Dispatches from the Supervisor
The news of an additional $4.5 billion to the state’s coffers is encouraging only as a good sign that our state economy is moving in the right direction. However, this should not be seen as a green light to start spending. I am hopeful that our leaders in Sacramento view this as an opportunity to build additional fiscal prudence and responsibility into the state budget process, so that we don’t end up in the same situation again.
This week, Los Angeles County released its draft annual budget, totaling nearly $24.7 billion. Our biggest areas of spending remain public safety, healthcare and public assistance. I’m pleased to report that again this year, this budget does not include any cuts to County services or any employee layoffs.
While the County is required to balance its budget, for the first time since the start of the worst economic crisis since the great depression, we will operate on a budget that does not require the use of reserve funds to plug shortfalls.
We would not be in this position without our focus on fiscal prudency, as well as the partnerships we have with our labor unions, who have forgone cost of living increases to avoid furloughs and layoffs. I want to thank our department heads and hard-working County employees for working with us to make significant, across-the-board budget cuts over the last several years.
While other municipalities deal with layoffs and cuts to critical services, Los Angeles County has remained dedicated to providing important services our residents have come to expect. In some cities, they can’t even fill the potholes and pave the streets. At the County we continue to invest in our infrastructure, knowing that investments today will pay off tomorrow.
We are in no means out of the woods, but with the significant budget cuts we have made and some uptick in revenues, things appear more stable. However, I remain concerned about significant future financial obligations, such as the Affordable Care Act and Realignment. We must continue to work with our colleagues at the state and national level to ensure that Los Angeles County receives the funding necessary to continue providing mandated safety net services for our residents.
Our frugality has paid off through the rough economic times. As we see improvements, however we must remain as disciplined and continue to operate within our means.
Over the weekend, California’s Employment Development Department released a report showing that the state’s unemployment rate remains stagnant.
Here in Los Angeles County, the numbers tell a similar story. Though there have been signs of economic improvement, unemployment in Los Angeles County still remains above the national average.
Locally, the unemployment rate crept up to 10.9% as of the beginning of the year. Some people have been out of work for extended periods of time, with few prospects in sight. We need to do everything we can to attract new businesses and retain the valuable businesses we have – or they will flee LA County and take precious jobs with them.
As other cities and states develop more and more incentives to bring in business, we must do a better job of supporting our local businesses and making Los Angeles County more business friendly. That means we must prevent higher taxes and other anti-business measures which keep our local economy from blooming. These new employment numbers continue that cautionary tale and show us that we still have a lot of work to do to make Los Angeles County more enticing for businesses.
The Los Angeles County Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) today, on a split vote, deemed “consistent” a very limited package of City Plan Amendments submitted by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). The amendments relate to LAWA’s future efforts to modernize Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The Commission was comparing the plan amendments with the adopted Airport Land Use Plan.
The vote before the Commission was not an endorsement of the LAX Modernization Plan, but a limited, piecemeal review of an incomplete application. Our residents and businesses are not being given a clear picture from LAWA on its priorities for LAX and the region. In 2006, we were promised regionalization of air service and traffic relief through a direct transit connection. However, instead of seeing concrete results, we are getting more piecemealed, bureaucratic plans.
The Commission should have been given a complete plan to review, including the report on airport regionalization that Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and I requested on February 26, 2013. My concern is that LAWA is being intentionally misleading because they have been ignoring regionalization and the City of Ontario’s request to assume control of its airport. Enough of the limited and confusing information; I want to see the air cleared and promises kept.
I am shocked and saddened by the passing of world-renowned orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist Dr. Jacquelin Perry, MD. Dr. Perry was the “Guardian Angel” for Rancho Los Amigos. She revolutionized orthopedic medicine and rehab therapy over the course of her incredible medical career, while giving hope and opportunity for recovery to every patient she treated.
Dr. Perry was an expert in Polio and post-Polio recovery, inspiring Rancho patients to overcome this crippling disease and go on to live normal lives. She was also a critical part of the foundation that built Ranch Los Amigos into the hospital of miracles it is today. Dr. Perry left a remarkable legacy on Rancho, including the Jacquelin Perry Neuro-Trauma Institute and Rehabilitation Center, where many patients begin their journey to recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Perry’s family and friends. She will truly be missed.
The Downey Beat has compiled an incredible list of all Dr. Perry’s accomplishments throughout her 50-year career.
The public hearing on the Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure is set for tomorrow, Tuesday, March 12 at 11:00am in the Board of Supervisors Hearing Room.
Over the past few months, you’ve heard me talk a lot about the Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure, which imposes a parcel fee on all Los Angeles County property owners to generate funding to complete projects that protect public health, and increase drinking water supplies, by cleaning up our rivers, lakes, bays, beaches and coastal waters.
From the very beginning I have opposed the inconvenient, non-transparent and process by which this measure was being managed in order to get it passed. This was the largest protest hearing process that Los Angeles County has ever undertaken, and originally there was no online option to submit a protest form!
