As the COVID-19 pandemic began, it was evident that the economy of the state and county would be drastically affected due to emergency spending and a lack of revenue caused by closed businesses. During this crisis, the County has repeatedly asked for political support and assistance from the Los Angeles County unions to advocate for Federal Legislation revenue reimbursements, to which have yet been provided in full. The resulting financial shortfall currently represents a $145M budget cut to LASD for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-2021.
PPOA was contacted by the Department in early June, at which time a concept of enhanced utilization of CARP, Cadre of Administrative Relief Personnel, and TORA, Temporary Overtime Reduction Assignment were presented. The increased CARP use was to save $13M while TORA was projected to save $30M in FY 20-21. During this first meeting, details of the increase in CARP were provided, questions asked, some answered, and agreement to meet again. TORA was alluded to, but the Department was not ready to discuss at that time.
Fast forward to June 17th. Suddenly the Department is providing PPOA with a list of projected cutbacks “from the CEO” of Parks Bureau, Special Victims Bureau, Operation Safe Streets, COPS, Fraud and Cyber Crimes, Major Crimes, and Custody which would address the anticipated budget shortfall of $145M. PPOA immediately contacted Department Executives who assured us that the list of affected units “from the CEO” was not the Sheriff’s priorities, and that nothing could be decided until after final budget numbers are provided on June 29.
With the passing of the County Budget by the Board of Supervisors on June 29, a joint meet and confer with ALADS was hastily scheduled by the Department for July 1 at 3PM. Supporting documentation was provided for the meeting at 11:45AM on July 1, with little time to review. Questions were asked, requests for missing information made, and agreements for the need of future meetings were confirmed.
Following the meeting of July 1, additional information was provided on Friday July 3, the County holiday. PPOA’s team printed all available documentation and provided to our subject matter experts over the weekend for review. On Monday June 6, following a team meeting and recognizing the still gaping holes in necessary information, PPOA prepared a formal “information request” ( available to read by clicking here ) and submitted same to the Department. As of this communication, the request is still pending.
We truly wish we had more information to share. For those who have had their seniority verified recently, we can say, that your unit was identified in some manner for potential curtailments. In the meeting of July 1, and to date, approximately 100 PPOA members, (Lieutenants, Sergeants, Custody Assistants, Law Enforcement Technicians, and Security Officers) may be impacted by TORA or curtailments. NO LAYOFFS of PPOA members have been discussed.
Most importantly, our message to membership at this time is one of fluidity and uncertainty, not due to PPOA’s actions, but the lack of clear direction from the Department as to how they plan to address this pending budget shortfall. Due to this uncertainty, unless circumstances change drastically, PPOA is in OPPOSITION to the proposed TORA process, commonly described as a “job fair” in rumors, of July 14 and 15, 2020.
Through continued collaboration with the Department during these unprecedented times, PPOA remains strongly committed to YOU, our family members. As always, when verifiable information affecting our members becomes available, PPOA will communicate with you as quickly as possible.