At 8th dist. Budget Meeting, Councilman Austin Mum On Whether He'll Move To Restore Some Police Beyond What Mayor/Mgm't Propose

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(August 16, 2016, 5:40 a.m.) -- A reader who attended Monday night's (Aug. 15) city staff-conducted 8th Council district meeting on the management/Mayor proposed FY17 budget tells LBREPORT.com that Councilman Al Austin attended but offered no public indication of whether he'd make a motion [or support a motion by other Councilmember(s)] to restore more than the eight officers (out of roughly 200 erased since Sept. 2009) that Mayor Garcia and city management have proposed to restore in FY17.

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, Councilman Austin inquired during the Aug. 9 City Council session on LB's police and fire budgets how much it would cost to restore half of LBPD's former 22-sworn officer field anti-gang unit. [10 officers cost roughly $1.5 million with pay and benefits; the June 2016 "Measure A" sales tax increase, sought by the Mayor and a unanimous Council, will cost LB consumers $48 million annually, $35 million in FY17, when it hits starting Jan. 1.]

In August 2012, Mayor Foster proposed a FY13 budget that would have eliminated the entire field anti-gang unit, but the Council balked and [on Austin's first budget vote] provided "one-time" funding to use in the Chief's discretion for up to half of the field anti-gang unit for a year; when the budget year ended at the end of Sept. 2013, the funding disappeared and so did LBPD's field anti-gang unit.

In April 2016, Austin won a second Council term without a runoff, endorsed by Mayor Garcia and the LB Police Officers Ass'n PAC, who used a $600,000+ campaign to urge June voter approval of a sales tax increase. Measure A was written in a way that will now let Council majorities spend its revenue on any general fund items they wish although it carried a ballot text and title telling voters it was [all caps in original] "CITY OF LONG BEACH PUBLIC SAFETY, INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR AND NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES MEASURE. To maintain 911 emergency response services; increase police, firefighter/paramedic staffing; repair potholes/streets..." The political committee, officially an "Officeholder [or Candidate] Controlled Committee" in which the officeholder is Mayor Garcia, waged a campaign that included mailers portraying the tax increase as focused on public safety:

Less than 60 days after LB voters approved the sales tax increase, Mayor Garcia proposed a FY17 budget that, unless changed by a Council majority, would restore only 8 officers out of roughly 200 erased by Councils since Sept. 2009 and would leave three fire stations without previously budgeted fire engines and NLB's station 12 without its paramedic/rescue unit. [For detailed coverage with our perspective, see this link.] The Mayor/management proposed budget would fund a number of infrastructure projects described on a city staff prepared map released during the campaign for the tax increase in May [at this link.].

The 8th Council district includes affluent southerly neighborhoods spared shootings that afflict working class areas ("north of the RR tracks") where residents and businesses have endured multiple shootings, most of which LBPD has attributed to gang activity.

During the Aug. 15 public meeting, an audience member raised the issue of LBPD's lack of its former field anti-gang unit [20 officers + 2 sergeants previously deployed in the field, where they could interact with residents and businesses, gain intelligence and view rapidly changing conditions firsthand.] Chief Luna noted that although LBPD no longer has its field anti-gang unit, it continues to have an anti-gang unit that handles matters including investigations and follows-up on gang crimes.

The city-staff conducted budget meetings continue in the coming days, including in the 5th district on Aug. 22 (6-7 p.m., Straw Hat Pizza, 6522 E. Spring St.) and in the 1st district on Aug. 25 (7 p.m., PIEAM, 695 Alamitos Ave.) These aren't formal Council sessions but rather presentations of what city staff propose; theyt are usually [although not always] attended by the district's elected Councilmember.