach the
\npoint of no return, when it becomes crystal clear that wholesale change
\nis the only answer, we must close them down. Close them down and turn
\nthem over to charter operators, the Partnership or local universities. Because we know that a strong education is our kids’ best shot at a better life.<\/p>\n
I believe we have the opportunity in the coming weeks and months to
\nonce again define what we’re all about in the City of the Angels. We
\ncan enact a city budget that reaffirms our values by sharing
\nresponsibility and the sacrifice that comes with it. We can prevent
\nunnecessary job losses. We can step up to help our neighbors. We can
\nmake our communities even safer. We can provide every kid an education
\nthat gives them a real shot. We can define the boundaries of the 21st
\ncentury economy here within our own city limits. We can, and we will,
\nbeat this recession.<\/b><\/p>\n
We will do it if we remember the journey of three centuries. If we
\nreawaken our senses to the basic idea that has always made Los Angeles
\nthe destination of dreamers everywhere.<\/b><\/p>\n
It’s the spirit that transformed a dusty pueblo into a global
\nmetropolis. It is the spirit that impelled my grandfather – and
\ncountless others like him – to come here for a better life. It’s the
\nspirit that imagined an infrastructure worthy of a nation-state. It is
\nthe central thread. It’s the meaning behind the Hollywood sign. It explains the life of Tom Bradley.<\/p>\n
And across Los Angeles today at this very moment in kitchens and in
\ndockyards, in classrooms, offices and union halls, translated in more
\nlanguages and into more personal stories than we could ever possibly
\nchronicle or count. <\/p>\n
It is the understanding that the future is not a self-fulfilling
\nprophe<\/b>cy. The future is a matter of what we are willing to say yes to.<\/p>\n
It’s the belief in a better day, the faith that together, with hard
\nwork, sacrifice and, yes, a little bit of luck, we can do anything – we
\ncan be anything – in the City of the Angels.<\/b><\/p>\n
God bless you all. Thank you for listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EDITOR’S NOTE LA was already in serious financial trouble last April when the mayor delivered his State of City Speech. It’s nine months later and the situation is worse. You be the judge of whether he delivered on what he promised. The highlighted phrases will make it easier to judge. STATE OF THE CITY SPEECH […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Thumbnail](\"http:\/\/ronkayela.com\/antoniostatecity2009-thumb-143x97.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n