Outlook Grim in County’s Early Budget Documents

In preliminary budget documents released this week, senior managers have drawn a bleak picture of a Los Angeles County government beset by outbreaks of violence and subject to lawsuits as the population grows increasingly frustrated with long lines, reduced services and deteriorating facilities.

That grave assessment comes as county officials gear up for what promises to be a bruising budget battle, with predictions of dire cuts in services and staff.

The cuts, required in part to close a $900-million deficit in the current year’s budget, come as demands for county services, including welfare, health and recreational facilities are at their peak.

Even the process of cutting back is expensive. The Department of Public Social Services, for example, is anticipating layoffs of 3,500 workers. To cover the one-time costs associated with layoffs, such as paying out vacation and sick leave, the department will have to dismiss an additional 170 staffers, a “bitter irony,” noted department head Eddy S. Tanaka.

County observers note that there is a certain amount of posturing in early budget proposals, and the documents admittedly present worst-case scenarios. But Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed, hired on her reputation as a tight-fisted fiscal manager, acknowledges that the outlook is indeed grim.

“All of it is realistic,” said Reed, speaking of the dire forecasts. “Whether it will be as serious as portrayed we won’t know until we do the final balancing.”

But Reed said emphatically that county residents will have to live with dramatically reduced services.

“We will only be able to provide services to limited numbers of people and they will be the most seriously ill, the most seriously in need,” she said.

To help her prepare the 1994-95 budget, Reed instructed each of the county’s 43 department heads to draft a proposal based on cuts that averaged 36%. The suggested cuts ranged from zero for the Sheriff’s Department to 95% for the Community and Senior Services Department.

Tanaka, asked to trim his budget 36% warned of turbulent times ahead as those in need attempt to cope with diminishing services.

“We recently witnessed ominous foreshadows of the probable results in our experience with the emergency Food Stamp program after the Northridge earthquake,” he said. “Some applicants nearly rioted when their needs were not met in a matter of hours or days. . . . I have little doubt that at least some applicants will respond with rage aimed at my employees and members of the public who may be in my office.”

Department of Mental Health Director Areta Crowell, asked to trim her operation by 78%, described her 1994-95 budget as the “accelerated dismantlement of the public mental health system in the County of Los Angeles.”

She said about 6,000 people currently served by her department will have to look elsewhere for help.

Crowell on Wednesday questioned how much longer the health and well-being of the community can be maintained in the face of current cutbacks.

“We will see these cuts in increased demands on social service, human services, law enforcement and increases in the homeless mentally ill,” she said.

Sheriff’s Department officials found the CAO’s target figures so low that they wouldn’t even respond to them. The district attorney’s office, which has been battling with Reed in recent weeks over budget matters, did not file a proposal.

The Board of Supervisors would suffer a proposed cut of about $3.3 million, or about 9% of its current $36.6-million budget, said the board’s executive officer, Larry Monteilh. The budget would require the five supervisors to each give up their annual $750,000 discretionary fund that is used for community events and organizations.

Among significant budget impacts forecast by department heads:

* As a result of layoffs at the Department of Public Social Services, welfare applicants would be required to wait up to 18 weeks before being allowed to file for benefits; applicants would be handled by rotating workers rather than be assigned a specific, ongoing caseworker; district offices would be closed one day a week.

In addition, the department will have to increase its security budget by 25% to ensure the safety of employees and the public, necessitating even more layoffs.

* The Los Angeles County public library would close 49 of 87 libraries and lay off 160 workers. This would come on top of losses last year that resulted in the closure of 10 libraries, severe reductions in service hours, and the layoff of 67 permanent and 300 temporary library staff.

* The Department of Parks and Recreation is proposing to shut down 59 of 130 park sites, including 17 of its 33 pools. It would eliminate park police patrols and pare back maintenance at the remaining 53 park sites. The department will not at this point identify the facilities considered for closure.

* The Museum of Natural History is proposing to shut down all of its facilities, including the George C. Page Museum in Hancock Park, from Monday to Friday and predicted the deterioration and eventual destruction of key exhibits due to maintenance cuts. School tours and other educational services would be eliminated. The department has been asked to absorb a 38% cut in funding, reducing its budget to $6.1 million.