CD-14 Budget Listening Tour Notes

Summary

Here’s what you need to know Summarize the 3 most important outcomes or takeaways from your notes…. April 25th is a one day public comment to influence budgeting of LA funds located in Van Nuys with Mayor Karen Bass LA is in a deficit of $1 billion for the next fiscal year Largest allocated city funds currently go to LAPD Carry over fiscal year budget deficits will result in city services cuts such as trash pick up, public childcare services, graffiti removal, youth development and preventative resources cuts for the next fiscal year

Immediate Actions Agenda items that have been approved/denied/continued/discussed and a description of the item decided on here… Main discussion of budget cut items for the next fiscal year, such as trash pick up, public childcare locations and graffiti removal will go down Discussion of community members concerns for childcare, rent increases, resources for undocumented residents, for example. Mayor Karen Bass releases city first draft of city budget proposal for the next fiscal year on April 21st Community has 40 days from April 21st till June 1st, to tell council member Jurado their concerns for the budget to influence change of the Mayor’s proposed budget A one day community meeting in Van Nuys with Mayor Karen Bass to influence city budget on April 25th

Accessibility Issues Include a description of what is lacking/barriers you faced on assignment (i.e. elevator not working, hard to understand, etc)… Microphone did not work at 6:38 pm and Controller Mejia had to switch them out, still the speakers were not great and finally Controller Mejia had to use voice projection to present budget (the microphone issues lasted about 12 minutes) Presentation was not ready to project, Mejia said aloud their email in response when a community asked how to reach them and said to google his name to find his email. It was not shared in the presentation. A question was written in Spanish on a note card for Ysabel Jurado and they had a hard time understanding it, ultimately the question was not responded too and happened at 7:33 pm

Follow-Up Questions What are you left wondering? Ask up to 3 of your own follow-up questions…

1. Why is public comment to influence the next city budget only one day, on April 25th with Karen Bass in Van Nuys? 2)Why is the largest allocated city budget for LAPD? 3)Why is the lowest allocated budget for youth development/prevention?

General Notes Meetings usually have 3 major components: Discussions, Public Comments, and Actions Meeting started at 6:26 pm at Barrio Action on Ysabel Jurado listening tour by Traci Salazar. Barrio action has been a consistent ally to cd-14 Issues with microphone Computer for presentation was not set up and ready for presentation Agenda outlined by Traci Salazar - Budget review, Presentation by Controller Kenneth Mejia and community questions and comments from questions written on cards Agenda as outlined by Ysabel Jurado: Demystify city budget process To hear about what items the community cares most about Review & Presentation by Mejia
Goal and purpose: To demystify city budget process and to hear what the citizens care most about in regards to spending Controller Mejia Presentation on city budget At 6:38 pm Controller Mejia started presenting about the city budget and highlighted that the least allocated budget was for the youth development and prevention service and that the highest allocation of funds was for LAPD/public safety Revenue Projections for FY24-25 General fund revenue was 7.9 billion which resulted in overspending Largest revenue source is property tax Closely followed by Sales tax, business tax and tourism also fund Los Angeles $140 Million deficit is due to sales tax and business tax Sales tax down $40 million Business tax down $52 million Next fiscal year starts in July 2025 , next fiscal revenue is 7.8 Billion City is expecting less federal grants, by 200 million dollars from current administration $300 million in projected overspending for next fiscal year Because there is overspending, there needs to be “freezing” from other departments “Freezing” meaning layoffs and freezing hiring and re-allocating funds City services are suffering because of the overspending and deficit For the next fiscal year there is a $1 billion budget deficit because of less revenue and overspending and liability claims made towards the city The city pays in lawsuits each year, $320 million each fiscal year as opposed to fixing and attending to issues The budgeting process starts in august, september Departments submit budget proposals from september to november The city budget passes in July Mayor releases city budget proposal on April 21st Community has 40 days till June 1st From April 21st to June 1st community can tell council member Jurado their concerns for the budget to influence change of proposed budget New fiscal year budget goes into effect July 1st approved by Mayor Bass Mejia highlighted disorganized infrastructure planning throughout the city, such as, fixing a pothole here and there, without strategy. Controller Mejias presentation ended at 7 pm.

Ysabel Jurado began answering community questions at 7 pm. Community members wrote questions on white note cards before the start of the meeting. 1st question asked about Senior Center budgeting and asked for support in not cutting more funds. Council member Jurado responded that since there are alot of 2nd question about food distro, Ysabel is looking into community vendors to collaborate with in the city Field deputy said to call their office if looking for food distro 3rd question was about solar panel electricity, Ysabel Jurado talked about solarization for El Sereno 4th question asking about bulky bin for every district, for trash clean up 5th question was about funding for parks and child care centers and summer camps Ysabel Jurado asked Controller Mejia to respond and he talked about the funding for the parks and that the city is going to move child care centers funded by the city to private owners because of the city’s budget issues. Controller Mejia stated that - City has 12 child care centers and the city is set to keep 4 open working with the city and make the rest private. Council Member Jurado added that the city is contemplating thousands of layoffs including for parks and recreation and summer camps Ysabel Jurado stated that thousands of layoffs are being considered by the city, specifically for childcare and city cleaning and summer childcare programs “It’s going to be a tough year with tough decisions” - Ysabel Jurado “Its a real tough time for us” - Ysabel Jurado “There are going to be some really tough choices” - Ysabel Jurado 8th - Holistic approach to public safety , what does public safety look like without policing? “The student to union job pipeline is better than the student to prison pipeline” - stated YJ at 7:15pm 9th - What is your approach to rent increase and approach to rent caps? Council Member Ysabel Jurado stated - she would have a “Balanced approach” and stated she would be “considerate from all angles” - YJ - 7:17 pm Question 10 - “With things getting so expensive, what is your advice for my future?” (asked by a youth community member “Continue to find radical hope in this time, every single day” - YJ - stated at 7:20 pm “Come to our office and apply for an internship” - YJ- 7:21 pm Question 11: What is going on with homelessness spending? Controller Mejia responded at 7:26 pm: That case was related to a service provider giving unhoused people ramen noodles and canned goods and they were billing the city for more. Will keep the public updated on homelessness funds Question 12: How is the city supporting undocumented residents The city is looking into services for know your rights for undocumented residents How to continue to provide stipends for undocumented residents Making sure that the departments of cd-14 are focusing on lights being out rather then enforcements impacting undocumented residents Question 13: Are you in favor of layoffs in the city Mejia responded at 7:39 pm, that if you know that city tax dollars are being used personally, they can be looked into through his department YJr responded that - LAHSA is comprised of the city and county funds and the city took funds from the county of LA and now LA has to make up funds YJ responded - LA city has 60 percent of the entire counties unhoused population and that she is against all layoffs Ysabel Jurado’s Q&A ended at 7:40 pm.