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Safer
Communities Measure
City
Council denies voters / stakeholders rights ...
by Bill Murray
LACP Founder
February 10,
2005
Virtually everyone agrees, there's a BIG need for increasing the
number of police officers at LAPD. Virtually everyone agrees that
all areas of Los Angeles should have 24 hour ambulance service.
And virtually everyone agrees that a significant increase in the
funding of youth programs for prevention and intervention is a good
idea.
But no one knows how to pay for it ... except possibly the community
itself, which failed by a slender margin in the City to pass a countywide
½ sales tax when a badly packaged and ill marketed campaign
was presented to it last fall.
Now six of LA's 15 City Council members feel they know better than
us ... and that it's not our right, as voters and stakeholders,
to decide for ourselves whether or not we're willing to SELF
tax to pay for a far better chance at increasing public safety.
The "Safer Communities Measure" presented such an opportunity
... to let us decide citywide at the ballot box in May ... but Councilmembers
Padilla, Parks, Smith, Villaraigosa, Weiss and Zine don't trust
us enough to let it be OUR decision, our choice.
Their six votes blocked the question from being presented to the
voters.
Not that we'll ever know how three of them made their decision.
Parks, Villaraigosa and Weiss never opened their mouths.
In a spirited and engaged debate Mayor Jim Hahn, LAPD Police Chief
Bill Bratton, LAFD Fire Chief Bill Bamattre, LAPD Police Commissioner
Rick Caruso, LA City Councilmembers Tony Cardenas, Eric Garcetti,
Wendy Gruel, Janice Hahn, Tom LaBonge, Martin Ludlow, Cindy Miscikowski,
Jan Perry and Ed Reyes ... along with numerous community members
... implored the Council let the VOTERS be the decider of the issue.
Only Smith and Zine spoke against giving the community the right
to decide for themselves, saying they knew cops and their needs
better, and that their Valley constituents had "all" told
them not to let it go to the voters. Councilman Padilla waxed on
about how "appropriate" the discussion was ... then voted
against letting the measure go to the ballot. His was the swing
vote.
Odd thing is, I'll bet YOU, the stakeholder, never got an opportunity
to even SEE the language that the City Attorney had recommened should
be presented:
ONE-HALF
CENT SALES TAX TO HIRE MORE POLICE OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS AND
PARAMEDICS AND FUND ANTI-GANG PROJECTS.
For greater public safety by providing funding to:
(A) hire and equip 1,200 or more police officers; build and
equip 2 new police stations; equip crime laboratories to enable
DNA analysis and other scientific techniques; improve police
communications capabilities; by using 75% of resources;
(B) hire more firefighters to staff new fire stations and to
increase firefighting and rescue capabilities; hire and train
paramedics to staff 24 hours per day ambulance service at each
fire station; acquire advanced communications and dispatch center
equipment; by using 10% of revenues;
(C) fund gang and crime prevention and intervention projects,
including those to dissuade youth from joining or remaining
in gangs, and provide alternatives to gang involvement and crime
using 15% of revenues;
with citizens oversight to monitor projects and budgets, and
annual reporting. |
Pretty rough
stuff, that ... no wonder we can't be trusted to decide ...
So ... the issue's over.
I want to take this opportunity to thank those of you, who like
us, feel that empowering the community is what it's all about. Your
hard work on behalf of all our community-based policing efforts
is much apprciated.
There will be more battles, more opportunity to participate as voters
and stakeholders ... but a measure like this can not come to you
before the November 2006 ballot again.
So please ... help us engage as many people as possible to participate
in our grassroots, "bottom-up" approach to exploring better Public
Safety and quality of life.
During
these times of fiscal crisis it will be up to the community to take
the lead. We need to insure that the LAPD and all the City's Departments
be given a fair chance at making Los Angeles the "safest big
city in America."
Yours in service,
Bill Murray
LACP
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