The Los Angeles County government is considering a hiring freeze as its $45 billion budget faces “tremendous pressure” from devastating wildfires, massive sexual abuse lawsuits and a White House threat to cut funds.
CEO Fesia Davenport letter “The situation could turn into a fiscal crisis.”
Davenport appeared before supervisors Tuesday to obtain permission to start the freeze. Supervisors told her they wanted her to return first for more details to exempt which positions they had.
“I’m worried that if we flip the switch today without really understanding it… will have an impact beyond the board’s knowledge,” Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.
The county has approximately 117,000 budget positions. According to the CEO’s office, about 13,000 of these positions have not been filled.
Davenport said the department could still bring new employees in the event of a hiring freeze, but they would need permission from her office. She said the sheriff’s department will be exempted and positions granted or related to recovery will also be exempted, she said.
Even before the Palisades and Eaton fires in January, the county’s financial outlook was exceptionally grim.
County officials are not clear whether the federal funds they rely on during the Biden administration will continue under Trump’s leadership. They used the U.S. Rescue Plan Act to drain about $2 billion it received during the pandemic. and the county’s responsibility for floods Sexual abuse lawsuit Continuously grow.
Thousands of people sued the county’s juvenile facilities and foster care systems as the state changed the 2019 restrictive regulations for victims of child sexual abuse. The county says the liability for these lawsuits Probably billionsofficials warned that this would be disastrous for the social security network in the region.
An unprecedented fire increased the strain. Business tax revenue will decline due to closed businesses. Property tax will also be so numerous homes destroyed. Then there is the cleaning fee.
“These will be multi-year costs, echoing well beyond the 2024-25 budget year,” Davenport once on February 10 letter The board of directors details the county’s financial difficulties.
Labor can be another huge cost. Davenport said in the letter that the county union is in a major major Fu Yuan Last year, Los Angeles city workers.
“When we enter this negotiation cycle, the expectation of labor expectations is at an all-time high,” Davenport wrote.
David Green, the head of SEIU 721, representing 55,000 county workers, said another 12,000 unfilled positions belonged to his alliance, many of whom are frontline workers in the Department of Mental Health and Children and Family Services.
“We desperately need to fill these vacancies,” he said. “This is the worst time to have a hiring freeze in Los Angeles County.”
Green said he hopes the county will not stop new employees, but rather that the county will withdraw expensive external contracts and real estate purchases, such as the $215 million it recently paid for Gas Company Tower, a well-known downtown skyscraper that could become a new county government Headquarters.
“The last time I checked was an uninhabitable building,” Green said.
The county recently frozen hiring during the pandemic. Before that, the last freeze was during the Great Depression in 2008.
In addition to potential pauses for new employees, county employees represented by unions can also be adjusted without cost of living.
Green said all unions in the county were called to a meeting with Davenport Wednesday. Green said when the SEIU 721 contract expired at the end of March, he was told there would be no increase in wages.
“I’ve never been part of a negotiation with zero openness,” Green said. “Our members are angry.”
The county said in a statement that it has not yet made “formal recommendations” to the county union, and 14 of them are actively negotiating contracts.
“We are working to build awareness among our work partners to understand the enormous budgetary pressures the county faces,” the county said.
The possibility that was not raised has also attracted attention among the sheriff’s deputies. For some time Working too much overtime.
“We are experiencing a serious staffing crisis with no competitiveness and adequate benefits, including annual life adjustments, and the department’s retaining staff and recruitment will be severely affected, which will ultimately affect public safety,” Sheriff Robert Luna said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “Department employees are overworked and without the necessary staff, we will not be able to maintain mandatory overtime.”
As of last month, department data showed 1,408 vacancies in the county out of 10,213 agent positions, and another 898 filled 898 with leave or exemption from duties.
The union cited representatives of the representatives invoked these figures – the association. There is no prospect of increased cost of living for the Los Angeles deputy sheriff “After today, it’s hard for the county to feel that the county really values its public safety professionals or properly prioritizes the safety of our community.”
Steve Johnson, president of the Los Angeles County Association of Professional Peace Officials. – Representing senior department officials – There is a similar view.
“Morning is a long history for our hard-working members due to overtime and key staffing issues,” he said. “The minimum respect must be provided to our members and appreciate their dignity, sacrifices and promised salaries and benefits.”
