Council's Public Safety Committee (Price, Supernaw, Austin) Is Told There's No Plan Now In Place -- Despite Measure A (Blank Check) Sales Tax Increase -- For Further Police/Fire Restorations For Taxpayers Beyond Those Council Approved in Sept. 2016 For FY17 (Engine 8 + South Div + 8 Officers Out of 200 Erased Since FY10)...But City Staff Will Present Options For Council Consideration In January 2017

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Entering 2017

Also coming in 2017: management response to Council-voted Nov. directive to make prepations to restore NLB Rescue 12

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(Dec. 23, 2016) -- As seen LIVE on LBREPORT.com earlier this month, the City Council's Public Safety Committee (chair Price, vice chair Supernaw, member Austin) heard two items at its Dec. 6 meeting: an LBPD report regarding homicides and a report regarding the Mayor/Council-sought sales tax increase (Measure A) approved by voters in June 2016. Both items were orally presented, meaning the public (and press) had no opportunity to learn in advance what LBPD and city management would say.

LBPD management indicated the following are LB's homicide totals over the past few years: 2012 = 30; 2013 = 32; 2014 = 23; 2015 = 36; 2016 = 32 to Dec, 6 with 25 days remaining in the year. [Since then, there has been at least one additional murder, bringing LBPD's count as of Dec. 22 to 33 murders (a woman found deceased 1000 block W. Carson St. suspect arrested and charged.) At last report, the circumstances of a Dec. 8 fatal stabbing near the Traffic Circle remain under investigation.

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Regarding an overview of Measure A [June 2016 Mayor/Council-sought LB voter-approved sales tax hike] as concerns [agendized text] "public safety projects 2017-19, including public safety resources already committed using Measure A," financial management staffer Lea Ericksen acknowledged that there is no current plan in place for public safety restorations for taxpayers beyond what the Council approved (Sept. 2016) in the management/Mayor recommended FY17 budget.

City Hall's FY17 budget restored Engine 8, restored LBPD's south division (moved some officers from previously consolidated west+south division) and restored 8 budgeted officers out of roughly 200 eliminated since FY10.

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Ms. Erikesen indicated that city staff is preparing report for Council considerations in January containing possible options for public safety restorations. LBPD Deputy Chief Conant indicated LBPD mgm't is also preparing a list of items with a preferred order for restoration (similar to LBFD's list of items and preferred order of restoration.)

Measure A'a ballot title and text -- approved by all incumbent Councilmembers (prior to Pearce) and shown to voters as they marked their June 2016 special city election ballots -- stated in pertinent part:

[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; improve water supplies; and maintain general services..."

On Nov. 23, 2016, the Council voted (8-0) to "make necessary preparations to restore [paramedic] Rescue 12" with a report within 90 days [by our calculation by February.] [LBREPORT.com coverage here. Councilman Daryl Supernaw (who took office May 2015) made several unsuccessful attempts to persuade Vice Mayor Richardson (who made the motion to make preps to restore Rescue 12) to accept a friendly amendment that would explicitly support restoring Engine 17 (after Rescue 12.) Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce (took office mid-July 2016) cited a need to restore Engine 101 after restoring Engine 17. (Engine 101 was a second Engine based at a Station 1 (Magnolia b/w Ocean/Broadway) previously budgeted in view of downtown's density and multiple high rises. Councilwoman Price said she also wants management's report on restoring police to go beyond numbers and address "equity" and "type of policing."

Vice Mayor Richardson stuck with his originally agendized verbiage re preparations to restore Rescue 12, but said his motion intends to have have management "evaluate that if we have the ability restore [Engines] 17 as well as 101, then put us in the position to do that immediately...[and] if we have the ability to do further [public safety] restorations, put us in the position for the Council to do so." Richardson asked Supernaw and Pearce if that satisifed them; neither of them publicly objected...and Richardson's item carried 8-0 (Andrews absent.)