For Immediate Release

Los Angeles, CA

September 13, 2006

Press Contact:

David Sommers

Phone: (213) 974-1095

Fax: (213) 626-6941

DSommers@lacbos.org

Current Affairs Forum

Thank the sponsors of today’s lunch. And thank Emma for the invitation to speak. Pleasure to be with you and appreciate you attending.

I was last here in March of 2004 – Many things have happened since then so we have lots to discuss.
Will cover everything from LA County Budget, Workers Comp., Jails, Health Care System, LAX and Homeland Security among many other things.
 

Los Angeles County Statistics

Let me begin by painting a picture for you of County’s size, scope and complexities for those of you who might not know. Largest Population of any County (10.2 million as of August 2006) If a state would be between Ohio and Michigan in size of population. 2006-07 budget is $19.337 Billion. I represent over 2 million (4th district would be 17th largest state) 88 cities in County, 26 in 4th District

Bolstered by a strong real estate market that is expected to increase property taxes by 8.5 percent, County has a $19.377 BILLION budget this year.
 

Los Angeles County 2006-2007 Budget Highlights

New budget focuses on increasing funding in four areas: public protection, health, critical children’s programs and homeless services.
 

New funding for public safety includes an additional $12 million for a radio communication system between fire, sheriff and county police.
 

$2.7 million for 40 positions for the new crime laboratory set to open in mid-2007.
 

The Probation Department would receive $17.4 million to hire 270 staff members to fully implement corrective actions at three juvenile halls as required by the federal Department of Justice, providing better supervision to an increasing violent population.
 

$100 million to housing for the homeless -- The Board of Supervisors approved this funding on April 4.
 

$557 million in new revenue is expected in 2006-07, $392 million of which is from property taxes.
 

County must continue its conservative budgetary approach because a sharp slowdown in the resale housing market presents a risk.
 

Property taxes, which account for 21 percent of the overall revenue and 65 percent of locally-generated revenue, is the County’s most important source of funding.

Workers’ Compensation
 

Reduced Workers Compensation costs are also helping us to restore many County services that were cut back in recent years.

In July 2001, I introduced a motion that provided for the implementation of a Consolidated Risk Management Program – designed to find ways to cutback skyrocketing workers compensation costs in LA County.
 

Now we are starting to see the fruits of this labor.
 

In 2004-2005, the County budgeted $414 million for Workers Comp costs. We were able to reduce that 34 percent. This saved taxpayers $141 million in unnecessary costs.
 

If these reforms had not been put in place, workers’ comp costs were estimated to cost the County 1.1 billion dollars by the year 2010.
 

Because of our reforms that estimate is now 400 million – a projected savings of $700 million dollars to taxpayers in 2010.

Homeland Security – 5 years later
 

September 11th, 2006 marked the 5th anniversary of the largest terrorist attack ever carried out on American soil.
Although a time of remembrance it is also a time to examine where we have been and where we are going in our efforts to secure Los Angeles County.
 

We have always been and will always be well prepared simply by nature of the number of natural disasters we have faced in this region.
 

The Terrorism Early Warning group established in October 1996 to develop intelligence and early warning for terrorism and emerging threats.
 

LA County was way ahead of rest of the nation – opening TEW years before anything similar anywhere else in the nation.
 

TEW brings together law enforcement, fire, health and emergency management.
Maintains network of Terrorism Liaison Officers (TLOs) at public law, fire, and health agencies & Infrastructure

Liaison Officers (ILOs) at private sector entities.
 

TEW develops operational intelligence in order to prevent, counter and respond to terrorism and emerging threats.
Operates at all phases of prevention and response (pre-, trans,- and post-incident) to provide decision support.
Integrates local-federal echelons, incorporates links with private sector to protect critical infrastructure and cultural assets.
 

Integrates criminal and operational intelligence to support prevention (through warning) and response through situational understanding and assessment of potential course of action. Currently ~26 TEWs at various stages of development in US.
 

