New DOS for ITA?

Party On, Wayne!

Anonymous said ... Is it true DOS is for Wayne Chan? How can someone like him who has no abilities be qualified to lead us?
June 29, 2008 7:19 PM

Anonymous said ... I bet Council ordered the promotion...just like they did Roger's promotion. Randi doesn't think for herself, she lets the Council and Mayor think for her. This would be a mistake, Randi. He's good with Council, but he has no skills to be a DOS. Think before you act on this one! June 30, 2008 7:25 AM

_____________________________________

If you know anything or have an opinion, chime in.

Zuma blogs City exec salaries

Zuma Times Presents: Current Salaries &Increase Recommendations for Non-Represented City Employees

Thanks to the person who handed an 82 page file to Zuma Times' Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, Zuma Dogg containing the salaries of what appears to be every employee in the City.

Date: June 2, 2008

To: The City Council

From: Raymond P. Ciranna, Acting City Administrative Officer

Subject: SALARY INCREASE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NON-REPRESENTED CITY EMPLOYEES AND OTHER TECHNICAL ADJUSTMENTS TO THE LOS ANGELES ADMINISTRATIVE CODE.

Should make for some fun blogging. It's 82 pages. For example:

Overpaid City Employee: Incumbent's Current Overpaid Salary

DWP GM (Nahai): $310,000
Police Chief (Bratton): $300,442
Fire Chief: $260,000
CAO: $220,472
GM Airports Dept: $305,015
City Councilosers: $180,000 plus
Director, Sanitation: $180,508
Director of Planning: $202,578
City Librarian: $200,573

And everyone in the ITA department would never forgive me if I didn't mention the ITA GM is pullin' down a whoppin'$225,003!!!

THANKS TO THE PERSON WHO HANDED THIS 82 PAGE FILE TO ZD AS HE ENTERED CITY HALL TODAY!!!

It's a lot of info and I'm sure someone wanted me to have it to blast it. So that's a little taste. It's actually pretty complex and will be having some of my ZAPPERS (Zuma's Activist Program) looking it over and pulling out the highlights beyond the ones above.

SIDENOTE: DWP GM David Nahai was at City Hall today as ZD was looking at this new file and I saw his salary range was $229,722-$344,624, but is only making $310,000. So Zuma Dogg said to Mr. Nahai, "Mr. Nahai, can you buy me lunch today, I see you're making $344,000?!?!? Mr. Nahai said, "No I'm not." And pointed out to ZD that it was the top of the range that he was not getting. Then I noticed it was only $310,000, so I withdrew my request for him to buy me lunch, cause I thought he made $344,000, not just $310,00. THEN, I offered to re-negotiate his contract for him with the mayor. He laughed and replied, "Be careful, someone may be trying to use you." I replied back to Mr. Nahai, "I know, I know!!! They want to get this information out to the public, so they go to the powerful mover and shaker in the city!" Then they gave Mr. Nahai a presentation for DWP during dog and pony show Friday. And Zuma Dogg was able to follow it up during public comment by blasting his salary and mentioning the "renegotiation" offer.

POOR DAVID...It's been a rough week. Alarcon went "Zuma Dogg" on him, Zuma Dogg went "Zuma Dogg" on him...(water waste at his home) and he even sat through an interview with Matt Dowd on the Dowdcam. Maybe well see that soon. MORE TO COME...

UPDATE/READER FEEDBACK (from zumadogg@gmail.com): Zuma, You left off Madame ITA Randi Levin. $225,000. Talk about waste. We hear she's on her way out anyway. As the IT world turns.

_________________________________________

6/28 update: Yes, Rumblings had a quick conversation with Zuma Dogg this morning and we wanted to make sure he didn't leave Randgelina out of the mix. Thanks Zuma, we can't wait for you to blog more on this subject.

All Hands III - Randgelina-gram

Team,

The next ITA All Hands Meeting is quickly approaching. This year's event will be held on Thursday, July 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Petree Hall. Light refreshments will be served beginning at 8:15 am and the meeting will begin promptly at 9:00 am and will conclude by 12:00. Refreshments include coffee, tea, water, assorted bagels and muffins.



