In her State of the City Address on April 21, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced she would be proposing layoffs in her budget proposal in the face of a nearly $1 billion deficit. This would include 1,652 workers being laid off and another 1,069 vacant positions being cut.
Proportionally, the departments of Youth Development, Disability, City Planning and Animal Services would be impacted the most – each faces a staff reduction of at least 30%.
For the Department of Animal Services, it would lose 62 employees – including animal care technicians, Animal Control officers and veterinary technicians – and 60 vacant positions would be eliminated. This would also result in the closure of three of the city’s six animal shelters: Harbor, West Valley and West LA.
In response, dozens of animal activists and shelter volunteers held a demonstration outside Van Nuys City Hall on April 25 during an LA City Council Budget and Finance Committee special meeting. With the six shelters already understaffed and overcapacity, it would affect more than people’s jobs if the budget cuts are approved.
“A lot of Angelenos don’t know we are not a ‘no-kill’ city,” said a shelter volunteer who declined to provide her name. “A lot of people assume their pets are safe in shelters, but they’re not and they will be put down rapidly if these budget cuts proceed.
“Frankly, if you think about it, Angelenos having the choice between taking their dogs to a kill shelter or letting them roam free in the street, they’ll probably let them roam free and then we’ll have a lot of stray dogs,” she continued, “which is a whole other issue of safety because think about cars hitting dogs. … This is a careless [budget] cut.”
Another shelter volunteer, who also declined to provide her name, said the city should instead be supporting spay and neuter programs. She explained that if they were free for all citizens, it would “revolutionize our shelter system” by ultimately reducing the number of pets placed in shelters.
In LA County, dogs and cats over 4 months old must be spayed or neutered unless an exemption applies.
Samantha Paris, who has worked for animal rescues for about 10 years, said the law needs to be enforced more, arguing that many people are walking unfixed dogs. She added that those people who are breeding dogs without a proper permit are contributing to the overcrowding of shelters.
“There’s a moratorium right now on breeding [permits] because the shelters are in such dire straits,” Paris said. “I think the people who are backyard breeding should be fined. This is the kind of thing people are trying to make money off of while these dogs are dying in shelters, and it’s not right.”
Environmental Programs Heavily Affected
It’s not only those concerned about animals who are worried, but environmental activists who maintain that the mayor’s proposed budget cuts could be detrimental to LA’s ability to respond to climate change. Bass is proposing to eliminate the city’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Office (CEMO), which was founded to ensure LA can provide an equitable response to climate change.
Other concerns include cutting the environmental justice unit at the Planning Department, laying off 159 positions at LA Sanitation, cuts to the biodiversity, urban forestry and soil programs and eliminating the LA River coordinator position.
Bruce Reznik – executive director of LA Waterkeeper, an organization that fights for the health of the region’s waterways – said he recognizes the financial crisis the city is in and that tough decisions have to be made, but he pointed out that these environmental programs are being disproportionately affected.
Bass has never prioritized environmental justice, he continued. Although he understands that LA has had a rough five years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent wildfires, Resnik said that the topic of environmental justice keeps getting left behind. This latest proposed budget, Resnik said, is the “straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“You’ve got to start making environmental justice and climate resilience a priority, and that’s not just directed at Mayor Bass … but also to the City Council,” Resnik said. “LA was viewed as a global leader in fighting climate change, and we are abdicating that role.”
The cuts need to be made with much more precision, Resnik said, instead of the wholesale cuts Bass has proposed – likening them to the federal layoffs seen under the Donald Trump administration.
“I think the city needs to be a leader in figuring out how we do a better job bringing revenue in because a lot of our departments are understaffed and infrastructure is crumbling,” Resnik said. “We can’t do the things we used to do, and that’s going to take investment.”
Hours of Public Comments
Resnik was one of many who gave public comment at the LA City Council meeting on April 28, urging Bass and the councilmembers not to proceed with the layoffs. More than four hours’ worth of public comments were made at that single meeting, followed by five hours more at the second meeting.
The Coalition of LA City Unions held a presentation breaking down the budget. Jenita Igwealor, a regional director for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 721, said these layoffs would result in essential services being cut. In addition, the total budget is increasing by 8.2% with “absolutely no justification as to how this would provide services” to the community.
“Balancing the budget on the backs of essential workers and services means these cuts equal threats to public safety and will increase future liabilities,” Igwealor said. “Our city’s union workforce is fully committed to ensuring the continuation of high-quality services to our communities, as well as the well-being and advancement of our city.”
The Engineers and Architects Association (EAA) represents 20% of the city’s civilian workforce, yet nearly 850 EAA jobs could be eliminated due to the budget – accounting for 30% of the proposed layoffs.
Among the numerous impacts, there could be delays to climate-resilient zoning initiatives, an increase in hazardous waste build-up, a derailment of traffic safety goals and the undermining of cross-departmental coordination.
“The cuts feel arbitrary, not strategic,” said EAA Executive Director Marleen Fonseca. “We urge you, please take a step back, pause the layoffs, reassess with transparency, collaboration and equity in mind and protect the staff who keep LA functioning, evolving and preparing for a global stage.”
Under the City Charter, LA must finalize its budget before the start of the next fiscal year, July 1.
I am concerned about the mayor’s proposed budget and its impact on individuals losing their employment with the city of Los Angeles and service reductions that will be felt citywide. The impact will be felt greatest in low-income neighborhoods. The cost of liability claims and litigation the city is facing due to lawsuits against the LAPD, for example, is cause for concern. The proposed budget seeks to lay off non-sworn civilian employees from many city departments and ‘bumping’ employees will cause distress among city employees especially those who just started working with the city. It is unfair for the city to eliminate vacant and filled positions in many (non-sworn) city departments that provide essential services to the city and to all Angelenos. Many people are afraid of the unintended consequences to the city’s financial crisis and its impact on the city overall. For Example: Recs and Parks doesn’t have enough staff to maintain park facilities such as restrooms. L.A. Sanitation doesn’t have enough staff to address the trash and illegal dumping across the city. Transportation department doesn’t have enough staff and or resources to make our streets safer for pedestrians and for bicyclists. Our streets are unsafe due to traffic violence such as speeding motorists. Neighborhoods Councils budget have not been restored to pre-covid levels (ex: $50k). Neighborhood Councils are the most basic level of civic democracy in our city and many Neighborhood Councils funds are not enough to address the needs and ongoing costs associated with supplies, NPGs, community events and outreach costs, etc.
This budget, as it stands, will have citywide impact across the city and many neighborhoods, especially the poorest communities, will feel the impact in service reductions and layoffs.