Parks Get Priority in Budget

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn said Thursday that despite a gloomy fiscal prognosis, the city should be able to expand after-school programs and refurbish 50 parks next year with money from federal grants and a local bond measure.

Hahn would not, however, release the full details of his proposed 2002-03 city budget, which will be submitted next week to the City Council for its review. The council has until June 1 to study the document and act on it.

The budget that Hahn submits is expected to address a shortfall of as much as $250 million, a gap that has many city department heads and others worried about coming cuts. On Thursday, Hahn would not specify what will have to go, although he said he will not propose raising taxes or curtailing city services that directly affect residents. By law, the budget that the mayor submits must be balanced.

“What we tried to do was scour the budget for monies that were not being used,” Hahn said. “This budget is about squeezing everything we can out of every last dollar we’re getting from the public, because we know how precious those hard-earned tax dollars are.”

The tight financial situation limits flexibility in next year’s spending plan just as Hahn and other city leaders are attempting to persuade residents not to pursue a breakup of Los Angeles. Demonstrating improvement in city services is at the heart of Hahn’s campaign to persuade voters to reject secession by the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood and possibly the harbor area.

“The key to making Los Angeles a united city is to make people realize that government is doing a better job,” he said.

To that end, the mayor did not focus on the likelihood of cuts during his visit Thursday to a Panorama City park, where he rolled out the first of his budget priorities for the next fiscal year, which begins in July.

Hahn proposed spending $4.1 million on improvements at city parks, including the hiring of staff members to maintain swimming pools and child-care centers. In some cases, the city also is buying new equipment and building new facilities; those costs will be covered by federal grants, money from Proposition K--a city bond issue passed in 1996--and other sources, according to Hahn’s staff.

The mayor also said he has set aside $1 million to continue the expansion of the popular LA’s BEST after-school program to 23 more campuses scattered across the city. One will host the first mainstream special education program, he said.

Hahn’s announcement drew praise from parks officials, even though they don’t yet know the full budget picture.

Mike Roos, president of the Recreation and Parks Commission, said the mayor should be called “Harry Houdini Hahn” for finding money to rehabilitate parks as he being forced to cut other programs.

“I want to commend him for, in this very, very difficult time, continuing to make the commitment to children, to youth and to safety,” Roos said.

Ellen Oppenheim, general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, said she was relieved to learn the agency will get money to make physical improvements to parks and keep up their maintenance. But she said she still does not know how much money her department will be allowed to spend next year.

“We don’t and won’t have the full picture on it until we get the mayor’s budget,” Oppenheim said. “So I’m not able to fully analyze it. I’m certainly encouraged by the news he shared this morning.”

By emphasizing parks as one of his major budget priorities, Hahn picks up on a theme started by his predecessor, former Mayor Richard Riordan, who ended his administration with a campaign to fix up Los Angeles’ green spaces.

Riordan refurbished 37 parks during his last year in office, and provided funding for another 10 parks to be rehabilitated this year.

Hahn said he wants to continue funding Riordan’s program, which involves adding staff members and youth programs at the park sites.

The mayor also said he will keep the city’s summer youth jobs program, which employs 17,000 teenagers, and will maintain support for after-school programs at middle schools that are intended to keep students out of gangs.