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That basically sums up what's going on at City Council chambers this morning as hundreds of people are griping about the cuts being proposed by L.A.'s chief budget official - cuts that should have been made many months ago. The folks expressing their outrage are understandably concerned about the prospect of lost jobs, but there appears to be little, if any, understanding about the scope of the problem - or even the basics of city budgeting. Meanwhile, many of those on the council seem to have that deer-in-the-headlights look. They're clueless. From the LAT:
Backers of the Human Services Department, which is slated for elimination, said the agency's conflict- resolution mediators have helped reduce ethnic tensions since the 1965 Watts riots. Supporters of libraries said their books and computers keep students out of trouble after school. "Don't let our city experience a bankruptcy of spirit, a bankruptcy of culture," said Roy Stone, president of the Librarians' Guild within the American Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees Union Local 2626. "That is far worse than the financial bankruptcy you're considering."
Of course, that's just the point. These folks don't have the first idea of what havoc a municipal bankruptcy filing would cause. Seems like too many jumbled agendas - and too little backbone - for anything constructive to come out of this. If you have the stomach, here's a live feed of the meeting.
*Reader makes note of yesterday's comment by Councilman Jose Huizar on how to deal with the deficit. From the Times:
The city, like any family, should look for "unconventional ways" to address the crisis, he said. "If I'm facing hard times . . . I'm going to go to my uncles. I'm going to go to my aunt. I'm going to ask them to borrow money," Huizar said. "But I'm going to tell them: 'You know, I've got this '67 Chevy. I could sell it a year from now and maybe I'll pay you back with that.' " "Can we do anything like that?" he asked the city's budget advisors.
Where do they get these people?
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.