The theme for this meeting is Team Spirit. The organizing committee thought it would be fun to have staff wear your favorite team or college jersey/t-shirt. This is optional for those that want to participate.



I have attached the draft agenda for the meeting. The organizing committee has listened to your feedback from the past meetings and have tightened the agenda in order to streamline the meeting. Also, to expedite the sign-in process, we will have open seating with sign-in sheets and blank name badges at each table.


We will again have the “Ask Randi” segment as an opportunity to address items of interest to you and time has been allotted for this. Please send your questions to ita.askrandi@lacity.org.

I want to strongly encourage employees to take public transportation to the Convention Center. To get to the Convention Center, you can take the Dash Route A in front of City Hall (on First Street between Main and Spring Streets) and exit the bus on 5th and Flower. You must then transfer to Dash Route F. The Dash Route F will pick you up at this same location so there’s no need to move. Please be sure to obtain your Dash tickets in advance. You may obtain tickets from Roberta Castro or Yvette McFrazier.



If you have any questions about this e-mail or the event, please contact Mark Wolf or Elida Cruz at 978-3311.



I look forward to seeing you there!

DRAFT

July 10, 2008
9:00 am
Los Angeles Convention Center
Petree Hall

ITA All Hands Meeting Agenda

1. Welcome – Randi Levin

2. GM Update – Randi Levin

• FY 2008-09 Accomplishments (getting ahead of ourselves?)*




• FY 2008-09 Budget & Key Initiatives

3. Break

4. Personnel – Managed Hiring & Temporary Layoff
Mark Wolf/Ruben Vasquez

5. Special Guest

6. Employee Recognition

7. Question & Answer Period

* was finally corrected in July 1st edition

_____________________________________

Anonymous said ... Just remember folks.... eat all the muffins and drink all the coffee you want, but don't drink the kool aid. July 2, 2008 9:53 PM

Anonymous said ... who is attending? kiss asses (cant miss the chance to brown nose) lazy asses (attend everything just to get out of work) managers (have no choice). July 3, 2008 12:59 AM

Randi to resign

Word from the 14th floor is that Randi Levin, the latest in a long long line of short-term ITA General Managers, will soon be tendering her resignation.
_________________

From: Randi Levin

Subject: Update

Date: 6/19/2008 11:40 AM

Team,

There was a recent posting that said I was resigning soon. This is absolutely untrue and I wanted you to know that as soon as possible. This is as credible as when the press reported Angelina Jolie had her twins two weeks ago. She's still pregnant! Dont believe everything that you read.

Sincerely,

Randi

________________________________________

Rumblings stands by our multiple sources of this information. Everything that these sources have provided over the last 6 months has come to fruition. Only time will tell in this case as well.

DWP beefs up

DWP work force to soar.

Rate hikes would be used to hire nearly 1,000 employees

Daily News article 6/18/2008 10:09:45 PM PDT

Flush with cash from recent taxpayer rate hikes, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is pouring money into expanding its work force by 10 percent — to the highest level in a decade.

The DWP expects to spend about $112 million in salaries and benefits for nearly 1,000 new employees next year to jump-start a five-year, $1 billion power-reliability program and continue a $1.5 billion revamp of the city's water infrastructure.

The hirings would bring the DWP's total work force to about 9,500 as revenue from the water and power rate hikes is expected to total about $100 million in fiscal year 2008-09. The board will consider the budget containing the new staffing today.

But while DWP officials defend the boosts in staffing as crucial and overdue amid growing water and power demand, critics are questioning whether the utility is expanding too quickly and whether some of the staffers are being hired for noninfrastructure projects.

"I think (the DWP) is gearing up too fast," said Board of Water and Power Commission President Nick Patsaouras. "We need the dollars for infrastructure, but that doesn't give us a blank check in every part of the department to spend."

Among 505 new jobs, 181 would be in power, 177 in water and 147 in joint administrative services that include everything from customer service and security to real estate and information technology.

An additional 489 employees would be hired to fill existing vacant positions, according to DWP budget documents.

