Public Safety Committee (Price & Austin w/out Mungo) Ask LBPD & LBFD To Cite Ways They'll Meet Mgm't-Proposed "Proportional Budget Reductions" With Deficits Looming In Coming Years; LBFD Chief Says He'll Ask Council To Consider "First Responder Fee" (In Add'n To Ambulance Charges) w/in Weeks; LB Firefighters Ass'n Suggests Creating Fire District And Fire Mgm't Consolidation; LBPD Mgm't Has No Proposed Fee Increases For Now
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(April 17, 2015) -- At a noon-hour meeting today (VIDEO carried LIVE on LBREPORT.com, on-demand below), the City Council's Public Safety Committee chair Suzie Price and vice-chair Al Austin (member Mungo absent) invited testimony from LBPD and LBFD management on measures their Departments recommend to deal with budget reductions city management said (March 3, 2015 study session) would be required if a City Council majority were to continue [what former Mayor Foster called] "proportionate share" budget cuts (which have had significant impacts on LBPD and LBFD service levels for taxpayers.)
Neither chair Price nor Vice Chair Austin questioned continuation of "proportionate share" budget reductions. [A Council majority, not management, ultimately decides what taxpayer services to prioritize or cut.] The item was agendized to discuss "alternate funding sources" for public safety and city efforts to "come up with innovative ways to address public safety needs."
LBFD Fire Chief Mike DuRee said he plans to propose to the full Council -- in the coming weeks -- consideration of a "first responder fee," a sum in addition to any current ambulance fees. Chief DuRee said such a fee is being used by the cities of Anaheim, Sac'to, Glendale and Pasadena and some others. Neither Price nor Austin expressed any disapproval of this.
[Scroll down for further.]
LBPD's management rep said the Department is implementing a number of technological and other measures producing efficiencies and is teaming when possible with other city Departments and private sector agencies (including non-profits.)
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Committee chair Price said her Council colleagues have "thrown out lots of different idea" and indicated she wants City Hall's public safety team should to look at EVERYTHING (her emphasis). She also volunteered that the Long Beach Firefighters Association had written a letter suggesting that the Public Safety Committee examine "Formation of a Fire District for the City of Long Beach" and "Fire Management Consolidation." LBREPORT.com has obtained a copy of the LBFFA letter and publishes it below in full.
The Committee meeting was scheduled by chair Price in advance of the April 14 Fourth Council district special election in which voters chose Daryl Supernaw over union-supported candidate Herlinda Chico (who was endorsed by all Council incumbents except Mungo who didn't endorse anyone.)
As separately reported by LBREPORT.com, in a March 2015 study session, city management attributed coming "deficits" (spending exceeding anticipated revenue) to actions by PERS [CA public employee pension system] and declines in the price of oil.
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Unmentioned by the Committee was a report from "Management Partners." a consultant firm hired by a former Council under former Mayor Bob Foster, cost paid by taxpayers) on measures the consultant firm recommended as cost saving options. [Some of the options, including some outsourcing and/or privatizing, didn't sit well with some union-supportive Councilmembers at the time.]
Committee chair Price made a motion, seconded by vice-chair Austin, that at the Committee's next meeting "that there be an analysis or a review of some possible innovative options that each department can undertake or study in terms of finding more efficiencies in anticipation of the potential cuts that are coming." Chair Price indicated her Committee's next meeting would be in roughly two months.
Committee chair Price said she sometimes had to "bite her tongue" on hearing statements at some City press conferences (by persons she didn't mention by name) to the effect that LB's crime levels are the lowest in years. [The phrase has been used by multiple city officials; Mayor Robert Garcia used it during his Jan. 2015 State of the City message.] Price said she thinks it's a great statistic but said [paraphrase] that the message should also be that LBPD is doing this with a skeleton crew. She said repeating the message that crime is at the lowest level in decades leads to a reasonable inference that LB doesn't have to augment its LBPD budget or staffing because we've got the situation so under control. Price said LBPD staffing is down from where it should be, as so is LB's fire department and they need to be augmented [although she didn't say how.]
Vice chair Austin added that he believes many of the solutions "may require a conversation with our residents...with the voters, on how they want to see resources allocated, if they want to commit new resources to public safety." He said chair Price was "on point" in urging a message that shows the City has real public safety needs to maintain a level of service that the public needs and deserves.
When Committee chair Price called for public comment, a single taxpayer -- John Deats (former chair/member of City Hall's now-former Public Safety Advisory Commission -- said LB's current oil extraction fee is roughly less than half that of Signal Hill...and asked rhetorically why Long Beach isn't looking at parity with Signal Hill on LB's oil extraction fee with any increase in proceeds 100% allocated to public safety.
Developing with further to follow on LBREPORT.com.
