Global Courant 2023-05-13 07:47:27
Mayor Karen Bass’ first city budget cleared a major hurdle Friday, with a five-member committee clearing the way for her to spend $250 million on Inside Safe, her strategy to fight homelessness.
The city council’s Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee compromised with Bass over efforts to gain additional oversight of Inside Safe, which has moved the unhoused Angelenos into hotels, motels and other facilities.
Councilors have sought greater oversight of the program, which has brought in about 1,200 unhoused people so far. Bass warned last week that the committee’s push for additional review — setting aside some of the money for the program to be approved later — would send City Hall back to the days when there was a “lack of urgency” on the area of homelessness.
The commission resolved the issue by claiming approximately $184 million of the planned $250 million will be deposited into the city’s “unused balance,” an account where city programs receive money but typically require additional approval from the council. However, the committee took steps to ensure that Bass’ homeless team would have immediate access to the remaining funds — without causing additional votes on the council.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who chairs the committee, likened the scheme to an auto-recharge Starbucks gift card: Every time the mayor’s Inside Safe account drops below $25 million, it is automatically topped up with another $25 million. of the unused balance, he said.
Councilors would be notified in advance of any transfer to the Inside Safe account – and retain the power to refuse that transfer if they have concerns about the programme, Blumenfield said.
“(Bass) was concerned about expediency … and I was concerned about oversight and accountability,” he said. “I wanted to find a third way that would create responsibility and overview, but still give her opportunity.”
Bass, for its part, is supposed to provide biweekly reports on Inside Safe detailing how the money is being spent and what the initiative is achieving.
The mayor’s proposed budget now goes to the full city council, which is expected to make a decision on Thursday. The next fiscal year starts on July 1.
Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, said in a statement that the mayor and her team are reviewing the commission’s actions.
“This is one step in a multi-step process and the mayor looks forward to continuing her work with the City Council to bring in Angelenos as soon as possible,” he said. “The mayor is confident that the cooperation with the city council that has been established over the past five months will continue.”
When the council approved $50 million for Inside Safe in January, council members said they wanted it biweekly reports of the progress of the initiative. So far, only one report has been released.
City controller Kenneth Mejia, who at one point sent staffers to oversee an early Inside Safe operation, has suggested in recent months that there were legal limits to his ability to oversee the program.
“Since Inside Safe falls under the mayor’s office, some interpretations of city law make it difficult for us to review independently,” he said on Twitter in March. “That’s why we and other offices defer it to the mayor.”
Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council on the budget process, has also raised the issue of oversight of Inside Safe and other programs.
“While there is no objection to the mayor executing on her priorities and directing departments accordingly, doing so without review by the city legislature is deeply concerning and upsets the balance established in the city’s charter” Tso said in a memo to the committee. this week.
During this year’s budget hearings, the oversight of Inside Safe proved a bigger source of contention than the mayor’s proposal to hire the police force. Bass has called on the Los Angeles Police Department to grow to 9,500 officers — a goal many at City Hall consider difficult to achieve. The department currently has 9,100.
On Friday, the budget committee approved the mayor’s recruitment plan. At the same time, the panel recommended cutting approximately $31 million from its proposed budget for the LAPD, reducing the amount allocated for salaries and related costs. The commission also recommended an additional $10 million for police hiring and overtime go to the city’s improper balance sheet.
Blumenfield said he remains committed to the mayor’s hiring goal even amid efforts to cut the LAPD’s proposed budget.
“None of these discounts,” he said, “will hinder hiring.”
Councilman Curren Price at one point tried to stop planned cuts to the LAPD budget, but later withdrew his motion after receiving assurances from Tso that there would still be enough money to meet the mayor’s LAPD hiring goal reach.
“I think we have a responsibility to support her as she tries to achieve her goal,” he said in a statement.