In addition, the DWP's downtown John Ferraro Building headquarters - where about 3,000 DWP workers are located - is set to undergo an $18.6 million upgrade and reconfiguration to accommodate an extra 300 people to be hired throughout the year.

An additional $6.6 million would be spent to "green" DWP buildings, including replacing inefficient lighting and water facilities in the headquarters building and outlying warehouses. The utility also expects to buy about $1.6 million in ergonomic furniture under its replacement program.

Full story

Hahn and Perry snub 3-1-1

LINK to complete LA Times article

L.A.'s mayor orders report on illegally dumped trash

Excerpt: "We're not arresting anybody," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents Watts, where alleys are frequently illegal dumping sites.

"We need some sting operations."Hahn and Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district has the heaviest amount of illegally dumped trash, said they believed that more enforcement operations need to be targeted in their areas.

"I'd be completely and absolutely supportive of . . . more aggressive enforcement," Perry said. Gary Harris, who oversees enforcement for the Public Works Department, said that his investigators try to spread limited resources evenly in all council districts where illegal dumping occurs.

But Harris said Monday that the city has applied for a $500,000 state grant to set up a special enforcement zone in South L.A. The funds would pay for prosecutors, additional cleanup and overtime for his investigators to stake out problem alleys, Harris said.

He said that budget cutbacks, in part, have resulted in a 40% reduction in surveillance operations in the last two years. Perry said Monday that her office was planning to fund cleanup operations from a separate $500,000 grant from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Perry said residents have to be more vigilant in reporting illegal dumping. "They have to be aggressive and assertive to get the system working for them," Perry said.

Both she and Hahn said they urge constituents to call their offices directly, rather than rely on the city's non-emergency number.

Perry's council office can be reached at (213) 473-7009. Hahn's council office number is (213) 473-7015.

"We need to let people know that dumping will not be tolerated in our neighborhoods," Hahn said.

______________________________________

Isn't the purpose of "One Call to City Hall" to create less confusion in reporting constituent issues like "illegal dumping"? Maybe the 3-1-1 staff and the Public Works Department should work together to figure what is causing the bottleneck. In lean times money isn't always there to solve such problems.

KMA367

Rumbling thanks our friends in LAPD for these links:

An Unofficial History of the Los Angeles Police Department's Communications Division. LINK

A great historical and informative site.

Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Communications Dispatch Center - A photo essay. LINK Some great pictures!

On the horizon for Randi and ITA

Los Angeles Technology Forum LINK

September 22, 2008 - Mariott - Los Angeles, CA

"I am pleased to announce that this year's Los Angeles Government Technology Executive Leadership Forum will take place on September 22, 2008. This forum provides a tremendous opportunity for IT leaders in the City and County of Los Angeles to share and learn from each other's experiences. It also allows us to network with other government stakeholders and our business partners, sharing creative ideas, tackling the challenges we face together and learning about new technology solutions to better meet our government's business needs." Randi Levin, Chief Technology Officer, City of Los Angeles

____________________________________________

City of Los Angeles Technology & Education Summit 2008

LINK

November 12, 2008 -Los Angeles Convention Center

Los Angeles , California is one of the most exciting places to bring the IT industry together. Right in the heart of America's entertainment capital, we bring you the hottest technologies and education available.

Keep up to date. In Los Angeles, we bring real world solutions for your company and business ventures that will help you take your IT departments to the next level.

The future of data centers

LINK

Robert L. Scheier 06/10/2008

Some data center managers find that budgets are so tight that all they can do is play for time. That's the case for Randi Levin, chief technology officer and general manager of IT for the city of Los Angeles. Like many other IT managers, she's about to run out of power and cooling at the city's main downtown data center. But with the city facing a deficit of more than $400 million, it's unlikely she'll get the $28 million to $30 million needed to upgrade the facility -- even if that was a worthwhile investment for a data center at the bottom of a high-rise building in an earthquake-prone city.

Levin says IBM is in the early stages of a study to find a way to virtualize the 600 servers in the facility down to as few as 30 or 40 physical machines. She says she hopes server virtualization will let her use the existing facility for another two or three years while she develops other long-term options.

