LA City Council Approves Mayor Karen Bass’ Plan, 1,700 Vacant Positions Axed – What’s the Impact?

In a move underscoring Los Angeles’ challenging fiscal reality, according to Los Angeles Times, the City Council voted 12-3 on Thursday to adopt Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed $12.8 billion budget that eliminates 1,700 vacant positions across numerous city departments. The cuts, while not resulting in direct layoffs, represent a sobering reduction in municipal workforce and services as LA grapples with soaring personnel costs driven by newly negotiated raises. In this article we talk about LA City Council Approves Mayor Karen Bass’ Plan, 1,700 Vacant Positions Axed.

As the council engaged in intense debate over law enforcement spending, a recurring source of friction, the overarching budget calculus required tough trade-offs—delivering pay hikes for police and civilian employees while still balancing the books through vacancy reductions. The impact on staffing levels and service delivery promises to be felt across the city in the year ahead.

Cuts Across the Board to Fund Negotiated Raises

The eliminated 1,700 vacant positions span agencies as diverse as animal services, public works, transportation, cultural affairs, and building maintenance according to city budget analysts. This downsizing was deemed necessary largely to cover a series of recently negotiated raises for sworn LAPD officers as well as tens of thousands of municipal civilian workers including gardeners, clerks, custodians, mechanics and librarians.

“There’s no sugarcoating the reality that we face next year,” warned Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, chair of the Budget Committee. “Services will remain stagnant at best because we will be operating under a bare-bones budget.”

While no current employees face layoffs, the cuts dramatically shrink LA’s budgeted workforce from just maintaining already-vacant roles, setting the stage for reduced services and resources across many city functions.

Backlash on Police Spending Persists

The council’s left wing, consisting of Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, voted against the budget out of dismay over the reductions as well as the continued high level of police funding. Hernandez pointed out nearly 25% of the budget goes to LAPD even as other agencies downsize.

“I cannot vote for a budget that adds funding to an already overfunded department, while at the same time cutting $2.5 million from after-school programming,” stated Hernandez, an advocate for reallocating police funds to community services.

Partial Reversals to Protect Key Services

While approving Bass’ broad plan, the council did intervene to restore some proposed cuts—preserving about 400 positions primarily at the parks and recreation departments as well as the street services bureau which maintains roads and infrastructure.

They also voted to reverse eliminations impacting senior meals and four vacant fire department roles, recognizing a need to protect essential services and public safety functions despite the fiscal constraints.

Police Hiring Funds Hotly Debated

One of the most contentious discussions centered on a proposal by Soto-Martinez and Hernandez to withhold $34.7 million allocated for new police hiring until LAPD actually meets its recruitment goals. Though voted down, the debate reflected an ongoing divide over police resourcing.

Council President Paul Krekorian defended prioritizing police hiring to combat rising crime and staff shortages that have left LA as “the most thinly policed big city in America.” With LAPD down 1,200 officers since 2019, he argued the raises were vital “to prevent the department from losing officers even more rapidly.”

The Long-Term Cost of Raises

While acknowledging the budget’s difficulty, Budget Chair Blumenfeld said council members knew the pay increases “would be painful when they approved them” last year to keep up with inflation and stabilize the workforce long-term.

Councilmember Tim McOsker echoed that “the most valuable thing we have is our people, and we’re investing in our people” through the hard-fought raises.

The Path Forward

Mayor Bass expressed gratitude for council’s leadership on this challenging budget while affirming her priorities like homelessness initiatives and improving city services. Her Inside Safe program received $185 million to continue transitioning unhoused individuals into temporary and permanent housing, though significant numbers have cycled back onto the streets according to recent data.

Ultimately, LA now faces tough choices on service levels, staffing and resource allocation in the new fiscal year starting July 1st. The vacant position eliminations hint at leaner times ahead as the city shoulders the major financial burden of new pay agreements while still obligated to provide essential municipal functions.

Public Safety, Infrastructure, Homelessness Priorities Challenged

From police patrols and 911 response to road repairs, park upkeep and homeless outreach – the eliminated 1,700 vacant roles almost inevitably mean reduced bandwith and capabilities for numerous services residents rely upon daily. Public safety, infrastructure maintenance and homelessness are all termed top priorities yet face potential operational impacts from the personnel downsizing.

The LA City Council has arduous work ahead to identify strategic service cuts, enact efficiencies and explore potential revenue enhancers as this austerity budget is operationalized over the next year. While preventing layoffs, their approval of Bass’ plan acknowledges harsh trade-offs to meet towering salary obligations while still keeping the city solvent and functioning at adequate levels.

Some services being diminished may spur outsourcing to contractors. Other efficiency initiatives through technology and organizational restructuring could help do more with less staffing. But officials concede stagnant or reduced levels of city outputs ranging from tree trimming to street sweeping to park programming may be unavoidable realities in the year ahead.

Calls for New Revenue and Fiscal Reform

Even some members who voted for the budget, like Bob Blumenfield, warn “bare-bones” service delivery is likely as the city downsizes while grappling with salary spikes. This dynamic has sparked fresh calls for LA to contemplate raising fees, exploring new revenue streams, and pursuing long-overdue fiscal reforms to avoid continually having to cut services and vacancy levels when labor costs escalate.

Thursday’s divisive council vote captured the tension between investing in employees through hard-fought raises while still adequately funding city operations and initiatives like homelessness relief, public safety, community services and infrastructure maintenance. It is a delicate balance LA’s newly-elected leaders must now strike through their budgeting and policymaking in the months ahead.

As the 2023-2024 fiscal year dawns, Los Angeles faces a sobering reality check on its finances and the ever-present challenges of delivering quality municipal services while prudently managing its resources. Mayor Bass and the City Council have setLA on an austerity course for now, but sustained progress on civic priorities demands they continue exploring sustainable budgetary solutions. I sincerely hope you find this “LA City Council Approves Mayor Karen Bass’ Plan, 1,700 Vacant Positions Axed – What’s the Impact?” article helpful.