[SEIULOCAL721REFORMERS] FRIDAY APRIL 16, 2010 WHAT'S IN THE NEWS; MAIL CALL
SEIU721REFORMERS
Unions offer plan to avoid layoffs of L.A. city workers
The proposal would erase the budget gap, labor leaders say, in part by freezing LAPD hiring. City officials call the plan unrealistic.
April 16, 2010
Days before Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to release his plan for balancing the budget, a coalition of labor groups said Thursday that it had found a way to cut $432 million without resorting to layoffs.
The Coalition of L.A. City Unions, which represents about 22,000 workers, said the city could erase its projected shortfall if it pursued a series of recommendations for the fiscal year that starts July 1, including a halt to hiring at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Deputy Mayor Ben Ceja said this week that Villaraigosa plans to keep hiring enough officers next year to replace those who resign or retire. The coalition opposed that idea, saying public safety is also provided by agencies that are being targeted for cuts.
"Public safety means libraries that are open after school, parks that keep kids busy and fire services that respond to an emergency," said Julie Butcher, regional director of Service Employees International Union Local 721, which is part of the coalition.
An LAPD hiring freeze would save $7.7 million, Butcher said. Other proposals include early retirement for 363 city workers, higher fees for ambulance service and dog licenses, collecting on $38.2 million in outstanding debts and spreading out investment losses in a city pension fund over 10 years instead of five.
One mayoral aide said some of the union proposals are overly optimistic about the amount of money that could be generated.
"The mayor's always open to constructive solutions from labor," said Villaraigosa Deputy Chief of Staff Matt Szabo. "But he also must operate within the realm of reality."
Under its contract, coalition members would automatically receive $32.2 million in raises if its members were laid off. That money could be saved if no layoffs occur, the coalition said.
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said the upcoming budget already assumes that the pay increases will occur.
"We cannot balance the budget without layoffs," he said. "There has to be a permanent reduction in the workforce."
The exchange occurred hours before the Department of Water and Power board voted in favor of a rate increase endorsed by the City Council.
That increase, which would go into effect July 1, would prompt the DWP to transfer $73.5 million to the city's budget.
david.z...@latimes.com
Link to Coalitions Alternative Budget Proposal, for your perusal:
http://keeplastrong.localsonline.org/STRONG%20BUDGET%20FOR%20LA%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf
Roughly 24 hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor President Franklin Delano Roosevelt went before an emergency joint session of Congress and delivered his famous speech declaring Dec. 7, 1941 "a date which will live in infamy."
Los Angeles now has its own date that will live in infamy -- April 14, 2010.
It is the date that the City Council, in a back room conspiracy among themselves and with the mayor, blatantly trashed the rule of law.
In violation of the spirit and intend of the Brown Open Meeting Law, their own rules and the advice of their own attorney, the City Council under the direction and leadership of President Eric Garcetti took up a matter that was not on their agenda without public notice, declared a public emergency and then approved an electricity rate hike before the DWP Board had even acted, an increase that doesn't even take effect until July 1.
They did so without even making public who voted for and against.
It was all rigged in a back room deal. There was utterly no point to it other than to give the mayor a fig leaf to conceal the shame of his humiliating missteps and defeats in recent weeks. It showed the Council is just a bunch of toadies after all and their brief stand as elected representatives of the people was just a sham.
The action occurred after 3 p.m. when nearly every ordinary citizen had left the Chamber. Only one person, a man named Wayne Spindler, had lingered long enough to speak out in protest against this outrage. He ought to be honored as a folk hero, the lone voice of the people..
The urgency of this matter, the emergency, was not a riot in the streets or some crisis that could not wait a day, a week, even 10 weeks.
It was simply that the mayor and Council, with Herb Wesson of all people acting as go-between, had cut a deal to impose a 5 per cent rate increase on DWP's electricity charges, .6 cents per kilowatt hour for one quarter.
