CommentsGELFAND’S WORLD-This is going to be an argument that at least one government agency here in Los Angeles have its budget cut, but it's not the LAPD.
Think of this as the conservative core of American liberalism, which is something that really exists and should be given credence by those who call themselves conservatives.
I have pointed out previously that there is a lot of fiscal conservatism in the liberal mindset. If this sounds a little like Ronald Reagan, it is not meant to. The disagreements basically center on where government money is spent and who it is taken from. Liberals also hold a considerable amount of mistrust of government bureaucrats, but unlike the current conservative backlash against all things environmental, the liberal side goes back to distrust from the days of slavery, Jim Crow, and de jure segregation.
Liberals adopt elements of conservatism that are determined by reality. In today's discussion, it is appropriate to consider city money wasted by the city agency known as the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE).
Some of you are already acquainted with DONE, and you can skip the next paragraph. For the rest, I will introduce the topic as briefly as possible.
In the late 1990s, the city of Los Angeles went through a rebellious phase. Several parts of the city were attempting to secede through ballot measures. If successful, the result would have been more cities and a much smaller city of Los Angeles. Counter-measures were taken. As part of a broader attempt at reforming city government, the twin Charter reform commissions introduced a proposed ballot measure that created a system of neighborhood councils. What was odd and a little revolutionary about the new system was that the new neighborhood councils would be self-organizing, defining their own sizes and structures. Groups of people got together and applied to the city for official certification.
I've simplified the story, but the important point is that each neighborhood council arose out of its own efforts, defined its own boundaries, and wrote its own bylaws.
And here is the critical point: The new Charter section created DONE and a city commission (Board of Neighborhood Commissioners, aka BONC) to oversee the official certification of the new councils.
In the first few years (early 2000's), the BONC certified dozens and then more dozens of neighborhood councils in the attempt to cover the city of Los Angeles. DONE staffers went over all of the applications, offered comments and corrections, and walked each applicant through the process.
At this point, there are 99 neighborhood councils covering essentially all of Los Angeles except two wealthy areas (Brentwood and Pacific Palisades) which do not appear to want one. DONE's main task is completed.
Over the past approximately 20 years, DONE has varied in the size of its staff and in the amount of government money it spends. At the beginning, it had more than 50 people. In general, their service was not wasted, because there was a lot of work involved in working through the applications and presenting them to the BONC. But that era has long since ended. At present, there are around 30 staff members, and many of us are at a loss to understand why they are needed. Basically, they seem to be involved in finding ways to interfere with our autonomy, and they do this by messing with our bylaws and interfering with how our boards function.
Defunding DONE instead of the LAPD
During the days of protest last summer, there was a call to defund the police. I don't think most Los Angeles residents want the police to be abolished, but I suspect that the majority are a bit uncomfortable about police abuse of minorities -- particularly with regard to the highly publicized atrocities in other states -- and we want a careful inspection of our own department and reforms, where indicated, to be applied. More specifically, I think that the vast majority of Los Angeles residents want police services to be continued at the same or higher level. (I've suggested that L.A. fix its emergency 911 phone system so that it is made to be responsive, and, in addition, do something about 1-877-ASK-LAPD.)
But this is a year of crisis. The city and state have suffered dramatic losses of revenue. Every time there is an order to close down restaurants, the city loses sales tax revenues because the owners lose income. It's the same for other businesses -- people without income due to lost jobs are holding back on their purchases.
So every government agency that is not involved in crisis response ought to be sensitive to the fact that the current situation is not only a health crisis, it is a fiscal crisis.
And that's where DONE comes in. The following argument is going to be in two parts: (1) Although DONE is asking for more money, it is not a critical agency and (2) To a substantial extent, DONE is now doing harm instead of doing something useful.
DONE no longer is involved in certifying new neighborhood councils, but it does harass and badger currently existing neighborhood councils. In my part of town, DONE has little credibility due to its record of conduct with respect to the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council and due to its treatment of contract employees. Equally to the point, much of what DONE used to do -- paying neighborhood council bills -- has been taken over by the office of the City Clerk.
There is less and less for DONE to do, but this year they are asking for a 15% raise in their budget. This is not supportable by rational arguments. In its statement, DONE refers to salary increases that this budget increase would support. In a year in which a large fraction of Los Angeles residents have lost jobs and income, or watched their businesses fail, the idea of giving more money to already overpaid bureaucrats is not defensible.
But there is another argument that people in my neighborhood and region would like to add. DONE has been trying to expand its operations -- presumably in that timeless effort referred to as Parkinson's Law -- to increase its own size and build a bigger payroll and basically be more of an empire than a service organization. Neighborhood council participants can support our own autonomy (and save ourselves endless hours defending ourselves from bureaucratic overreach) by asking that the city partially defund DONE. A reasonable request is for DONE to be defunded by 20% off the current yearly funding.
I'd like to offer an amusing aside to this discussion. A colleague of mine was typing up a possible resolution on this very topic, but as he explained to me, his fingers made a sort of Freudian slip. Instead of typing Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, he typed Department of Neighborhood Enforcement. The problem for those of us who participate in the neighborhood council system is that his typographical error is really the more accurate description of DONE. We are tired of having to deal with a department of enforcement, because -- as those who are participants in the system know -- the DONE spends its time and effort coming up with new rules to propose and enforce.
For example, remember that the proposed rules on digital content are coming down the road, although they should be dropped.
So my suggestion to the other 98 neighborhood councils is that you take up and pass the following resolution, which my colleague wrote and passed along to me.
MOTION REGARDING FY 2021-22 PROPOSED BUDGET
"Whereas, the general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment is proposing a 15.1 percent increase in the department’s budget for fiscal year 2021-22; and "
Whereas, the city of Los Angeles is experiencing a serious budget emergency and severe cuts in services, including critical public safety functions, are contemplated; and
"Whereas, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment does not provide essential services to the people of Los Angeles;
"Therefore, be it resolved, the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council recommends that the fiscal year 2021-22 budget of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment be reduced by a minimum of 20 percent."
Note that this resolution is written for one neighborhood council, but all you have to do is substitute your own neighborhood council and after you pass the resolution, send it as a community impact statement to the mayor and the City Council.
Appendix: The statement by the DONE General Manager on the proposed budget:
DONE GENERAL MANAGER BUDGET PROPOSAL STATEMENT
"Neighborhood Empowerment is pleased to present the Department's 2021-2022 Budget Proposal. The Department is submitting a Proposed Budget for FY 2021-22 of $3,257,738 with a 15.1% ($428,294) increase from the Department’s Approved FY 2020-2021 budget. The Budget acknowledges Mayor Eric Garcetti's cost containment and fiscal constraint mandates. The increase in the budgetary request from the prior year reflects salary increases, and the continuation of existing service levels operated by resolution authority positions. Department staffing levels would drop by 2 positions compared to FY 2020-2021 (from 35 to 33 full time positions) if this proposal is accepted. This budget ask focuses on (1) maintaining, as much as is possible, existing staffing and service at FY 20-21 levels, (2) reducing baseline budgetary spending by 3% ($93,135), and (3) complying with the requirements of the Separation Incentive Program (SIP). The budget proposal now goes to the Mayor's Office and CAO for review and hearings before the Mayor releases his proposed budget on April 20, 2021. After that, the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee will make their recommendations on any changes in order to approve the budget by May 2020."
(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected])
