Hahn Endorses Police Bond as It Moves Closer to Ballot

Mayor James K. Hahn on Friday threw his support behind a $600-million bond measure for the March ballot to replace Los Angeles police stations and the city’s emergency operations center.

Hahn’s public endorsement came on the same day the City Council approved a resolution to place the bond measure on the March 5 ballot.

“We really think there is an opportunity here to catch up with our infrastructure needs, especially the emergency operations center, police stations, other facilities we need in case of an emergency,” he said.

The council action came after a briefing by City Administrative Officer William Fujioka, who said even with the new bonds, the amount the city pays annually in debt service in comparison to the overall general fund budget will remain well below the 15% limit set by the council.

The annual bond debt payments would average $41 million per year over 24 years. Fujioka said the measure would add an average of $34.49 per year to the property tax bill for a house with an assessed value of $185,000.

“I personally have been to many of these police stations, and the environment the officers work in is dismal at best,” Fujioka said.

The last action needed to put the measure on the ballot, adoption of an election ordinance, is scheduled next week.