LOS ANGELESûMayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was given authority to oversee the city’s anti-gang programs, unveiled the outline of his $24 million gang-fighting strategy during his third “State of the City” address recently.
The speech at LAPD headquarters capped two months of debate over how the city should best tackle gang prevention and intervention programs. Re-enforcing his commitment to public safety at a time when the city is facing a projected $406 million deficit and higher trash fees, Villaraigosa gave his speech surrounded by police officers and firefighters.
“Public safety is the first obligation of government. When you don’t have safe streets, everything falls apart,” Villaraigosa said. “People become isolated. Kids turn into prisoners. Jobs evaporate. Families struggle just to survive. Public safety is the foundation of everything we are trying to build in the city of Los Angeles.”
Part of the mayor’s gang-fighting plan is to end L.A. Bridges, the city’s longstanding prevention and intervention program. “We’re much more specific about what we’re expecting from people in prevention,” said the Rev. Jeff Carr, the deputy mayor overseeing anti-gang programs.
“I think this is an important point – it’s not that people who have been providing services throughout the city, [it’s not] that we don’t think some of them have been effective and done some good work … but it wasn’t specifically targeted on young people who were most at risk of joining gangs.”
In fiscal year 2008-09, the city is expected to spend $24 million on prevention and intervention programs, up from about $18 million in the current fiscal year, Carr said. “We need to intervene and interrupt the violence that is … being perpetrated by gang members right now,” Carr said.
On the prevention side, “you’ve got to shut the spigot off of young people who think joining a gang is either their only realistic option for themselves or they think it’s a good option for themselves,” Carr said.
The City Council voted earlier this month to put all anti-gang initiatives under the jurisdiction of the mayor’s office beginning July 1. The consolidation was recommended by City Controller Laura Chick in her February audit of the city’s anti-gang programs.
City Council President Eric Garcetti said he does not expect the gang plan to be held up by his council colleagues during budget talks. “We’re all on the same team. We’re like the Lakers, we’re coalescing here together at the end of the season. We’re unified, we’re on the same page and I think we’re going to be able to win this,” Garcetti said.
City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district was the site of the 2006 killing of 14-yearold Cheryl Green and last month’s shooting of 6-year-old Lavareay Elzy, said what children and young adults need are after-school programs and job training workshops.
“They know that it’s that time between three and six in the afternoon when these kids get recruited by the gang members to join their gangs. They need more prevention programs – early prevention, like in fourth grade,” Hahn said.
“They want job training too. They think, like Father [Greg] Boyle [of Homeboy Industries], that the best way to stop a bullet is with a job.” The homicide rate in the city of Los Angeles reached a 37-year low last year, but a series of high-profile shootings in February and March created a sense of urgency among some city leaders to address the issue of gang violence.
Villaraigosa’s pledge to increase the size of the Los Angeles Police Department drew about 70 demonstrators from the Bus Riders Union, Los Angeles Community Action Network and the South Asian Network. The demonstrators, many of whom wore yellow T-shirts and carried protest signs, said that instead of spending money on officers, city officials should shift those funds to social programs, libraries and recreational centers.
Villaraigosa also talked about the city’s budget woes and possible layoffs of city employees, along with revenue enhancements. The mayor will present his budget next Monday. He has asked city officials to identify 767 positions that can be eliminated, which will eventually start the city’s complicated system of laying off employees.
It is not clear how many employees will actually be fired. Los Angeles employees have not experienced layoffs since 1983, when about a dozen workers were let go. Villaraigosa is also looking to increase trash fees. In 2006, the City Council approved the mayor’s plan to increase the city’s $18 trash fee by $10 over the course of three years.
The fee is expected to increase again, although the mayor’s office would not say what that increase will be. “We’re going to need to demonstrate a new openness and a new willingness to break old, bad habits at City Hall,” Villaraigosa said.
“To balance our books, we’re going to need to throw out the old political rulebooks. “Our budget will propose moving parking and surplus property revenues into the general fund for the general good-and the general protection- of Los Angeles.
I know these monies have traditionally been the political province of the council. But ladies and gentlemen, we know we can’t solve this equation dividing by 15. It’s time to find our highest common denominator.” Police officers and firefighters will not be laid off, but civilian employees in both departments could be let go, the mayor said.
Employees may also be subject to mandatory unpaid vacations and shortened work weeks. For months, Villaraigosa has been warning that layoffs are possible. The mayor has said his proposed budget will also include revenue-generating initiatives, but he would not talk about possible tax increases.
He has said that for every dollar in new revenue, he will propose a $1.50 in cuts. Villaraigosa also called on federal and state leaders to prioritize funding for rail projects. “It’s time to recognize that the only true longterm solution to gridlock is an efficient, convenient mass transit alternative. It is time to get serious about investing in rail again,” Villaraigosa said.
“Everything is going to be on the tableincluding new local revenue options and private investment in the public good,” he said. “This month, I’ll ask the MTAboard to seek proposals to privately fund, build and operate an expanded transit system in Los Angeles.”
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