Posted on 06/03/2024
5 WAYS WE CAN IMPROVE THE CITY BUDGET
Last week, City Council passed the budget for next fiscal year over our “No” vote. Still, we introduced a bunch of motions that made improvements to the budget, or could make big impacts mid-year.
1. Saving the Rapid Response Senior Meals Program
LA’s Rapid Response Senior Meals Program provides five home delivered meals to elderly Angelenos every week who otherwise might have no way of accessing fresh, warm food.
The program was slated to be cut in this budget, but we made it clear that it is totally unacceptable to leave thousands of seniors with no other options for getting food.
During the day of the budget vote, we were able to restore $2.7 million in funding to continue this essential program into next year and protect our most vulnerable community members.
2. Establishing a Public Bank
What is a Public Bank?
A public bank is a bank owned by the people of LA. Instead of being motivated by profit and only accountable to shareholders, like a private bank, public banks are accountable to residents and ordinary Angelenos.
Getting loans from private banks to build out critical projects in our city like affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, and solutions to climate change, can be expensive and burdensome. With a public bank, these projects would not only be cheaper and more efficient, but actually grow our public funds!
Put simply, public banks help ensure that money is directed where it’s needed the most.
What our Motion Does
Our motion, which can be heard by City Council mid-year, instructs the city to look for the $460,000 needed to fund a study that will look at how we can implement a public bank in LA.
3. Working to Restore Cultural Affairs Jobs
The Department of Cultural Affairs was slated to get cut by nearly 12% in the initial budget proposal – one of the highest cuts of any city department even though their entire budget makes up less than 1% of the city budget.
Thankfully, some of that funding was restored during the council budget process, and our motion asks the city to look for funding for three critical positions at Barnsdall Art Park so we can make sure our cultural institutions continue to thrive.
4. Expanding Unarmed Response
We mentioned last week that this year’s city budget unfortunately allocates tens of millions of dollars to fund LAPD positions that we know will go unfilled throughout the entire year.
Instead of allowing this money to be wasted during this difficult budget year, we introduced a motion with Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Marqueece Harris-Dawson to add an additional $5 million in funding to expand the CIRCLE Unarmed Crisis Response program.
This motion was sent back to the Budget Committee for further consideration, but we will not stop fighting for a smarter public safety system that effectively uses our city resources.
5. Strengthening Wage Theft Enforcement
A new study found that working Angelenos get up to $2.5 billion stolen from them through wage theft every year. But right now, the City of Los Angeles only has the resources to reactively respond to wage theft complaints, rather than proactively investigating potential wage theft claims.
Our motion with Councilmember Curren Price asks for $721,000 to set up a proactive wage theft enforcement team in the city. Corporations are currently stealing billions of dollars from workers in LA every single year, so we are making it a priority to fight back on behalf of the working class.
Four More Quick Hits!
1. New Access to Hollywood Renderings!
This week, the Department of Transportation released new renderings of the finalized Access to Hollywood designs! The renderings below are what it looks like at Hollywood Blvd and Hobart Blvd now, and what it will look like after these improvements.
Improvements along Hollywood Blvd between Lyman Pl and Gower St will be installed this summer(!!) In the coming months, our office and the Department of Transportation will be out in the community to prepare and educate local stakeholders about the new street design and the specific construction timeline.
2. Accountability for Police Officers Accused of Egregious Misconduct
Right now, even the Chief of Police can’t fire a police officer who has committed egregious misconduct unless a disciplinary body called a “Board of Rights” allows them to. As a result, we currently have dozens of officers across the city collecting paychecks even though they can’t even do the work they were hired for.
That’s why this week, the Public Safety Committee voted to rescind some of the things that have led to this situation like Charter Amendment C, and we also voted to give the Chief of Police the ability to fire officers who have committed gross misconduct.
Now, this will go to the full council on Tuesday for a vote!
3. New Affordable Housing for Artists in Hollywood
This week, our office joined the opening of 152 new affordable housing units for artists in Hollywood, built on what was once a city parking lot.
The waiting list for this building is now closed, but they are still accepting applications for accessible units, so if you or someone you know is an artist with a disability, and would benefit from affordable housing near public transit, make sure they check out The Hollywood Arts Collective.
4. Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Today marks the first day of Pride Month!
This weekend, head to West Hollywood for WeHo Pride, and next weekend be sure to stop by the LA Pride Parade in Hollywood!