The LA Shitty Budget

Alissa, Mike, Godfrey, and Rachel watch LA Mayor Karen Bass’s State of the City address and discuss why a speech that was hyped as a “fundamental overhaul of city government” didn’t deliver on that promise. And a first look at the city’s budget includes major layoffs and department cuts to cover a billion-dollar funding gap.

Check out Bass’s proposed budget :cao.lacity.gov/budget

Watch the State of the City address: mayor.lacity.gov/SOTC2025

The New York Times: “Los Angeles is rebuilding, but new crises are mounting and Mayor Karen Bass has been haunted by her absence when the fires started. This week, she is trying to reset”

Shine LA is Bass’s new volunteer effort for “cleaning, greening, and preparing our city for the world stage,” starting this weekend

The city’s unarmed response pilot programs are funded in the budget (so far). Join LA Forward’s Unarmed Crisis Response working groupto protect them

LAist’s look at how liability payments have tripled in recent years

A scathing audit of Vision Zero, the city’s plan to end traffic deaths by 2025 (which obviously did not happen) points to major failures in leadership and funding priorities

Alissa’s story about the city’s capital infrastructure plan, or CIP, and how the first one will be focused around making improvements for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games

“Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday proposed laying off 1,647 workers and closing some city departments in the fiscal year that starts July 1. It’s the most austere budget since the city was wracked by the 2008 recession,” writes LAist

Meanwhile LA residents are likely facing higher trash fees and an increase in streetlight fees

A new UCLA survey shows Bass’s unfavorability ratings soaring after years of being the most favorably ranked local elected official, leading many to question her political future as she faces a recall effort

Give public comment at upcoming Budget & Finance Committee meetings on April 25 at 1 pm at Van Nuys City Hall and on April 28, 4 – 8 pm, at City Hall

CD5 (Yaroslavsky) is hosting a series of budget conversations, so is CD14 (Jurado), and CD1 (Hernandez) is asking for videos from constituents about their priorities

Join your LA Podcast co-hosts at LA Forward’s Spring Into Action garden party fundraiser on Saturday, May 3

And support the podcast directly by becoming a paid subscriber at thinkforward.la, the new home on the web for LA Podcast episodes! All “Patron” level subscribers will get two free tickets to the Spring Into Action event on May 3.