Tony V's House of Cards

The minutes of the May 22nd Civil Service Commission meeting were finally published on the web. It only took 12 business days.

LINK

UNFINISHED BUSINESS 5-22-08

Item 7. REVISION TO CIVIL SERVICE RULE 8.7

The General Manager recommends that the Board give 21 days notice of intention to amend Section 8.7 of the Civil Service Rules as follows (additions in red, deletions in blue):

Section 8.7. If work is temporarily interrupted due to a financial emergency as declared by the City or due to if because of inclement weather or other unforeseen reason, work is temporarily interrupted, it is not necessary that layoff seniority order be followed in assigning employees. The interruption of work must be known to be temporary, the appointing authority must act in good faith, and an employee must not be deprived of his/her rights or gain an advantage with respect to his/her employment in the classified civil service.

File No. 52254

COMMISSION ACTION:

(On May 8, 2008, the motion to give 21 days’ notice of intention to amend Rule 8.7 failed by a 2-2 vote.)

Shannon Pascual asked the Board to instruct the Personnel Department to engage in a meet and confer process with the various interested employee organizations. Staff would return with a final recommendation upon completion of the meet and confer process.

Emma Leheny, representing for the Coalition of City Unions, believed the proposed change to Rule 8.7 would eliminate seniority considerations from temporary layoff decisions. She felt a change in the rule would be inconsistent with the provisions of Charter Section 1015, which provides that in all cases, suspension and restoration shall be based upon seniority. She stated that by eliminating seniority from layoff decisions, the proposal would go beyond the provisions of the Charter and would violate its fundamental principles. She asked the Commission to decline to give the City a blank slate on which to unilaterally determine when a financial downturn triggers a provision to eliminate seniority. She further stated that the principle of authority protects employees from potential unfair favoritism, and it protects the employer by providing an objective basis for all layoff decisions. She urged the Commission to vote no on the proposal.

Robert Hunt, General Counsel for SEIU Local 721, did not believe it good policy for the Commission to interject itself into a collective bargaining arena. He believed the underlying issue is whether there is a financial crisis in the City and how that gets resolved, which is clearly the subject of collective bargaining between the City and the various employee organizations. He urged the Commission to not take action and to allow the collective bargaining process to take its due course.

Victor Gordo, representing Local 777 and a member of the Coalition, believed that to do away with seniority would open the door to arbitrary decision making. He asked the Commission not to go forward with the rule change.

Valerie Smith, a city employee in a non-represented class, believed the rule is in direct conflict with the City Charter Section 1015, which provides for temporary layoff and for the restoration of employees. She asked that the rule change clearly identify the duration of the temporary layoff and when a regular layoff, with regard to seniority, would begin.

Christine Metro stated that in years past, Civil Service Rule 8.7 applied to rainy days while the new language refers to a financial emergency.

Roy Stone, President of Librarians Guild Local 2626, strongly urged the Commission to carefully look at the proposed rule change because we currently have a system based on seniority. He asked that the Commission reject the proposed amendment to rule 8.7.

Verdel Flores, Vice President of the Library Guild, supported the position of the Coalition and her fellow speakers.

Seboa Wright believed that the changes to the rule could negatively affect equal employment opportunities.

Carmen Hayes, a 27-year employee on the executive board for AFSCME Local 3090, stated that she would be one of the employees being laid off if the rule changed. She urged the Board not to adopt the proposed rule change.

Cheryl Moore, a 31-year employee representing Local 3090, stated that the rule would hurt employees who have worked for the City for a long time. She urged the Commission not to adopt the rule change because it would negatively impact everyone.

Jose Esparza, Business Representative for IBEW Local 11, agreed with the previous speakers and urged the Commission not to adopt the rule change.

Rose Rodriquez was against adoption of the rule change.

Mark Fink, Business Representative International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501, felt that the proposed rule change is unwise, unwarranted, and it violates the spirit of mutual gains bargaining. The Business Representative International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501 defines seniority as the most important principle for workers.

Luis Areda, Business Representative for IBEW Local 11, agreed with the previous speakers and opposed the revisions to Civil Service Rule 8.7.

