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BUDGET ADVOCATES - In response to the Mayor’s approval of the City Council’s Revised Budget for fiscal year 2025-26 that saved over 1,000 jobs, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates have serious concerns over the decisions made by the Mayor and City Council.
“We are dismayed by the direction this budget takes,” said a spokesperson for the Budget Advocates. “Despite repeated calls to fully fund core services—such as police, fire, and infrastructure - the City continues to underinvest in the essential functions that protect and serve Angelenos.”
Among the key issues identified by the Budget Advocates:
- Core services remain underfunded, placing public safety and essential infrastructure at risk.
- The budget for liability claims is vastly understated by at least $100 million.
- Revenue projections are overly optimistic, continuing a pattern of unrealistic budgeting that has contributed to the City’s current $1 billion deficit.
- Hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent on homeless programs with little to no accountability as was pointed out in a damning consulting report ordered by Federal District Court Judge David Carter.
While the City claims to have passed a “balanced budget,” Budget Advocates believe the upcoming budget is unbalanced and will result in even fewer services to Angelenos, including the repair and maintenance of our streets, sidewalks, and parks and slower response times for emergency services.
“We urge the City Council and Mayor to immediately implement meaningful reform to ensure a sustainable future where the City will live within its means. Otherwise, we will be back in the same or worse position next year: facing deficits, fewer services, reduced public safety, crumbling roads, and unacceptable 911 response times.”
Budget Advocates call on residents and businesses to speak up and demand more from their elected leaders. “We need bold, tough decisions - not half-measures that jeopardize our future. Call City Hall. Tell them to go further. Los Angeles deserves better.”
(Jay Handal is the co-chair of the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, treasurer of the West LA Sawtelle Neighbored Council and is a long-time community activist who writes for CityWatch.)
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