Joint Regional Intelligence Center Opening - July 27, 2006
 

Fuses FBI, LAPD, LASD, TEW and Department of Homeland Security. Shares information across jurisdiction and discipline – law/fire/health. Operates with a seven county mandate.

Illegal Immigration Impact
 

There has been significant discussion over the last few months about immigration reform.  I want to give you some idea of the impact ILLEGAL immigration has on LA County. Illegal immigration continues to be a huge financial drain on the County and on taxpayers. Between public safety, healthcare and social services, illegal immigrants cost local taxpayers nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars per year.

100,000 children of illegal aliens live in LA County – they collected nearly $276 million in welfare last year. $360 million a year on healthcare. Sheriff spends $100 million per year keeping illegals who broke our laws locked up in County jails. ICE program is partnership between federal immigration and customs and the sheriff to do intensive interviews of jail inmates to determine if they are illegal immigrants.  Since program began in January, 3880 inmates have been interviewed. 2236 of the 3880 are illegal aliens! We put a hold on them and get them deported. The ongoing debate about immigration will not be resolved overnight. The current immigration system is broken and in desperate need of repair. Our borders are unprotected, and alien smuggling and illegal entry are rampant. This not only creates numerous economic problems but also a very dangerous national security dilemma.
We need strong legislation that will protect our borders, reimburse local governments, and encourage legal immigration.

C-17 Impact

Not only would a shutdown of the Boeing C-17 impact thousands of local jobs, but it would also mean the end of the last aircraft production line in Southern California.
 

The Pentagon committed to ordering no more than the 180 planes now built or under construction, Boeing says there is no financial rationale for keeping the C-17 open beyond 2009. We are far from the end of the fight to save the C-17.
 

Boeing is required to give the dozens of suppliers who provide parts for the C-17 at least 34-36 months advance notification if it intends to end contracts and shutdown production. Announcement simply one initial step in what might potentially lead to a shutdown.
 

The C-17 has already proven that it is essential not only to the military, but also to homeland security and disaster response.

 
It is a critical tool in supporting our troops serving overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq.
First responder after natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina because of its ability to land on very short, unpaved runways. C-17 is operating at 186-percent capacity. Over 6,000 jobs at Boeing plant in Long Beach, with an average salary of over $65,000.

 
These jobs pump over $850 million into our local economy every year. The potential loss of the C-17 would have a regional impact. Dozens of area contractors provide components for the C-17. Nationwide, the impact of the C-17 is even greater. Over 700 contractors employ 25,000 workers in 42 states that work on the C-17. Nationally, these jobs create more than $8.4 billion in economic impact every year.

 
Mistakes have been made in the past from shutting down aircraft production lines and we must make sure we do not make the same mistake again. Shuttering the C-17 plant means the United States would lose its last defense cargo aircraft production facility. I am part of what’s known as the “Red Team,” a group of local, state and federal elected leaders that are fighting for the C-17.

We are advocating for the program before key decision-makers and are also working with Boeing to find new ways to reduce existing costs. It is up to Congress and the Department of Defense to provide funding for what the nation already knows: we need this plane.
It is my hope that President Bush will step in to make that commitment a reality.

LAX settlement / SCRAA reactivation

As you know, the County and cities settled LAX lawsuit several months ago. I’m cautiously optimistic that what the Mayor says will happen with LAX is in fact what will actually happen. On my third Mayor and third sets of promises about LAX – but Mayor Villaraigosa has so far shared my goal for a regional, multiple airport solution versus putting all our eggs in one airport. LAX has 35-hundred acres and they have to stop trying to do what Denver airport did on 35-thousand acres. One of the major recent events surrounding LAX and the entire future of commercial aviation across the region was the reactivation of SCRAA – Southern California Regional Aviation.

