PARK LABREA NEWS - Five candidates vying to be Los Angeles’ next mayor faced off in a debate on Jan. 3 at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, fielding questions about the future of the city’s education system, fiscal solvency and public safety agencies.
Hosted by volunteer organization CivicCare, the debate was moderated by David Suissa, president of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. Five candidates contending for the March 5 mayoral nod — Wendy Greuel, Eric Garcetti, Kevin James, Jan Perry and Emanuel Pleitez — participated.
One of the overarching issues discussed at the debate was the $220 million deficit facing Los Angeles’ next mayor. Pleitez, a technology company executive, said that deficit could be much higher by March, and that action must be taken now.
“We’re actually on the brink of bankruptcy,” he said. “This is not a joke. And why? Because the elected officials who have been in office overpromised.”
Pleitez denounced past city decisions to increase salaries and pension benefits for city employees in 2007, and said pension reform is a must to avoid further cuts. He said in five years, Los Angeles’ pension obligations will be 50 percent of its budget. Pleitez suggested increasing employee contributions, raising the retirement age and moving toward a system similar to the 401k.
Garcetti, a Los Angeles City Council member, seemingly took issue with Pleitez’s statements, saying that Los Angeles had been projected four years ago to have a $1 billion deficit this year. After “the toughest recession in our lifetime,” the city reduced its payrolls by 5,000 people and altered its benefits so that people are paying out of pocket for their healthcare premiums for the first time in the city’s history, he said.
“I led negotiations with unions across the table — respectfully but tenaciously. …You think that was easy? You think that it’s a fun thing to go to people and say, ‘We’re going to take something away.’ But leadership is not about telling people what they want to hear, but what they need to hear,” Garcetti said.
Like Garcetti, Greuel, the city’s controller, feels that the city’s financial problems could be alleviated by creating more jobs. She referenced the entertainment industry, saying that the city has “ran-away production.” (Read the rest here)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 6
Pub: Jan 16, 2013