Today President Barack Obama proclaimed May 20-26 as National Small Business Week, as presidents before him have done for the past 49 years.  This week we celebrate all those who have followed a dream, taken a risk and “hung their shingle.”

The federal government says there are 27 million small businesses across the country.  According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses employ about one-half of all private-sector employees and pay 43 percent of the total U.S. private payroll. They also generate about two-thirds of the nation’s new jobs.

Earlier this month, I was in Washington, D.C., asking our national leaders to expand subsidized employment programs, which have helped many small businesses keep their doors open during the recession.  There has been a lot of debate about the stimulus funding and bail-outs, but this I know: the 10,000 Jobs program we implemented here in LA County worked.

By subsidizing employment for local companies and agencies, we put over 11,000 people back to work.  They were able to pay their mortgage or rent, feed their families and stay off of public assistance.  For many small companies, it was also a desperately needed lifeline to help them transition through tough economic times.  Many of these companies had contracts coming in, but did not yet have the cash flow to hire new people.  10,000 Jobs helped them bridge that gap.

Subsidized employment is a great way to provide people with work experience, while lowering labor costs for employers.  We must continue to find ways to support our local entrepreneurs.  And so this week we recognize the contributions of small companies, from local manufacturers to start-ups and mom-and-pop stores, for all they do for our economy and our communities.

Last week, we were back in Washington, D.C. for the County’s annual trip to the nation’s capital.  As the largest county in the United States, this trip is very important to ensure that the issues facing our constituents are top-of-mind with our congressional delegation and federal officials.

This year we were focused on two major areas, healthcare and public safety.  The County has been preparing for the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, regardless of the opinion the Supreme Court issues in June.

As the nation’s second largest health care system with the largest uninsured population (over 2 million people) it is critical that we understand the implications of the health care act on our operations.  We also raised concerns over any funding impacts as California already receives the lowest per capita Medicaid funding in the nation.

We also advocated for funding for the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) which is technology that will tie together the communications systems our first responders would use in the event of a crisis.  With LAX and the two ports in our backyard, this public safety system is absolutely critical to our region.

I also met with Michael Donley, the Secretary of the Air Force about the Los Angeles Air Force Base, Ray La Hood, the Secretary of Transportation on our transit goals in the LA region, and officials at the White House on our health care and public safety concerns.

We stopped in to see officials in the Foreign Affairs department to discuss our efforts to stop child sex trafficking and met with the Army Corps of Engineers to thank them for their support of the Marina del Rey dredging project.

It was a very busy couple days!  While this was a terrific and necessary trip again this year, I will say that the general tone in D.C. was high on frustration and finger-pointing on both sides of the aisle.

Here at the County, we don’t have time for that kind of partisan bickering.  Those who depend on our safety net services need us to just solve problems.

Thanks to those of you who “joined” us in D.C. via Facebook and Twitter.  It was a great trip, but as always, it sure is good to be home!

April 12, 2012

The Honorable Wendy Greuel
City Controller
City of Los Angeles
200 N. Main Street, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Controller Greuel:

This letter provides comments on the draft report regarding the Coliseum Commission and its internal financial controls that your staff shared yesterday with John Sandbrook, interim General Manager, and Greg Hellmold, interim Director of Finance.

As you know, John and Greg worked diligently on a weekly basis with the City Controller team since last October, sharing with them the Commission’s findings and discoveries, and providing your staff with regular updates about the various corrective steps being implemented.

We regret very much that you declined our offer to join you in a public announcement of this report.  As you well know, many of your findings were based on information the Coliseum Commission has been assiduously collecting since July 2010.  Many of the statements in your report also refer to the corrective strategies that have been underway for many months under the aegis of the Commission’s ad hoc committee on audit and policy compliance, which was created and appointed by us.

The Coliseum Commission fully acknowledges that, in the past, insufficient oversight was applied to the former managers of the Coliseum. The Commission accepts its responsibility and embraces its role in instituting change and preserving the Coliseum for generations to come.

