Tuesday, the 2020 Commission presented their A Time for Action report. You know you’re in for a good presentation when someone prefaces, don’t be defensive. You can view the presentation below. lacity.granicus/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=130&clip_id=13052&meta_id=245470 Austin Beutner, Co-Chair of the Commission, discussed three reform points they wanted the Council to seriously consider: Conduct municipal elections the same time as state and federal elections Create a regional collaboration network for job creation, mainly that of a tourism authority to connect the cities of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, etc. Create an office of transparency and accountability to oversee city processes I thank the Commission for investigating the ways the city can improve fiscally and culturally. I’d especially like to thank them for acknowledging that they derived their report from some of my recommendations and my Catch 22 plan. Check the tape. Below are a few things I’d like to point out regarding the Commission’s report: Since the Port of Long Beach has given some push back to merging with the Port of Los Angeles, I think having a port authority that oversees both ports’ business (ensuring they both get fair amount of business and not competing with one another) would be ideal In the district, we’re dealing with aging community plans, some as old as 30 years. We need to update these plans so that blocks upon blocks of a certain type of business (like auto repair shops) don’t monopolize the area I don’t think the city should handle the minimum wage issue; it should be handled by the state. If L.A. pays $15 but Culver City pays $12, there’s going to be a rush of people from out of town competing with residents because of the higher wage DWP positions pay 20% to 40% more than city positions with the same titles/roles- there’s no reason why this should go on any further The Supreme Court has ruled that super PACs, independent campaigns, etc. have free reign to do what they want for elections-by the time election day comes around the outcome has kind of already been determined-I don’t know if holding municipal elections at the same time as state and federal ones will make any difference It may not seem like it, but the city is addicted to hiring people. The city hires people and can’t afford the pensions, workers compensation, and disability claims that come with them. We’ve also gotten into an awful habit of spending money set aside for pensions. A la Detroit, no one wants to have worked for the city for 40, 50 years and then be told his or her pension has been cut Lastly, I wanted the Commission to better explain how they reached their conclusions and how to implement these grand reforms they suggested We’ll see if the city takes to heart the recommendations or if it was just pillow talk. I’ve got 14 months left and this isn’t my first rodeo.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 17:55:01 +0000
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