Cheryl Parisi, Executive Director, Council District 36 and chairperson of the Coalition of Los Angeles City Unions, appeared on behalf of every city worker who will be adversely affected by the proposed rule change. She stated that the rights of merit employment and the seniority rights that protect employment in the case of a layoff are embedded in the City Charter. The unions are not in a position to bargain away the due process rights or seniority rights that every city worker has by virtue of the City Charter, which cannot be changed by a collective bargaining agreement. The Charter addresses issues regarding economic downturns in the City of Los Angeles and sets forth a process whereby seniority rules apply to ensure that the process is objective and fair. Ms. Parisi asked the Commission to not implement the rule change.

Julie Butcher, representing Local 721, stated that the City Charter is prevailing and asked the Commission to reject the attempt to circumvent the collective bargaining process. She stated that the rule change would be an attempt to extract from the workers of the city what has been successfully bargained during the budget process.

Blanca Gomez, Commission Executive Assistant, stated that the proposed rule change undermines the seniority process and would compromise the fair treatment of employees and provide the opportunity for management to play favorites in determining which employees are laid off. It could also open the City for potential valid lawsuits.

Angel Calvo, Business Representative for Engineers and Architect Association, was in agreement with the comments made and asked the Commission not to take any action on the item.

Commissioner Salvati inquired as to whether changing the rule would violate the City Charter. City Attorney, Zna Houston, stated that on the face of the Charter, there is interpretation that can be made that to modify this rule would not be in violation of the Charter, however, it would be hard to predict what the outcome would be should the modification of the rule or the use of the rule be challenged in a court of law.

Commissioner Perez asked if there was anything in the State Code that states that a temporary layoff, a furlough, is the same as a layoff. Zna Houston replied that the manner in which State agencies define furlough and layoff are the same and she is not aware of any State law that regulates the terminology.

Commissioner Perez interpreted Charter Section 1015(a) as giving the City the right to suspend or layoff workers due to a lack of funds, it was therefore his opinion that the City does not need a change in Rule 8.7 in order to meet, confer, and come to a conclusion in terms of the City’s financial crisis. Zna Houston responded that Civil Service Rule 8.7 is a totally different track and a totally different issue that is not tied to or in any way connected with the overall meet and confer process or collective bargaining process of the City.

Commissioner Perez stated that the most important principle in the civil service is the principle of seniority. He stated that in his reading of Charter Section 1015(a), in all cases suspension and restoration should be based upon seniority and the concept of seniority, which is fundamental to civil service and is embedded in the City Charter. He believed that if people want to change the concepts of seniority that are embedded in the Charter of the City of Los Angeles, they should go through the political process to change that and not ask the Board of Civil Service Commissioners to make the hard political decision. He did not believe that the employees of the City of Los Angeles should be placed in a position of having to bargain away their right of seniority and would not support giving 21 days notice of intention to change the rule.

Shannon Pascual stated that the 23 million dollar deficit in the City budget could result in departments having to request a long-term layoff in order to meet their obligations. The initial intent of Rule 8.7 was not to have a situation where people would be reassigned but to deal specifically with a situation where a person would be unpaid but returned to his or her job without any loss of benefits, loss of ability to accrue seniority, sick time, or promote within the City. It was intended to deal specifically with a situation where the City could not pay the employee.

Commissioner McClelland believed the language of Rule 8.7 as it relates to adding a new basis for assigning employees, needs scrutiny, thought, specificity and care, to ensure that the rule is not misused and the Charter or other laws are not violated. She supported giving 21 days notice to trigger a bilateral conversation in a collective bargaining or meet and confer situation.

21 DAYS NOTICE OF INTENT GIVEN on motion of Commissioner McClelland, seconded by Commissioner de los Reyes, and carried by a 4-1 vote. (Nay: Perez)

Appearances: Shannon Pascual, Personnel Department
________________________________________
Pulling his puppet strings on the Civil Service Commission, Mayor Tony Villar's dismantling of your civil service rights and politicization of your jobs continues, turning City Hall into his personal "house of cards".

