Stephanie Raygoza
Staff Writer
In a sudden and controversial move made late at night during the Sept. 6 Long Beach City Council meeting, Council voted with an empty chamber to enact the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) budget as an emergency ordinance with proposed cuts to police, fire, parks and library departments to take effect immediately.
The 6-3 vote cancels what would have been the introduction of a new FY12 replenishment police academy class and cuts fire engine staffs to three-men crews, making Long Beach the only major metropolitan city to not provide the standard four per engine, according to a joint email from the dissenting Councilmembers, which included Gerrie Schipske of the 5th District, Rae Gabelich of the 8th and Steven Neal of the 9th.
The budget vote was made at 11:11pm after the public left the council chamber, according to that joint email, which they had sent out two hours after the meeting in response to the Council vote.
“By waiting until the public left, they violated every principle of transparency and openness and proceeded to seriously cut essential public safety and quality-of-life services with few public in attendance,” the statement read. “Despite more than 28 residents giving testimony earlier in the evening against making cuts to public safety and quality-of-life services, the majority on the council waited for the public to leave before they jammed through a budget that seriously cuts these critical services.”
Under the budget vote, other fire-services reductions will take place at Stations 14, 18 and 19, with the elimination of 21 police officers in the various departments of patrol, gang enforcement, Homeland Security detail and violent crimes. These changes come at a time when the state is preparing to release prisoners, and six members of the Council are ignoring the concerns of both police and fire chiefs, according to the email.
In a statement given later on Wednesday, 1st District Councilmember Robert Garcia, who supported the vote, said the budget contains tough cuts for every department but is fiscally responsible. He noted that the decision would help move the City in a positive direction, in part due to the historic pension reform agreement with the Police Officers Association, which would reduce pension costs and protect police officers from future layoffs in the FY12 budget.
“Over the next couple weeks, we have a responsibility to look at creative ways to fund a 2012 police academy and ensure that we are able to retain four firefighters on our fire trucks,” Garcia said. “These are tough times, but by working together, we may be in a position to begin seeing budget surpluses in 2014.”
Garcia plans to advocate for numerous capital investments for police and fire technology and staffing, additional library and parks resources, city web technology, and funding to fix more streets and sidewalks.
Although the Council initially voted against the use of oil revenue to maintain services, Garcia said the budget would adapt, as the Council plans to revisit the issue. “I expect that concerns will be addressed in the next few weeks at our October 4 deliberations on one-time oil revenue,” he said. “We have an opportunity to spend $18 million on one-time capital expenses.”
Budget cuts to the various city departments and services will take effect Oct. 1.
