Posted on 01/08/2014 1:11:00 PM PST by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Poverty, weak job creation and other issues currently plaguing Los Angeles could leave the city “sinking into the future,” according to a report released Wednesday.
The report titled A Time For Truth (PDF) from the Los Angeles 2020 Commission, which was convened to study and report on the city’s fiscal stability, warns the city is suffering from a “crisis in leadership” and a lack of confidence on the part of investors.
“Los Angeles is sinking into a future in which it no longer can provide the public services to which our people’s taxes entitle them and where the promises made to public employees about a decent and secure retirement simply cannot be kept,” the report stated.
KNX 1070′s Ed Mertz reports several pressing issues cited by the commission include poor economic development, traffic, a declining school system, budgetary cuts and deficits, rising pension costs and other factors that have contributed to the city’s current fiscal condition.
Commissioners focused specifically on slow job growth and stagnant wages that have left about 28 percent of working Angelenos at the poverty level, even as median income levels linger at 2007 levels, according to the report.
Budget constraints imposed after years of essentially flat revenue streams have also left the city facing a “death of a thousand cuts” that has resulted in severe declines in service levels since 1994, the report stated.
“Although City Hall forecasts revenue will grow about 1 percent next year, the only thing certain is expenses will grow by more than 5 percent in the same forecast,” the report said. “The implications of that gap are obvious.”
According to the report, a lack of investment dollars can also be blamed in part on reduced city services, such as an estimated 75 percent reduction in tree trimming services and libraries that operate with a workforce 30 percent smaller than levels from as recently as 2011.
Resources for building and safety, economic development, street services and sanitation have all been sharply reduced since 1993 after cuts to over 1,300 workers in those departments, the report stated.
RELATED: Mayor Garcetti Launches Pothole Repair Operation ‘Neighborhood Blitz’
“Investment dollars will not flow to neighborhoods that suffer from crumbling sidewalks and pothole-filled streets,” notes Carol Schatz, President and CEO of the Central City Association of Los Angeles.
The report also describes the Los Angeles Unified School District as a “failing” public school system that will graduate less than 60 percent of its 640,000 students from high school despite a $7.1 billion budget. The report isn’t all doom-and-gloom: commissioners say LA can grow into a top-notch 21st-century city on the strengths of its ethnically diverse “pool of human capital,” world-class universities like UCLA, USC, and Caltech, and the city’s international brand, which represents “creativity, innovation, meritocracy, opportunity and a desirable lifestyle.”
Despite providing specifics on issues, commission chair and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor said the report isn’t directed at any single public official.
“This is not just about one person or two people or a leader here or a leader there…it’s about everyone,” Kantor said. “That’s why we don’t mention any names, we talk about leadership in general.”
The independent commission, formed by City Council President Herb Wesson and chaired by Kantor, is comprised of 13 former civic and business leaders, including former California Governor Gray Davis, and former U.S. Labor Secretary and California Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis.
“A Time For Truth” is the first of two reports the commission is expected to produce, with the second expected to cover commission recommendations and possibly alternative solutions for addressing the challenges facing the city.
One-party urban areas dominated by public workers unions, bloated bureacracy, high taxes, and out of control spending, pensions and benefits generally suffer the same fate. Not even LA’s fantastic weather can change these trends.
LA = Detroit w/ better weather
I think San Antonio is chasing the LA model just as hard as they can. If San Antonio can’t ditch the Castro brolthers— I’m thinking it’s time for us to start thinking about moving.
I spent 30 years in Los Angeles, “in decline” is its normal status.
IOW, extremist left wing politicians and LIV/bought and paid for voters . . .no other excuse . .. Same thing will happen to NYC if not already. Chicago? Same.
And Detroit has an NFL team.
I had to scroll back up to see if this was satire. It’s hard to believe this is from a left wing CBS affiliate.
No surprise here. LA is a hot, intractably liberal mess.
Gee willikers, could part of the problem be what’s covered in the video below?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53cJQC0gVak
At least you have all those cool rural areas around SA. The only places within driving distance of Los Angeles where one can afford to live are places you wouldn’t want to live.
Los Angeles is the Capital of Northern Mexico.
The report also describes the Los Angeles Unified School District as a “failing” public school system that will graduate less than 60 percent of its 640,000 students from high school despite a $7.1 billion budget. The report isn’t all doom-and-gloom: commissioners say LA can grow into a top-notch 21st-century city on the strengths of its ethnically diverse “pool of human capital,”
Oh my, they are too stupid to see that their ethically diverse pool is what is driving the school district failure. There’s no hope for them.
Government pensions and illegal aliens are choking us off.
According to RAT Bastard libs & demoCRAPs & unions, all they ever need is just a little bit more time & money (well, lots of money, like unlimited billions) in order to finally arrive at their socialist utopia. Same old story & garbage that libTurds have been pedaling for the past 80 years since our first commie pres FDR. After 80 years, there is not one single socialist program, agency, bureacracy, local gubmint, district, state or fed gubmint ANYWHERE in the world where socialism has ever worked. And yet the liberal parasites continue to milk the system year after year.
The only thing that will ever halt this is for a complete economic & currency meltdown, a great massive bloody battle civil war, and then to start over with only conservatives eligible to run or hold political office.
Can we audit the commission? What was Hilda Solis paid for this consulting ‘work’?
PS- 640,000 students and a budget of $7.1B? Really? Really?
What about all the millionaire movie people that love Obama don’t they live in or around the LA area?
I've visited "top-notch 21st century cities" like Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore in recent years. They completely destroy L.A. and every other American city in economic health, architecture, technological infrastructure, public transit, public education, safety from crime, and even the quality and price of food.
But the one thing they all have in common is that they use their ethnically diverse pools of human capital to clean toilets and haul garbage, while the established majority ethnicity firmly holds almost 100% of the quality jobs and political offices - and has no plans whatsoever to allow that situation to change.
Perhaps this reality of human civilizations will be instructive to the Left. :)
You know they always release some sort of study before they get down to what they really want. They’ll next call for destroying Prop 13 and raise property taxes — where else they gonna go? I can hear the clamor now.
Love this man. A very appealing voice, with the age, wisdom, experience, and message that makes one want to listen. Thanks for sharing ~
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