Key to reactivation was City of LA agreeing to participate. We face regional challenges at our airports and we need regional solutions to solve those challenges. I am proud the City of Los Angeles recognizes the need to be part of this partnership and I look forward to working with the Mayor, the City and all of our regional partners on improving access to our airports. In the arena of air transportation specifically, we know that air passenger and cargo demand within the next twenty years will greatly outstrip current capacity.

What is now necessary is a process to meet regional demand in a way that enhances the aviation resources we already have, and promotes synergy rather than competition and conflict in the region.
Re-activating this organization at this time enables local leaders to be visionary as crucial aviation planning continues.
 

It is a time of unprecedented opportunity for the leadership of this ever-expanding region to acknowledge its mutual vested interest in creating a regional solution to aviation growth. SCRAA is structured and motivated to develop a regional aviation plan.

SCRAA representative of four county region and not hampered by Board size or organizational structure
Streamlined structure, streamlined process
 

One intent - to build a regional aviation system for Southern California. Reality means bringing key stakeholders together to integrate individual and sometimes conflicting needs to ultimately initiate a system of complementary airports that meet Southern California aviation needs

Dinner with President Bush

Had dinner with President Bush a few months ago while he was in Palm Springs. Joined by Mayor Villaraigosa, former LB Mayor Beverly O’Neill, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, and Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn.

November General Election

November election will be busy. 13 statewide initiatives have been qualified – including 4 multi-billion dollar infrastructure bonds. Most important Governor’s race in many years – got to give Schwarzenegger four more years.

King / Drew Medical Center

Federal inspectors were on-site last month. Should have results of their report any day. Terrific new CEO – changing culture of hospital, clearing out bad staff, telling politicians to shut up and let her fix things.
King Drew critical to safety net – need the ER.

Jail Master Plan
 

Earlier this summer, Sheriff Baca presented master plan for addressing how we will house criminals and deal with ACLU demands. Plan calls for decrease of early release program – making sure we have the room for criminals serve to more of the sentences. Improves safety in the jails – separating high-risk and medium/low-risk inmates. Needs to be done without general obligation bonds.
 

Taxpayers should foot the bill since the County and Sheriff already have money to pay for many of the beds.
Board of Supervisors has already given the Sheriff millions beyond budget to reopen jail beds.

Early Release / Electronic Monitoring
 

Last month my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors supported my legislation to revise electronic monitoring of convicted criminals. Under current state law, many convicted criminals are allowed to choose between a jail sentence or electronic monitoring by law enforcement.
 

Many criminals are choosing jail time instead of the electronic monitoring option because they know that under the current statistics of the Sheriff’s Department Early Release Program, they will likely only serve 10-percent of the time they were actually sentenced with, as opposed to serving 100-percent of their sentence on electronic monitoring.
 

My motion calls on state legislators to revise the state law to ensure that the decision between electronic monitoring and a jail term is left to the law enforcement community and not in the hands of lawbreakers.
If serving a full-sentence through electronic monitoring becomes mandatory for certain non-violent offenders, it will free up much-needed beds in County jails for the very worst offenders, who need to remain behind bars for more than just a fraction of their sentences.
 

The choice between the two should not be an option in the hands of convicted criminals. Criminals should not get to choose their punishment simply because one takes less time to complete.
Length of punishment belongs in the hands of our judges and when a judge imposes a sentence, that sentence needs to stick.

Safe Surrender
 

Safe Surrender continues to be a success story – full of miracles. 45 babies saved – lives that could have ended in tragedy. Reunion with Tessa Leavitt in Whittier in May. Last month, I also met Gus Silverstrom, baby was surrendered in Downey in February. Was adopted by a County employee.

NFL to LA

Tagliabue retiring shouldn’t cause an impact. New Commissioner has expressed strong support in the past for bringing NFL back to LA. Coliseum is the best choice. Team owners agree it’s in best interest of the league to have a franchise in 2nd largest TV market. With no team for nearly 12 years – nearly an entire generation has gone by that haven’t had local games to go to. \

Would like to take a few of your questions.

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