It was the same rate hike they approved previously, only to have it rejected by the mayor and his lackeys on the DWP Commission who demanded .1 of a cent more -- $6 million a quarter.
But it puts an end to the war between the mayor and the Council -- a battle that exposed just how dishonest and incompetent they all are.
It has been orchestrated all week to salvage their careers no matter what it costs the public, no matter how unjustified their actions are. Just get it off the front pages of the newspapers, off the TV news off the blogs, off the thousands of emails flashing around the city and off the table talk conversation of growing numbers of people.
They didn't like the conversation so they changed the conversation.
The conversation today will be the mayor's announcement of new leadership for the discredited Department of Water and Power, revived efforts to make LA the greenest city in America and find news to bilk the residents and businesses out of every dollar they can to feed the environmental and union profiteers.
Then, at 5 p.m., the DWP Board will convene at its own "emergency" meeting to actually approve the .6 cent rate hike they rejected two weeks ago when it could have taken effect on April 1 instead of July 1.
This would the stuff of farce if it didn't show just how tragically flawed our leaders are.
Watch how the smug Garcetti (as if he didn't know it was going to happen) reveals the DWP Board had suddenly called its meeting with only 24 hours notice on a matter that had no urgency. See how he twists the truth to invoke Council Rule 23 that allows for action on a matter of urgency "on an item not posted on its Agenda for the meeting if it determines by a two-thirds vote that the need for such action arose after the posting of the Agenda."
Even as she objects, Perry clearly knows the votes have been lined up in advance -- itself a violation of the Brown Act, the state open meeting law.
She appeals to the Council's attorney, Dion Connell, about whether Rule 16 should apply instead allowing for a new matter to be brought up during a meeting and referred to committee or set for the next agenda.
Connell, who does his best day after day to protect and serve his Council masters, squirms uncomfortably and declares there is nothing urgent about the issue so Perry is right, it should be brought up for a vote.
No matter. Presiding officer Dennis Zine, who started growing a beard the day he decided to cross the line and become a totally corrupt politician, ignores the legal advice and proceeds to a vote on invoking Rule 23, which passes 11-2 -- one vote more than was needed.
Who voted with Perry? We don't know because Zine turned off the tally box that appears whenever the Council votes. He keeps it off for the 8-5 vote on backing the rate hike so we don't know who was for it and who against as they got a bare majority. The video shows Bil Rosendahl and others looking up at the Council TV screens to see the vote breakdown but it never appears.
Just before the rigged vote, the clerk reminds Zine that state law requires the public be given its two minutes to speak its mind even when nothing but the pretense of democracy still exists.
That's when Wayne Spindler gets his moment of glory.
What's so pathetic about this whole episode is Garcetti's despicable gambit is meaningless, a symbolic act of surrender to the mayor's will, a symbol of our leaders utter contempt for the people, for rational processes, for robust public debate of important issues.
It was simply the price they paid to get the mayor to order the DWP to transfer the $73.5 million it promised to turn over to the general fund from surplus power revenue, and maybe $20 million more as well.
It was nothing but blackmail, and the Council paid it to free the hostage money.
DWP's financial troubles are a myth invented to raise rates 20 to 30 percent on the road to doubling and tripling them in the years ahead.
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This is DWP's third trip to the well of public money so the IBEW, the greenwashers and the green profiteers in the mayor's inner circle can get their hands on billions of dollars of the public's money.
Measure B was defeated at the polls despite Garcetti's best effort to keep secret the damaging consultant's report on the DWP.
The second effort in recent weeks also failed because there is no plan for anything except to steal the public's money, there is no transparency, no credibility.
We may not remember the date of this disgrace. But we should never forget the betrayal by our elected officials. They do it to us every day and if we let them get away with it, we become complicit in their crimes..
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Run (away)
Andy! Run!
Monty Kroopkin
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City Hall's
$30,000-a-year Gift to Demoted Executive
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6:42 AM (12 hours ago) |
AGENDA
LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL
FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2010
10:00 A.M.
