Valleywide : State Controller Urges Government Reform

State and local government must find new ways of doing business or risk ruin, state Controller Kathleen Connell warned a group of San Fernando Valley business leaders Friday.

Addressing a meeting of the board of directors of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. at the newly reopened Northridge Fashion Center, Connell said the state’s precarious fiscal condition should compel government and the private sector to cut waste and create jobs.

She cited her first official act after taking office as an example: a 12% staff reduction in her agency for an estimated $27 million in savings over five years.

“That’s the kind of attitude we want to see spread throughout state government,” she said.

Connell explained that 27 of California’s 58 counties are “on the edge of fiscal bankruptcy” and noted that the state budget currently contains no reserve funds for emergencies such as earthquakes, fires and floods.

“If you ran your business like that you’d be in Chapter 7,” she said.

Mike Feuer, in his third week on the Los Angeles City Council, told the group that the Valley’s business community will play a vital role in shaping the future of the 5th District.

“We are past the stage in the history of this city where we can afford to consider the needs of homeowners and businesses without the other,” he said.

Although his remarks were short on specifics, Feuer named quake repairs, public safety and education as crucial issues confronting the district and declared that by year’s end the area would be home to six community centers or substations staffed by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Preceding the two speakers was a slide-show presentation charting the Northridge Fashion Center’s extensive renovation in the 18 months since the Jan. 17, 1994, earthquake.

“I guess you could say the good news about the earthquake is we have a brand-new shopping center,” mall manager Lloyd Miller said.