A week after Los Angeles City Council budget chair Bob Blumenfield said the council wouldn’t simply rubber-stamp Mayor Karen Bass’ spending plan for the next fiscal year, the committee backed a tweaked proposal which Blumenfield said would give Bass flexibility to pursue her signature homeless program — but give the council the accountability it’s seeking.
The issue that emerged last week was whether the council should give Bass the full $250 million she wants for her Inside Safe initiative upfront, or set aside some of it in a separate account to be released later, to ensure the council had more oversight of her centerpiece program.
On Friday, Blumenfield, who chairs the powerful budget committee, again stressed that the mayor and City Council “overwhelmingly” share values and priorities, including the need to tackle the homeless crisis.
“To the extent that there has been any disagreement, it’s been because we all have that same passion” to address homelessness, Blumenfield said at the hearing.
“It’s our responsibility as elected officials to legislate and to help shape policies on homelessness and other matters,” he added. “The council must remain at the table as partners in finding longterm solutions. We must, we can and we will do that.”
The mayor wanted maximum flexibility to spend $250 million on Inside Safe, Blumenfield said, while some councilmembers wanted more oversight and accountability from her office.
Last week, budget committee members discussed putting some of the money for Inside Safe in an “unappropriated” balance fund rather than directly allocate it to the mayor’s office. That money would not be released to her until the council acted.
But Bass raised concerns that not having immediate access would slow down her administration’s ability to act swiftly to address the homeless crisis.
This week, the budget committee ultimately approved a different option: Give Bass $65.7 million on July 1 – which…
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