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Apr 14, 2008 6:38 pm US/Pacific
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Mayor Gives 'State Of The City' Address
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was recently given authority to oversee the city's anti-gang programs, unveiled the outline of his $24 million gang-fighting strategy on Monday in his third annual "State of the City" address.
The speech at LAPD headquarters capped two months of debate over how the city should best tackle gang prevention and intervention programs.
"Public safety is the first obligation of government. When you don't have safe streets, everything falls apart," Villaraigosa said. "People become isolated. Kids turn into prisoners. Jobs evaporate. Families struggle just to survive. Public safety is the foundation of everything we are trying to build in the city of Los Angeles."
Part of the mayor's gang-fighting plan is to end L.A. Bridges, the city's longstanding prevention and intervention program. During a news conference on Tuesday, the mayor will announce $500,000 for prevention programs in six areas -- Cypress Park, Ramona Gardens, Baldwin Village, Pacoima, Florence and Newton.
"We're much more specific about what we're expecting from people in prevention," the Rev. Jeff Carr, the deputy mayor overseeing anti-gang programs, said.
"I think this is an important point -- it's not that people who have been providing services throughout the city, (it's not) that we don't think some of them have been effective and done some good work ... but it wasn't specifically targeted on young people who were most at risk of joining gangs."
During Tuesday's news conference, city officials will also announce six factors that put youths at risk of joining a gang and four new Gang Reduction and Youth Development zones in high-crime neighborhoods.
The city currently has eight such zones.
Eleven of those zones will receive $1.5 million and one will get $2 million in the next year for anti-gang programs.
In fiscal year 2008-09, the city is expected to spend $24 million on prevention and intervention programs, up from about $18 million in the current fiscal year, Carr said.
"We need to intervene and interrupt the violence that is ... being perpetrated by gang members right now," Carr said.
On the prevention side, "you've got to shut the spigot off of young people who think joining a gang is either their only realistic option for themselves or they think it's a good option for themselves," Carr said.
The City Council voted Wednesday to put all anti-gang initiatives under the jurisdiction of the Mayor's Office beginning July 1. The consolidation was recommended by City Controller Laura Chick in her February audit of the city's anti-gang programs.
During two months of hearings, City Councilman Tony Cardenas, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development, questioned whether that move would provide enough oversight. However, in agreeing to put anti-gang programs under the jurisdiction of the mayor, the council asked for quarterly progress reports.
The controller's report echoed the 2006 plan done by attorney Connie Rice, who called for a "Marshall Plan" to end gang violence.
Carr said the plan outlined on Monday, and to be detailed Tuesday, is a "down-payment" on that idea.
"I think we're moving in the direction (Rice) talked a lot about," Carr said. "She talked about trying to build the social capital in the
community and actually investing the resources necessary to stop kids from joining gangs and intervening in gangs, so I think a lot of what we're doing is right in line with what Connie suggested."
During last year's "State of the City" address, Villaraigosa announced he would appoint a "gang czar" to oversee gang prevention and youth programs. Carr took over that position in June.
The homicide rate in the city of Los Angeles reached a 37-year low last year, but a series of high-profile shootings in February and March created a sense of urgency among some city leaders to address the issue of gang violence.
Villaraigosa also talked about the city's budget woes and possible layoffs of city employees, along with revenue enhancements.
By the time the mayor presents his budget on April 21, city officials are to have identified 767 positions that can be eliminated, which will eventually start the city's complicated system of laying off employees.
It is not clear how many employees will actually be fired. Los Angeles employees have not experienced layoffs since 1983, when about a dozen workers were let go.
"We're going to need to demonstrate a new openness and a new willingness to break old, bad habits at City Hall," Villaraigosa said. "To balance our books, we're going to need to throw out the old political rulebooks.
"Our budget will propose moving parking and surplus property revenues
into the General Fund for the general good -- and the general protection -- of Los Angeles. I know these monies have traditionally been the political province of the council. But ladies and gentlemen, we know we can't solve this equation dividing by 15. It's time to find our highest common denominator."
Police officers and firefighters will not be laid off, but civilian employees in both departments could be let go, the mayor said. Employees may
also be subject to mandatory unpaid vacations and shortened work weeks.
For months, Villaraigosa has been warning that layoffs are possible. The mayor has said his proposed budget will also include revenue-generating initiatives, but he would not talk about possible tax increases.
He has said that for every dollar in new revenue, he will propose a $1.50 in cuts.
Villaraigosa also called on federal and state leaders to prioritize funding for rail projects.
"It's time to recognize that the only true long-term solution to gridlock is an efficient, convenient mass transit alternative. It is time to get serious about investing in rail again," Villaraigosa said.
"Everything is going to be on the table -- including new local revenue options and private investment in the public good," he said. "This month,
I'll ask the MTA board to seek proposals to privately fund, build and operate an expanded transit system in Los Angeles."
In ending his address, the mayor evoked the words of the late Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated almost 40 years ago in Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel.
"The fundamental challenges of leadership that Bobby Kennedy described in his time ring even truer four decades later," Villaraigosa said.
"Angelenos, let's imagine the horizon beyond our sight. Let's reach for the future beyond our grasp. Let's do it as a family. Let's do it as a community. Let's do it as one city."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)