Mayoral campaign season in full swing

At least the speculation is, as seen in these links and the previous blog post.

LINK

Now that City Council President Eric Garcetti successfully campaigned (as one of California’s 65 democratic super-delegates) for Barack Obama and has witnessed his rise to the nomination thanks to a groundswell of encouragement from supporters, can the community come out to convince Garcetti to throw in his hat for the 2009 Los Angeles Mayoral Election?

LINK

Many third floor spinners spill a lot of digital ink claiming how Mayor Villaraigosa will run unopposed and coast to victory, despite the prevailing view that the Mayor has produced little in three years and following Mirthala, Hillary and a litany of scandals and missteps that he is damaged goods. Regardless of the spinners' boasts, the list of those seeking to or reported to be seeking to oppose the Mayor's re-election seems to be growing.

Among those noted so far:

Walter Moore

Zev Yaroslavsky

Rick Caruso

Zuma Dogg

Magic Johnson

Zuma Dogg for Mayor?

LINK

ZD FOR MAYOR?: I am at the same crossroads as Magic. Although I don't want the aggravation, either...I'm so frustrated feeling that I know how to improve things, that I may not be able to prevent myself from putting my name on the ballot. I know it's hilarious...but when you consider that formula you mentioned that Walter came up with about only needing 160,000 votes (or something like that)...all i can say is...i think enough people would vote for me (even if i'm not in debates) due to the level of name recognition (IT'S HUGE, BRO...EACH DAY I AM MORE AND MORE STUNNED BY THE RESPONSE FROM PEOPLE ON THE STREETS. Oh man, it's not joke...I think I could force a run off. Even if people do not know I am running beforehand, if they see the name "Zuma Dogg" on the ballot...it's like you said a long time ago...then add that to all the people who actually know me now. I LIKE BEING ZUMA DOGG AND DON'T FEEL I "NEED" TO BECOME MAYOR ANYMORE THAN BATMAN OR SPIDERMAN FEEL THEY NEED TO JOIN THE POLICE DEPT.

But again, as someone who has not only studied Dr. Deming's "Methods for management of quality and productivity" (and innovation), but as someone who has been published internationally in "Quality Digest" and praised by Deming himself in 1991 in a letter he faxed to me...

I may have to run because I really wanna get in there an implement these changes on day one.

Everyone in these departments citywide and in city hall already know what to do and how to improve the system. But you have a retaliatory, vindictive, greedy mayor and so he is floating the boat UPSTREAM, against the grain on purpose.

When I let all city workers know, "You are the ones who know what is wrong with the system and how to do the job right the first time...so I want to empower all City workers to go ahead and do the job to the best of your ability, the way you think it should be done. YOU ARE NOW EMPOWERED TO START MAKING YOUR JOB EASIER, AND MAKING THE CUSTOMERS (CITIZENS) HAPPIER BY USING COMMON SENSE ON THE JOB. And the department heads will be meeting with each of you to solicit your feedback on what is broke with the system and how to improve the process. (Fix the system for the workers, so they can do a better job.)

Then, people start taking some pride in their jobs.

________________________________________

Fun idea. Have to be intrigued by the idea of Magic Johnson's chances though. Let's start the campaign to oust the Mini Mayor in 2009 today.

Zuma Dogg said ... Oh no...intrigued by Magic? WHAT ABOUT INTRIGUED BY ZUMA DOGG! I'M THE ONE THAT IS GONNA IMPLEMENT DEMING'S PRINCIPALS. We're trying to improve quality and productivity, not trying to improve sticking a ball in a hoop. I have to sound the Price Is Right loser sound on myself. HEY, Zuma Dogg...you just typed that whole post and all they can say is, "intrigued by magic." Whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp...(deflated) Whoooooooomp. June 8, 2008 3:55 AM

Anonymous said ... Just remember, don't do anything that looks like campaigning on city time. (Note the "vindictive" Mini Mayor comment above.) The ethics commission members are his appointees, too, just like the civil service commission members who probably changed their votes to keep their commission positions! June 8, 2008 8:20 AM

Rumblings was called out by Zuma Dogg, so we would like to make a point of clarification: Everyone is intrigued by the idea of anyone replacing the current Mayor, be it Zuma Dogg or Earvin "Magic" Johnson or others mentioned on the various City political blogs. Tony Villar's vindictive and preferential management style has permeated City departments and it's impact on ITA leadership has been well documented on this blog since January.

