Greg Torres

On July 21, 2020, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting included an item on the Supplemental Agenda (click here to read in entirety), proposing an extremely controversial concept of seeking to “redistribute” at least 10% of County funding away from public safety through a ballot measure presented to the voters in November of 2020. Make no mistake: this measure, if passed would significantly cut public safety resources for the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office, and County Probation and put the safety of community members at risk. Additionally, these draconian budget reallocations represent the potential of at least 1,000 unionized County employees facing layoffs, with only a “belief” (no further information provided) of the Board of Supervisors that additional jobs would be created.

“Ballot-box budgeting of the sort the supervisors propose is a bad idea and poor substitute for careful study, deliberation and decision making.” – Los Angeles Times Editorial Board, July 21, 2020

In a 4-1 (Supervisor Barger standing alone as the NO vote) decision last Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted to place this ballot measure with a proposed County Charter amendment, the verbiage not yet finalized or provided, on the ballot for the November 2020 election. This ballot measure will ultimately require the voters to decide whether to endorse a reconfiguration of allocations for LA County budget priorities, which would represent a potential defunding of public safety of “at least 10%.”. These funds would then be reallocated to “address racial injustice, over-reliance on law enforcement interventions, limited economic opportunity, health disparities, and housing instability.”   PPOA stands with the other labor organizations and their coalitions in opposition of this motion moving forward as well as any effort to relinquish the complex budgetary control of the County to the voters.   PPOA NEEDS THREE MINUTES OF YOUR TIME…   to protect PPOA members’ jobs, the hundreds if not thousands of jobs of our union coalition partners, and prevent Los Angeles County from becoming urban war zones like Portland, Seattle, and Chicago.   PLEASE contact each of the Board of Supervisors’ office by telephone, expressing your concerns, AND send an email to each Supervisor, cc’d to info@ppoa.com. The Subject Line of the email should read “OPPOSE Proposed Charter Amendment.” Your narrative can be as simple as (cut/paste):    I oppose the Board of Supervisors action to place a measure on the ballot which would restrict any portion of the County Budget. The fiduciary responsibility and decision making flexibility for the expenditure of BILLIONS of dollars must remain with the Board of Supervisors as priorities change and evolve based on numerous factors and circumstances.   Ask your family and friends to do the same.           Supervisor Hilda Solis (213) 974-4111 firstdistrict@bos.lacounty.gov   Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas (213) 974-2222 markridley-thomas@bos.lacounty.gov   Supervisor Sheila Kuehl (213) 974- 3333 sheila@bos.lacounty.gov   Supervisor Janice Hahn (213) 974-4444 fourthdistrict@bos.lacounty.gov   DO THIS NOW!! Don’t put it off and forget. The next vote is on Tuesday, July 28, 2020.   Elected officials are running for political cover, making uninformed decisions and entertaining sweeping changes to our county system while facing an unprecedented global pandemic and a crippling budget deficit that will impact front line healthcare workers as well as first responders. Inexplicably, there is no safety net in this charter amendment. Nothing to protect us against earthquakes, wildfires or other unforeseen events that could have a devastating impact on LA County residents.  Please join us to defend our communities, protect our jobs, and ensure Los Angeles County remains a safe and healthy area in which to live and work.    WE must make our voices heard.

July 22, 2020 — Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting included an item on the Supplemental Agenda, proposing an extremely controversial ballot initiative seeking to “redistribute” funding away from public safety. Make no mistake: this measure, if passed would significantly cut public safety resources for the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office, and County Probation.

 

In a 4-1 (Supervisor Barger standing alone as the NO vote) decision this afternoon, the Board of Supervisors voted to place this ballot measure with a proposed County Charter amendment, the verbiage not yet finalized, on the ballot for the November 2020 election.  This ballot measure will ultimately require the voters to decide whether to endorse a reconfiguration of allocations for LA County budget priorities, which would represent a potential 10% defunding of public safety.  These funds would then be reallocated to “address racial injustice, over-reliance on law enforcement interventions, limited economic opportunity, health disparities, and housing instability.”

 

Click here to read the motion from Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis.

 

PPOA President Tab Rhodes addressed the County Supervisors via phone during the online hearing this morning and delivered the following statement:

 

“My name is Tab Rhodes, I am President of the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association representing over 9,000 current and retired County employees. As members who live and work in the area, we are grateful for your recognition of under-funded community programs and appreciate all efforts to improve Los Angeles County. 

 

However, PPOA is profoundly concerned that this issue is a priority during this time of limited access and conversation due to the COVID-19 crisis. This motion, which was just brought forward last Friday, without any previous discussion, requires serious dialogue as well as in-depth analysis of its effects, legal review, and examination of unanticipated outcomes. Why are we entertaining sweeping changes to our county system, when we are facing yet another potential lockdown of our state and county due to this pandemic? The timing of this endeavor appears to be ill-timed and poorly advised while we should be focused on pushing our communities through the existing health crisis and looming financial disaster, which to date has not yet been quantified.

  

Additionally, PPOA has great concern for what the results of a ballot measure could represent in unintended, potentially catastrophic consequences, to the safety of our communities and county employees. We cannot at this time support the idea of such a complicated budget and legal issue, deferring the Board’s fiduciary responsibility and the control of billions of dollars, to the voters, which could affect all families within the County and possibly the employment status of thousands of unionized county employees.

 

As I have discussed with each of you individually, our membership represents numerous classifications of county employees and the subject matter expertise to provide insight and perspective in a collaborative conversation. As the President of PPOA we urge you to please meet with us and other county labor organizations before initiating such drastic modifications. Thank you for your consideration.”

July 14, 2020 — After asserting our rights to negotiate and advising the Department that its actions last week had violated the County’s Employee Relations Ordinance in a number of ways, PPOA and the Department met again yesterday to exchange information and continue the meet and confer process as demanded. Today, as a result of PPOA’s effort to negotiate in good faith and protect our members, we can report an agreement with the Department was reached regarding the TORA process scheduled for tomorrow, July 15, 2020.

 

PPOA’s early collaboration with ALADS in the first meet and confer, helped the Department identify other options for budget savings which reduced the impact on PPOA members. From the point when the meet and confer process began in June, through the date of the agreement, the number of impacted PPOA members was reduced from approximately 100 down to 13. 

 

The Department’s budget woes are expected to persist as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to decimate the economy. These difficulties will more than likely result in an increase in CARP responsibilities, return of loan items to their “home” assignments, etc.  While PPOA members will be affected by these potential burdens, these options to address the budget crisis are well within the management rights of the Department. PPOA will of course continue to monitor all changes in working conditions and make every effort to ensure fair implementation.

 

The PPOA committee members, assigned to and volunteering for this TORA negotiation process, should be commended for their numerous hours of dedication and time away from family, including many evenings and a full day this last Sunday. This agreement represents a result of compromise on all sides to reduce the amount of impact to PPOA members and reflects PPOA’s unwavering commitment to protect the labor rights of the PPOA membership

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.