ITEM NO. (24)
10-0401
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE REPORT relative to Amendment No. 2 to Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) No. 17, Supervisory Professional Engineering and Scientific Unit.
Recommendation for Council action: APPROVE Amendment No. 2 to MOU 17, Supervisory Professional Engineering and Scientific Unit, to allow Detrich B. Allen, while employed as an Environmental Affairs Officer (EAO), Code 7320, in the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), to receive salary in the amount of $5,835.20 bi-weekly until such time as the fifth step bi-weekly salary for the class of EAO meets or exceeds that amount.
Fiscal Impact Statement: The City Administrative Officer reports that the position will be responsible for administering and monitoring the Mobile Source Fund and its related projects and programs. The cost to the LADOT will be fully funded by the Mobile Source Fund, and there will be no fiscal impact to the General Fund.
Community Impact Statement: None submitted.x
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Watch a Video:
City Workers Release Our 'Strong Budget' Today
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10:01 AM (9 hours ago) |
http://keeplastrong.org/
Azar Nejad
City of LA Professional Engineer
(213)972-8496
Professional Public Service is a Full Time Job.
Furloughs ONLY HURT!
Our City Communities & Our Families!
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Date: Friday, April 16, 2010, 9:01 AM
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Villaraigosa
Recall Petition Launches On April 20
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Apr 15 (2 days ago) |
You Have Been Pre-Approved For A DWP Rate Hike
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
By
Walter Moore, WalterMooreSays.com
Today, the City Council did
exactly what I predicted it would do back on April
6, 2010: screwed you.
This is the Neville Chamberlain quid pro quo metaphor,
where you play the
rule of a Sudetenland resident.
The quid
part is what happened today. Garcetti, Perry, Hahn and their
co-conspirators passed an ordinance this quarter approving a massive DWP
rate hike next quarter. That means the DWP will receiver hundreds of
millions of dollars per year above and beyond the $2.7 billion per year
it already receives -- from you, of course.
The quo
part should arrive in a day or two. Villaraigosa will announce
that, lo and behold, the DWP can afford to transfer millions and
millions of your dollars to City Hall after all. The immediate transfer
will be no more than $73.5 million. But, going forward, count on at
least $200 million per year flowing from you to the DWP to City Hall as a
“transfer” of “surplus” funds. And don’t forget: you will continue to
pay a utility tax to the City, on top of your higher-than-ever bills.
Garcetti will tell you the
rate hike approved today is just for three months. But you and I both
know your taxes and rates will go in only one direction -- up -- as long
as Villaraigosa and the Spring Street Gang stay in office.
What can you do about this?
You can sit there and cry
in your beer, or you can sit there, cry in your beer and vow to get even
by signing the petition to recall Villaraigosa on April 20, 2010, or as
soon thereafter as possible.
On April 20, 2010, I will
have the honor of being the first person to sign the petition, which I
will do at City Hall, during the “Public Comment” portion of the City
Council meeting.
Can’t make it that day?
Subscribe to my email newsletter to find out where and when you can sign
thereafter. (Here’s the url: http://groups.google.com/group/WalterMoore.)
Fight back, would you?
There’s no “down” side to signing the petition. It costs you nothing to
sign. And if it doesn’t get enough signatures, so what? At least
you’ll know YOU signed it, and therefore can’t be blamed for three more
years of Villaraigosa.
Look, you’re either part of
the problem (lazy voters who won’t lift a finger to fight back) or part
of the solution (lazy voters who will lift a finger to fight back).
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http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14885176
Los Angeles City Council tries to end standoff with DWP over rate hike
With $73 million in revenue and the jobs of 51 municipal workers at stake, the City Council took steps Wednesday to end a month-long standoff with the DWP by raising electric rates.
By a slim majority, the council authorized an increase that would amount to about 4.5 percent, or $4 on the average household's bimonthly bill. It would take effect July 1 and be reviewed by Oct 1.
The vote came a day before the Board of Water and Power Commissioners had scheduled a special meeting of its own to consider a rate hike.
