LA Downtown News, Friday, January 22, 2010

Panel Predicts Major Restructuring to Stave Off Bankruptcy

by Ryan Vaillancourt, Staff Writer

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – In the face of a $400 million budget deficit, the city of Los Angeles is going to have to make significant cuts across city departments, and the perennially untouchable land of public safety can no longer be spared. Otherwise, the city may be headed toward bankruptcy.

That was the overarching tone of a sobering panel discussion sponsored today by the Central City Association. The event at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel featured a trio of key city budget officials, along with Julie Butcher, regional director of labor union SEIU 721, which represents public employees.

Councilman and former police chief Bernard Parks, who heads up the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, said that cuts to public safety are inevitable. The LAPD currently accounts for 27% of the city’s budget costs, and the Fire Department accounts for 9%, according to a presentation by panelist Miguel Santana, the city’s chief administrative officer.

Santana and panelist Gerry Miller, the city’s chief legislative analyst (who functions as the council’s top advisor), both said the city will have to make cuts everywhere and find efficiencies wherever available.

“But the other city departments don’t offer the same kind of opportunity [for savings] as public safety,” Miller said.

Parks, along with the other panelists, acknowledged that bankruptcy is a legitimate concern, but said that it can be staved off with the right collective will.

“I don’t think anybody wants bankruptcy on their resume,” Parks said. “Sometimes city government works best when it’s forced to move.”

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com