In July 2010, when the first allegations of impropriety were brought to our attention, the Coliseum initiated a full and complete investigation. That work was conducted and supervised by our in-house counsel, the Los Angeles City Attorney and the Los Angeles County Counsel.

Within months, the Commission forced the resignation of its senior managers and developed a thorough report that was turned over to the Los Angeles County District Attorney.  As you know, criminal charges have now been brought by the District Attorney, following the Coliseum Commission’s own civil complaint against former employees for fraud and other improper conduct.

While the Commission has long been aggressively pursuing those who violated the public trust, some are now laying claim to being the impetus for our efforts. In fact, as we are pleased to note is evident in your report, we have been readily providing information to the District Attorney so justice may follow its due course.

It is also important to note the failures that have existed in the Office of the Controller.

The Joint Powers Authority agreement that set forth the responsibilities of the Coliseum Commission in 1956 specifically states that the Office of the Controller of the City of Los Angeles has the responsibility to serve as the Controller of the Commission. Yet it was not until 2011 that the Controller’s office expressed any interest in its responsibilities in the financial management of the Coliseum and Sports Arena.

Had the City Controller’s office been as engaged the last six decades as it has been the last year, it is entirely possible that the illegal activity the Commission uncovered would never have occurred.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The failure to provide proper oversight is a shared failure. We look forward to your stated commitment to have your office engage fully in its responsibilities for the Coliseum and Sports Arena in the future.

And it is the future upon which we are now focused. There is no doubt the operations of the Coliseum and Sports Arena are much different and better than they were in the dozen years before we started to institute significant and important changes in February 2011. John Sandbrook and Greg Hellmold have been instrumental in working with the Commission to rebuild the recognition of our responsibilities as a public agency. You and the public can be assured that the errors of the past are, indeed, in the past.

We will detail in a separate announcement the specific actions that have already been taken or are in progress to address your more than four dozen recommendations. Your report correctly acknowledges many of these actions have been underway for the past 12 months, and such recognition is appreciated.

At the same time, your report also emphasizes the significant financial challenges that confront us at the Coliseum and Sports Arena. Those issues include having a sufficient number of events to cover operating costs, as well as adequate revenue to address long overdue capital improvements. As we discuss with the University of Southern California, our sole major tenant, the best way to address those challenges, we are sure we can count on your office to support us in that effort.

Sincerely,

David Israel                                                      Don Knabe
President                                                           Vice President

cc:        Members of the Coliseum Commission
Mr. John Sandbrook
Mr. Greg Hellmold

Click to download PDF of Coliseum Commission Response

The fight to end the horrors of child sex trafficking continues in Los Angeles County.  Earlier this year, I directed the County’s Probation department to develop a comprehensive plan to support the victims of this horrible crime.  They are developing some groundbreaking programs that I hope other communities across the nation can model.

In the coming months, you will also see a campaign from Metro, which I asked them to do to build community awareness in the very places where these young girls are most susceptible – train stations and bus stops.

While we do all we can to support the victims, we must also aggressively pursue the criminals who forcibly coerce and manipulate young girls into selling their bodies for their financial benefit.  I am one of the first legislators in California to come out and support the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Act, which would strengthen penalties against human traffickers and protect sexually exploited children.  It is my hope that other leaders across the state will join me.

If enacted into law, the CASE Act would be the toughest human trafficking law in the country.  It would increase prison terms for human traffickers, require convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, mandate training for law enforcement officers, and require criminal fines from convicted human traffickers to pay for services to help victims.

Communities through the United States are facing the horrific reality of child sex trafficking occurring right here on our streets and in our neighborhoods.  It is not a problem ‘over there.’

I want Los Angeles County to be a national leader in fighting this heinous crime and protecting our vulnerable youth.  The CASE Act would be a major step forward in enacting tougher penalties and putting an end to the physical and mental abuse of these young girls.