"We heard that they're finally going to meet on this and we want to reiterate what our position was, nothing more, nothing less," said City Council President Eric Garcetti, one of eight members to vote in favor of the increase.
The increase of .6-cent per kilowatt hour is identical to the hike the council authorized weeks ago - one deemed insufficient by the Department of Water and Power.
The DWP board came back with a .7-cent hike, prompting an angry council to veto any hike whatsoever.
The utility then refused to follow through with the $73 million transfer of surplus revenue to the cash-strapped city. Without the transfer, the city's budget deficit is expected to grow to $221 million this fiscal year, instead of shrinking to $148.9 million.
And on Wednesday, Raman Raj, acting general manager of the DWP, ratcheted up the pressure by saying the agency would not follow through with plans to hire 51Los Angeles city workers targeted for layoff as a cost-cutting measure.
Council members blasted the DWP for that latest salvo even as they offered the rate hike as a compromise.
"The mayor needs to replace this (DWP) commission that has been holding the city hostage," said Councilman Dennis Zine, who with Bernard Parks, Jan Perry, Paul Krekorian and Tom LaBonge opposed the plan. "It is ridiculous that this one agency feels it can act this way."
Although he approved the rate hike, Councilman Paul Koretz said he was amazed at the utility's actions.
"I keep looking for signs of sanity on the horizon from them and it doesn't seem to come," Koretz said. "You wonder if they don't want to be part of the city family, maybe we should disown them."
Perry said the utility has maintained an attitude of arrogance during discussions about the rate hike.
"The day before, when we were discussing an independent ratepayer advocate, they didn't show up," Perry said. "Now, a memo like this - it is outrageous."
DWP officials declined to respond publicly Wednesday to the council's comments or its rate-hike offer, but the Board of Water and Power Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting for 5 p.m., today to consider the proposal.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa praised the council's action.
"I'd like to thank the members of the City Council who today offered a reasonable compromise which protects ratepayers, the financial health of the Department of Water and Power, and commits the DWP to renewable energy, and I urge the members of the Commission to adopt this reasonable plan," Villaraigosa said.
The DWP has been seeking a series of quarterly increases in its Energy Cost Adjustment Factor to help pay for green energy projects as well as help stabilize the utility's shaky finances.
Ultimately the utility is seeking a series of quarterly hikes that could raise some high-volume customers' bills by up to 28 percent.
The battle so far, however, has centered on only the first of those quarterly hikes.
Garcetti and Councilman Herb Wesson were the principal authors of the new plan. They called it an effort to resolve the month-long dispute with the DWP over its final transfer to the city out of a series of payments totaling $220 million.
Also, included in the proposal is a ban on any increase in the DWP baseline rate. The utility had said it would need a 2.9 increase in the baseline next year, on top of the increases in the ECAF.
Council members said they want to see more evidence on the need for further hikes.
The DWP-council battle has played out as part of a larger drama over an estimated $700 million deficit the city faces over the next year and a half. Villaraigosa is expected to release his 2010-11 budget proposal Tuesday as he also delivers his latest State of the City address.
Also Wednesday, the council approved the transfer of $80 million from its reserve fund to cover salary costs through the year. If the DWP transfer does come through, it means the city will end the year with about a $100 million reserve fund.
The council also agreed to allow the hiring of a new class of 45 police officers on April 26 and, temporarily, a second class of 45 in May.
Perry and Parks had sought a delay until the new budget is released next week.
Parks, who chairs the Budget and Finance Committee, said the question was whether the city could afford the new officers.
"It's $1.4 million this year, but $6.4 million next year," Parks said. "For every new officer we hire, it means we have to lay off 1.5 workers. The question is what can we afford."
Zine and others, however, argued the city had already decided to hire up to 9,963 officers this year and is behind that level.
Police Chief Charlie Beck said the department is looking at the prospect of 49 officers retiring by June 30 and the new class would help fill that gap.
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