Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Friday announced that he will send up to 1,000 city employees to help in rescue and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Villaraigosa signed an executive directive Friday allowing municipal employees to be paid with city funds while working with the American Red Cross along the Gulf Coast.
Villaraigosa also directed the managers of various city departments to devise a plan this weekend that would relocate hurricane victims to Los Angeles.
"The city of Los Angeles stands ready to do everything it can with civic leaders and community leaders, as Angelenos, to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina," Villaraigosa said during a news conference held in his office Friday afternoon.
In immediate response to the hurricane, the Los Angeles Fire Department sent a 70-member Urban Search and Rescue Task Force for a nine-day operation, Villaraigosa said. Another such task force is on standby to head into the Gulf Coast.
The city has also sent a 14-member Swift Water Rescue Team and 10 support staff to the Gulf Coast. Los Angeles firefighters have rescued 400 people in the hurricane-ravaged region.
The Los Angeles Police Department's Special Operations Bureau also has a 30-member Tactical Support Team on standby in case they are called up to assist with security efforts in the region.
Would be better to put them in one of the old military bases instead of in the inner-city, particularly an inner city like Los Angeles that is getting ready to blow because of problems between the blacks and hispanics and police department.