CANOGA PARK : Picus Says Program Will Lose Funding
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus on Thursday contended that a program to rid the neighborhood around Lanark Park of drug dealers and criminals will survive only until the end of the year because its share of a federal grant was cut.
But the head of the committee that disburses the annual $7-million federal anti-drug grant that supports the FALCON program said that although its operating budget has been cut, it probably would not run out of money.
The program’s share of the federal grant for the 1992-93 fiscal year was about $1 million, about $350,000 less than the previous year.
“There was so much padding in this budget, we felt it was an insult to our intelligence,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Kay said.
Kay said the program’s budget, which called for nine Los Angeles police officers to be paid between $49,000 and $51,000 annually to run the program, contained excessive overhead expenses.
The FALCON (Focused Attack Linking Community Organizations and Neighborhoods) program is a coordinated effort between city and Los Angeles county agencies to rid neighborhoods of crime by encouraging residents to police themselves.
It has been in place around Lanark Park, known to neighbors as “Narc Park,” for about a year.
Before that, the program cleaned up a Venice neighborhood.
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