On Sept. 2, the Council's Budget Oversight Committee, whose members were chosen by Mayor Garcia in July -- chair: Lowenthal; vice-chair O'Donnell; member Mungo -- met at 4:00 p.m. to make budget recommendations to the City Council. The Budget Oversight Committee [as with all three-member Council committees] has no enactment powers but can vote to recommend actions to the full Council.

Among the Budget Oversight Committee's Sept. 2 agendized items was "Recommendation to receive and file discussion of Fiscal Year 2015 Budget items." Among the City Council's Sept. 2 agendized items was Budget Item 1.10: "Recommendation to adopt the Mayor's proposed budget recommendations, as amended, to the FY 15 Proposed Budget." Mayor Garcia's proposed budget recommendations didn't include restoring police officers, fire engines, LBPD's field anti-gang unit or park rangers for taxpayers.

The Budget Oversight Committee spent most of its roughly one-hour meeting discussing changes to the City Prosecutor's budget, allocating additional funding to implement a "language access" policy (translating city webpages and phone services into multiple languages) and shifting some proposed infrastructure sums to let Councilmembers allocate the sums to projects in their own districts.

With roughly a minute remaining before the Budget Committee adjourned at 5 p.m. for the full Council meeting, Councilwoman Mungo mentioned taking action on item 1.10 (the Mayor's budget recommendations.) Budget Oversight Committee chair Lowenthal swiftly invited a motion.

Councilman Patrick O'Donnell immediately made a motion to recommend Council approval of item 1.10 (the Mayor's proposed budget.) Mungo seconded O'Donnell's motion. Lowenthal joined...and the Committee voted 3-0 to recommend Council approval of Mayor Garcia's recommended budget.

Just minutes later, the full Council meeting began and video indicated Councilman O'Donnell wasn't in his seat. When the Council reached the budget approval items, Mayor Garcia gave the floor to Vice Mayor/Budget Oversight Committee chair Lowenthal to recite the Budget Oversight Committee's recommendations. When she reached item 1.10 (approval of the Mayor's recommended budget), Lowenthal (per the Budget Committee's 3-0 voted recommendation) moved the item and Councilman Rex Richardson seconded it.

The Council voted 8-0 -- Yes: Gonzalez, Lowenthal, Price, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin, Richardson but with O'Donnell absent on the item -- to approve the Mayor's budget recommendations (with no restored police officers, no restored fire engines, elimination of LBPD field anti-gang unit and no additional park rangers.).

Nearly immediately after the vote action, Councilman O'Donnell entered the Council Chamber and took his seat. O'Donnell was present and voted on remaining budget items. These included a floor motion by Councilwoman Suzie Price to allocate an additional $350,000 to LBPD to deal with residential burglaries. Vice Mayor Lowenthal initially indicated that she favored waiting to see if additional money would be available in January 2015 (from LBPD FY14 spending coming in "under budget") which O'Donnell opposed and sought immediate funding for Price's motion. Lowenthal ultimately acquiesced and Price's motion to allocate $350k for LBPD residential burglary related matters carried 9-0.

On Sept. 9, the Council will vote on a "second reading" of a FY15 budget ordinance. At that time, there can be public comment, and Councilmembers can make motions if they wish to amend the budget actions they took on Sept. 2. The agenda item is:

Recommendation to declare ordinance approving and adopting the official budget of the City of Long Beach for the Fiscal Year 2014 - 2015, creating and establishing the funds of the Municipal Government of the City of Long Beach and appropriating money to and authorizing expenditures from said funds for said fiscal year; declaring the urgency thereof, and providing that this ordinance shall take effect at 12:01 A.M. on October 1, 2014, read and adopted as read.