Unions, Baca Join to Protest Cutbacks

The Los Angeles County budget debate intensified Monday as unions and departments facing deep cuts urged county supervisors to turn their budget ax on building projects rather than jobs and services.

Union leaders cited a $500,000 project to place new signs on county courthouses, including one to put Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s name on an Antelope Valley courthouse. They also singled out new park facilities such as soccer fields and tennis courts.

Barbara J. Maynard, a spokeswoman for a coalition of 12 county unions, said representatives would argue against the items on the agenda today and will call for a halt to new building in the county.

“At a time when the county supervisors are considering cutting vital services ranging from health care to public safety and child protective services, these projects should be put on hold until the county is back on a stable financial footing,” she said.

“Do you add a new bedroom to your house at a time when your kids don’t have food they can keep in their bellies?”

The Board of Supervisors has proposed a $16.2-billion budget that reduces spending by $355 million. They say a downturn in the economy is forcing them to make painful cuts in services.

Sheriff Lee Baca, who is facing millions of dollars in cuts, is also expected to appear today with about 3,000 sworn and retired officers in tow.

Marvin J. Dixon, a Sheriff’s Department chief, said his department has found common ground with the unions.

“You shouldn’t be building new buildings. You should be investing in people, not things,” Dixon said.

County officials defended the projects as necessary investments.

“[Building] projects have been deferred for many years. There is a backlog of deferred maintenance and deferred building projects that need to be addressed,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

“One can argue about any individual expenditure, but there is a backlog of capital and maintenance projects that cannot be deferred,” he said.

Chief Administrative Officer David E. Janssen said that about $60million in capital projects have already been deferred in the proposed budget and that it may not be possible to cut much more.

The county’s proposed budget includes $120.2 million for building and maintenance projects.

Janssen said the legacy of deep cuts in capital improvements during the recession of the early 1990s has left parks and other facilities woefully behind on maintenance.

The Sheriff’s Department and county officials have already had some public confrontations about the budget.

Several supervisors have criticized Baca for changing his forecast of how his department will be affected by the cuts.

His department, which has a $1.4-billion budget, will receive nearly $50 million less, according to the county’s proposed budget.

Baca has said the Sheriff’s Department would have to reduce services in unincorporated areas, shrink or eliminate jails, and end investigative programs involving hate crimes and identity theft, among others.

He also said last month that he would have to close four sheriff’s stations under the proposed budget. Those statements have not been repeated recently, and according to recent papers submitted by Dixon, Baca will be able to keep all the stations open.

“You’re making it up as you go along,” Yaroslavsky told Dixon, who represented Baca, at a meeting last week. “You don’t have a clue what’s going on in your own budget.”

But Dixon replied that the department “does have a clue,” and later in a interview with reporters said today’s protest “is not something we were looking forward to.”