President's Message
Stop the Budget Axe From Falling Even Harder
When
it comes to additional cuts in recreation, take the City
Budget Challenge and tell the mayor, “¡Ya Basta!”
By Jack
Foley
President, People for Parks
People
for Parks was formed 20 years ago to revive what the Los
Angeles Times called “the Dead Parks” in under-served
communities. PFP sponsored successful ballot initiatives in
1992 and ’96, and then-Mayor Tom Bradley responded with a
$7-million park program. California voters approved
statewide initiatives generating $4 billion for what the
Times later called “the greening of L.A.”
That
statement was too kind. Los Angeles consistently ranks last
among large U.S. cities for access to green space. Today,
only one in three children in L.A. live within walking
distance of a public park or playground.
Nevertheless, the worst economic crisis in nearly 80 years
threatens to undo all our recent gains. People for Parks
estimates that the City’s Recreation and Parks Department
(RAP) was shorted $25 million in the 2009-10 budget. Under
the City Charter, 0.0325% of property taxes are dedicated to
RAP. Reductions for 2009-10 include holiday closures at
child and senior centers, a hiring freeze on full- and
part-time positions, transfer of utility costs, and
furloughs.
For
fiscal year 2010-11, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected
to choose one of three alternative budgets: the first would
maintain current funding, the second would cut 10%, and the
third would cut 20%. More than 500 positions would be lost
even with the current budget because of retirements and
other attrition, with estimated losses doubling under the
weight of a 20% cut.
Because
of Charter limitations, Mayor Villaraigosa is considering
two programs – proprietary status and full cost recovery –
to achieve reductions. Proprietary departments use revenue
to reimburse the City for a share of the cost of fire and
police protection, administration, early retirement (ERIP),
and other municipal services. The Port of L.A., World
Airports and DWP are the City’s only fully proprietary
departments, but the mayor hopes that to recover more costs
by simply reclassifying RAP, which doesn’t generate
comparable revenue, as proprietary. Full cost recovery
requires park users to pay the full cost of public
recreation programs. That might work in wealthy communities,
but can you imagine low-income families paying $500 each for
four children to play basketball?
You can
stop the budget axe from falling even harder on public
recreation. The City of L.A. has listed those proposals and
similar scenarios for other municipal services on its
official website, and is asking residents to pick which
agencies they favor. I urge you to take the survey right
now:
http://labudgetchallenge.lacity.org/budgetchallenge/sim/budget_master.html
Tell
Mayor Villaraigosa, “¡Ya basta!” Even the best
scenario may include closing more parks, recreation centers
and pools, and cutting programs, maintenance and
permit-users at facilities that remain open. Working
families, many already reeling from the recession, rely on
public parks more than ever, and shouldn’t be forced to
carry the full weight of a crisis they didn’t cause.
City
finances are already squeezing forward-looking programs like
One Watts, a collaboration of smart recreation and academic
programs at Markham Middle School. People for Parks, the
L.A. County Parks Dept., Character Counts and local
recreation leaders have been developing a model prevention
and academic program for Markham students from the Jordan
Downs, Imperial Courts and Nickerson Gardens housing
projects.
One Watts
is about saving lives. Public recreation has a proven track
record of stabilizing communities, especially in low-income
neighborhoods like Nickerson Gardens, where gang violence
was blamed for at least five deaths since late November.
I look forward to hearing your
thoughts. You can reach me directly at
Jack.foley1@verizon.net |
