LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Supervisors Again Act to Withhold Funds From D.A.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to give the district attorney the right to accept a special grant, but not to actually spend the money.

It is the second time in a month that the district attorney has been left dangling by a procedural quirk. The board only needs a simple majority of three votes to accept special grants from state, federal or private sources, but needs four votes to appropriate the funds for expenditure.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has been in a feud with the board over his budget, and has said he will not accept special funds for programs on real estate and welfare fraud if he cannot have the right to use the money to hire additional personnel.

Board member Gloria Molina said the district attorney is already over budget and should accept the funds but not hire any additional investigators or attorneys until he balances his books. As a result of Tuesday’s vote, the district attorney could lose $1.7 million in funding for a task force on food stamp fraud.