L.A. mayor calls for temporary shutdowns of some agencies (Another Rat spat alert)

Los Angeles Times ^ | April 7, 2010 | Phil Willon, Maeve Reston and David Zahniser

[Zakeet]

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for shutting down non-essential agencies two days a week Tuesday as he and City Council members remained locked in a standoff over the intertwined issues of electricity rates and the city's worsening budget shortfall.

Villaraigosa's action topped another day of threats and name-calling at City Hall.

During a morning news conference, the mayor said the council had caused the latest financial crisis by engaging in the "politics of 'no' " and accused it of "the kind of demagoguery you see in the Congress."

Those were "the kind of scare tactics you saw around the healthcare debate," he said.

[Snip]

The mayor directed acting City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna to prepare to shut down parks, libraries and other general fund services starting Monday. Public safety, trash collection and revenue-generating agencies would be exempt.

"I am duty bound to make sure that I'm not in a position to make people work if we don't have the cash to pay them," Villaraigosa said. Union leaders questioned whether the mayor had the authority to enact what amounts to a furlough program in which thousands of city workers would see their paychecks cut by two-fifths.

"We take this absolutely seriously," said Julie Butcher, regional director for Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents more than 10,000 city employees. "The mayor's endangering services and people's lives."

[Snip]

Freeman told council members that the failure to approve an electricity rate increase had "decimated our financial future."

He noted that on Monday, one of the nation's top bond-rating agencies withdrew a AA rating on two DWP bonds worth $720 million, which could increase the agency's borrowing costs.

[Zakeet]

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa directed acting City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna to prepare to shut
down parks, libraries and other general fund services starting Monday. Public safety, trash collection
and revenue-generating agencies would be exempt.

Quick Summary of the Latest Crisis from the Left Coast: The city will be insolvent in a few weeks. The Libtard council would like to raid a fund in the city's utility, but the P&L folks won't budge unless they get a rate increase to pay back the theft. The city council has refused, knowing the higher rates could lead to their ouster. The result is a "Mexican Standoff" with the clock ticking. Mayor Romeo has proposed shutting down some non-essential city services, and this is making the unions howl.

[kjo]

Sooner or later, probably sooner...the Obama administration is going to call for taxes from people in financially stable states to bail out the Californias and New Yorks.

Red states will be taxes to bail out the blue...I guess it’s in the commerce clause. Everything else is.

[TruthHound]

http://ttatwavs.atspace.com/Barney/goldbrickers.wav

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Hey captain Villaraigosa!....You wanna take care of that mess of yours???? Get busy!

[Oldpuppymax]

Too many welfare recipients and too few taxpayers.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

I bet this Hispano-Racist mayor does not cut taxpayer funding for the Illegal Aliens in LA.....

[max americana]

They already changed the schedule for the Central library in downtown L.A. yesterday as per the notices. They have to at least cut the smaller libraries in order to survive.

[farlander]

What a load the unions are selling - closing parks and libraries is going to “endanger people’s lives” ? It’s called “no mo money”, idiots!

Maybe people would figure out that these ‘non essential services’ are truly non essential.

[Lurker]

How are they going to ‘shut down’ a park? Will there be armed cops preventing citizens from entering?

[Oldexpat]

Some liberal judge is going to levy a tax on the citizens of broke states/cities/counties. Just watch. Or they will rule that the contracts can’t be broken, that benefits can’t be changed and people can’t be fired.

[Wissa]

How are they going to ‘shut down’ a park? Will there be armed cops preventing citizens from entering?

Not to prevent them from entering. No money to be made doing that. I suspect they'll be issuing tickets for those that DO enter.

[throwback]

LOL! Sooner or later liberal/progressive policies always lead to the “politics of no” - no money.

[JPG]

And they have been paying people to work in non-essential jobs because?

[Rodentking]

If the services are NON-ESSENTIAL, why are we taking money from people at gun point to pay for them? OR, not pay for them in this case?

Notice also that WELFARE is NEVER non-essential. Perish the thought people should have to work for a living.

[Ben Mugged]

If the would stop picking up the tab for illegals they would have plenty of money.

[Frantzie]

Please Senor - sell more LA Junk Bonds yielding 10.75% because my wife and 10 ninos need new zapatos and I need spinners for our 2010 Escalade.

[subterfuge]

How are they going to ‘shut down’ a park? Will there be armed cops preventing citizens from entering?

A lot of the parks in Orlando/ Orange county are surrounded by fencing. They just shut the door and lock it up.

It makes sense. You can't have people wandering around in open spaces unless there is some local government hack on the premises making $105,000 a year. That would just be anarchy.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

the “politics of no” - no money....

Always!.....they cry desperation and good old John Q. Public grabs his ankles once again....

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Obama: “Half of my letters brand me an idiot”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2468312/posts

Filing this in ...

Obama-nomics link-list
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2464021/posts

I’m a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

I’ll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains

[This Fall, Super Tuesday.]

[bruinbirdman]

"P&L folks won't budge unless they get a rate increase to pay back the theft."

It appears the power company needs more bucks to buy green power from wind farms in Utah per whacko laws to decrease CO2 pollution.

California also pays a nifty premium for solar power from two plants in my city in Nevada. Boy, does this little town of 15,000 appreciate the millions of dollars in rent those plants pay us.

yitbos