I want clean water, and I think everyone else does too, but this measure has too many flaws. There is no specific project list, no sunset date, and it would be voted on by property owners by mail-in ballot, instead of being voted on by everyone.
That is why, tomorrow, Supervisor Gloria Molina and I will put forth a motion at the Board of Supervisors meeting to not proceed with the Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure at this time.
Currently the measure does not have the full support of our cities or the public and should not be moved forward at this time. We understand that this issue of water quality cannot be ignored, and we must continue to look for ways to refine and improve this proposal.
If you have not already done so, please download a copy of the official protest form, fill it in with your address and Assessor ID Number and email it to WQFI.Info@dpw.lacounty.gov to have your voice heard.
Coming down to voice your opinion at the last public hearing in January made a huge difference when we voted to extend the hearing process, and we need you to do it again to ensure that our motion goes through.
Over the past several years, Los Angeles County has seen a significant increase in the number of sexually trafficked youth and is now recognized as one of the major hubs for sex trafficking in the state and nation. It is sickening that children, some as young as 10 years old, are forcibly coerced and manipulated into selling their bodies.
Untold numbers of these children fall victim to predatory adults, many of whom have ties to criminal street gangs. They are sexually exploited and abused in unspeakably brutal ways, all for commercial gain. Criminal street gangs have embraced human trafficking as a lucrative revenue source; as sex trafficking now rivals narcotic sales as the major source of revenue for many gangs.
As a way to combat the sex trafficking of young girls by gang members, I will ask the Board of Supervisors this week to support and co-sponsor legislation that would add pimping, pandering, and human trafficking to the list of crimes that are associated with gang activity.
Senate Bill 473, authored by Senator Marty Block and sponsored by San Diego County, would create tougher penalties for gang members convicted of human trafficking, such as adding a three year prison sentence for anyone convicted of a human trafficking crime that occurs on or within 1,000 feet of a school.
This legislation would be a major step forward in putting an end to the physical and mental abuse of these young girls.
Last week, I received a call from Debi Faris, the woman I credit with creating the Safe Surrender program. She operates the Garden of Angels, a cemetery for abandoned newborns and was recently given the release of the baby girl that was found abandoned at the recycling plant in the City of Industry last month.
“Supervisor, will you bless this child with a name?” she asked.
Hearing those words, I became sick to my stomach. This child, thrown into a dumpster by her mother, was still nameless, awaiting her burial and I was going to name her as she was laid to rest. It was horrifying to think this mother could just throw her daughter away and was even worse to think this baby girl didn’t even have a name.
I decided to honor this precious baby girl with the name “Hope Angel.” She will be buried next week, surrounded by the only sense of family she has: a name.
Later today, a new public service announcement for the Safe Surrender program will launch state-wide.
This PSA is a powerful tool for conveying the message to mothers in desperate situations that they can make the right choice for their babies -and themselves- with the Safe Surrender program. The Safe Surrender program was created to give a mother, no matter what the situation, a safe, secure and anonymous way to get her child into safe hands and to protect a baby from abandonment: No shame, No blame, and No names. So far, in Los Angeles County, we have been able to save the lives of 103 infants. I am confident this PSA will help save the lives of many more.
What happened in December in the City of Industry is a reminder that we have a lot more work to do in spreading the word of the Safe Surrender program. We will continue our efforts for Hope Angel and all the other newborns who have lost their lives.
May Hope Angel rest in peace.
Yesterday morning, Governor Jerry Brown released his 2013-2014 proposed state budget. I applaud the Governor’s focus on fiscal discipline – the next two years will be a ‘make or break’ time for our State. Sacramento must resist the urge to spend money we do not have, which would only put us right back in the budget shambles we have faced the past few years.
Governor Brown’s suggestion that he may reduce the $2 billion the State gives to counties to care for the uninsured is very premature. We do not yet understand the full impact of the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but we do know that Los Angeles County will remain the safety net for hundreds of thousands of people who will remain uninsured.
Implementing the sweeping changes to our health care system that will come from the ACA is at the top of our urgent priorities. While we diligently prepare our systems and operations for the influx of new patients, we are also entering the new world of a competitive marketplace. We must begin to tell the story of the County healthcare system to those who will now face choice in selecting their healthcare provider. That is why on Tuesday, I will be asking our CEO, in conjunction with our Heath Services and Public Social Services departments, our labor unions, USC and UCLA, and other partners to develop a comprehensive strategy to explain the County’s public-private health care system to our residents and potential enrollees. I would ask that Sacramento do everything it can to support us in our efforts to prepare for the ACA, rather than cutting our funding prematurely.
Our County and this State face many challenges in the year ahead. Though our economy is showing signs of improvement and we are not facing the massive deficits of the last few years, we must demonstrate fiscal discipline and, as the Governor stated, be absolutely committed to living within our means.