Can LA afford fire, homelessness and Olympics?

An update of the mill from the Los Angeles city administrator at the end of last month contained a passage that sent a shaking of anxiety through the management of this city.

Superstructure From LA’s Congress Center, Matthew Sabo warned the City Council: “The rest of the work, given the ongoing recovery efforts related to the emergency of the wild fire, cannot be completed in the time that is available to be available to be available to Guaranteed completion … before the 2028 games. ”

Translation: The Congress Center will not be ready for the Summer Olympics, as the city does not have the ability to recover from wild fires at the same time, at the same time as it prepares for the games.

This is not the end of the world. Olympic Games do not require the congress center, and compromises are part of the management of any operation, certainly such as distant And important as the government of the country’s second largest city. But he signals that Los Angeles is entering a period of severe insecurity, which will test both his ingenuity and his finances.

Over the next few years the city is engaged with a radical reduction in their stunning stray populationat the same time the restoration of one of the most rich polls in the city from the worst natural disaster in the history of California -and, to load, Preparing for the host of the OlympicsWith all companions that lead to transport to security.

And just to add to the degree of difficulty, it is expected to achieve all this with a president who does not show signs of compassion for people who have problems and instead respond only to threats and flattery. Whatever LA’s challenges seem, it cannot rely on the White House for help.

Will Los Angeles do all your work? Or will it break, trying?

These are not idle issues among the leaders of this city, who suddenly stare at the barrel of fiscal challenge on an epic scale.

Much of the responsibility for the sorting of this will fall on the council member Katie Yaroslavski, the newly appointed chairman of the Budget Committee of the Council. The city is lucky for this, as Yaroslavsky brings common sense, pragmatism and a fundamental commitment to its public service. It is appropriate to help guide the city’s costs.

In an interview last week, she admitted that the next few months would be extremely difficult, but she was aware of where the city was heading.

“The city,” she emphasized, “will have a balanced budget.”

It will take a job, she added. Even when the city faces exceptional challenges, it also faces the regular business to provide protection and services to 4 million people. This means dealing with responsibility for police violation and broken sidewalks, building bicycle lanes, raising garbage and countless other obligations, large and small.

As she is looking at ways to patch the city’s finances, Yaroslavski has noted some of the options that can be available. Large quantities of urban land, for example, are not used, may offer opportunities for leasing or sale or for civil purposes, such as home homeless housing. Savings Also May Be Available, She added, Noting That of the City’s Homeless Also Are Victims of Domestic Violence and Finding Those Shelter and Housing Through The Domestic Violence Networ Money Since “Domestic Violence Beds Cost US An Less in order of magnitude. “

In addition, the various priorities of the city draw from a number of funding streams. Recently, the district voters approved taxes for the payment of homeless services, and Los Angeles is well represented in Sacramento where Officials acknowledge that they cannot afford to afford the leading city of the State CityS

However, a source of help that was once reliable may not be anymore. During the Covid, the city managed to turn to Washington for help, which struggled with its problems, and President Joe Biden has been a reliable ally for the city and his mayor Karen Bass in the last four years. Now that President Donald Trump occupies the Oval Cabinet, this is no longer the case and any attempt to provide federal assistance can be filled with difficulty or Available only with strings attachedS

This could influence the city’s three main challenges in various ways, threatening homeless services, fire restoration and Olympic planning, all of which rely on some level of federal help.

On the topic of federal care attractiveness, while drawing up their own philosophical lines, Yaroslavski and other city leaders become noticeably cautious. This city has a long history of welcoming and protecting immigrants -and admit to the wider public safety is best protected by providing immigrants, even those here, that the local authorities are not here to impose the Federal Law on Immigration. That The principle is revered by conservative police chiefs and liberalby Republican and Democratic mayors.

What if Trump is pushing for LAPD help with the rounding of illegal immigrants as a condition for continuing federal support for other urban services?

“Our job is to preserve Angelos and maintain the rule of law,” Yaroslavski said. “We want people to feel safe in communicating and engage in the government.”

This is the principle that subordinates LA’s historical refusal to act as an immigrant contractor: assuring immigrants that they do not risk deportation if they cooperate with LAPD and encourage witnesses to go out. This allows parents to safely vaccinate their children. This convinces the victims of crimes to identify their perpetrators.

All this protects not only immigrants but also the city as a whole.

“We want people to feel safe in communicating and engage in the government.”

Katie Yaroslavski, Los Angeles City Council

But Trump has already encountered the “cities of the sanctuary” And he may ask the city’s policies to drop, which have long been working here in exchange for federal support for other priorities, including homelessness. Pressed, Yaroslavski insisted that Los Angeles is following the work of the federal government, but will not abandon its basic values.

“Ice has its job to do and we have to do our job,” she insisted.

The request for federal help to the Olympics is another question. There, Trump’s ego can be aligned with the interests of the city. He wants to be the president who shares in the light of the floodlights of the 2028 Olympics, so in his interests he is, as well as those of local leaders, to see that the games are well.

And the cost of recovery in the palisades is still raising other questions: how much of this price will be borne by private insurance companies? Will the Federal Emergency Management Agency, if Trump does not kill him, be able to meet other needs?

The city will undoubtedly have its own cost -related costs, but the amount of this bill will be largely managed by how much is left after others start in their share.

However, Yaroslavski rejects the argument that Los Angeles will surrender in Washington or break.

“That’s it,” she said, “False choice.”