Yesterday, Kevin Roderick's LAObserved.comnoted Mayor Hahn’s new chutzpah-laden proposal to increase Neighborhood Council budgets from $50,000 to $150,000, with that additional $100,000 being directed towards street repavements and improvements.
Why is this a bad thing, you say? Why shouldn’t Neighborhood Councils have local control of what gets repaved? A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, and no potholes on your streets, thanks to Jim Hahn! We'll tell you why this is the worst sort of pandering for votes, and might be the most hypocritical policy we've seen in years.
For the longest time, Hahn’s been saying the City Council doesn't have the money for more cops. We can't help but wonder: “Jim, you’re giving $100,000 to around 100 certified Neighborhood Councils. That’s about 10 million dollars, or at the going rate... about 100 more cops. Where are you getting the money from?? And now that you have the money, why isn’t it going to more cops???"
Let's say that this is dedicated money for transportation, which it might be. Okay. Why not take $10 million out of the Bureau of Street Services' General Fund allocation and devote this increased transportation revenue to BSS, and spend the General Fund savings on more cops?
Outrageously, Hahn just so happened to announce this proposal the day of the Citywide Alliance of Neighborhood Council's debate! Well! What a coincidence! Let's pretend we're Tim McOsker, the Mayor's Chief of Staff: "Let's not announce that we're going to creatively find money for cops, let's give it to Neighborhood Councils in a pure play for more votes-the morning before the debate! THEN let's go back to voters and tell them that there's not enough money for cops in the budget, and that we need a half-cent sales tax increase to get it! And once the Council doesn't put up with our bullshit, we tell the public that the Council was obstructing the City's public safety needs again-when WE just spent enough money to hire 100 more cops in order to pander to Neighborhood Council members!"
Kuwata, McOsker, how do you look yourselves in the mirror!