As to the comment about Rumblings doing any campaigning: We have only brought light to what is being discussed on other blogs and websites. The leadership of the City impacts ITA. This blog does not and will never take politics to the offices and cubicles of City Hall. What the good people of ITA discuss in the workplace is their business. Randi Levin has been the only one to show her political bent via City resources. Remember her comments about Proposition "S"? Then again, the General Manager is a politically appointed position.

Choppy waters at the Harbor?

After a very short stint as the Chief Information Officer at the Port of Los Angeles (Harbor Department) link , word is that a former ITA'er and good friend of the department, Greg Allison, is returning to the City Clerk's Office next week.

Welcome back Greg! You missed ITA's proposed (failed) take over of City Clerk IT support/staffing in the Mayor's just signed budget.

Or did you?
________________________________________
Anonymous said ... who is Greg Allison? I've never heard of him. June 7, 2008 8:09 PM

Focused Wi-Fi?

While the Mini-Mayor still seems hell-bent on providing Wi-Fi service City wide, it appears the localized approach is currying more favor in light of the current budget issues:

Locations in Los Angeles where the City is providing Wi-Fi services

Los Angeles Public Library Locations (Various Locations)The Los Angeles Public Library is providing public wireless Internet through Wi-Fi "Hot Spots" at no cost to users at the Central Library and all 71 of their branch locations. Anyone with a Wi-Fi enabled computer can access the service in select areas within the library facilities.

Van Nuys Civic Center (San Fernando Valley)In October 2004, the City launched a free Wi-Fi wireless internet service at the Van Nuys Civic Center. The Wi-Fi mesh network provides wireless access to the Internet and is available at no charge to the public A community portal page was developed and added later to deliver real time information about local events, City of Los Angeles Highlights, 311 City Services Directory, and other location specific information.

Pershing Square (Downtown L.A.)The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the Recreation and Parks Department (RAP) launched the Wi-Fi District in April 2005. Verge Wireless Networks was contracted by CRA to install, operate, and support the users of the wireless network. The free wireless network serves mobile users in the park area with broadband Internet access leveraging content from ExperienceLA to promote culture tourism for the City, the neighborhood, and Downtown LA.

Los Angeles Convention Center (Downtown L.A.)The Los Angeles Convention Center has developed a fee based operational model for Wi-Fi Internet access. The network is designed to provide Wi-Fi coverage throughout the facility for visitors and exhibitors.

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Wi-Fi services are available throughout passenger terminals at the Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport, and are planned for the Van Nuys Airport facilities. LAWA Concessions recently awarded a contract to T-Mobile to build and operate these fee-for-use Wi-Fi services at the Airport Facilities.

link

Wi-Fi comes to re-vamped Angel Flight and Angels Knolls Plaza

link

Mayor signs city's $7 billion budget

Daily News Wire Services

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed off on a $7.1 billion budget for fiscal 2008-09 today, saying the spending plan reflects his policy of making public safety the top priority.

Villaraigosa has said he plans to increase the size of the Los Angeles Police Department by 1,000 police officers in the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.

By next month, Los Angeles police officers will number 9,755 officers. The mayor's office expects that number to rise to 10,032 officers in coming fiscal year, and to 10,316 officers by the summer of 2010.

"Without question, our central value and central responsibility is to protect the public safety," Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference. "I made a promise to put 1,000 new officers on the street and this budget keeps that promise."

About 71 percent of the overall budget will go toward public safety -- police and fire services.

In order to pay for adding police, city residents can expect to pay higher fees for parking in city lots and structures, adopting a pet from a city shelter, playing a round of golf at a municipal course and releasing a car from the Los Angeles Police Department impound.

Beginning Sept. 1, single-family households will pay $36.32 for garbage collection -- a 30 percent increase over the current cost. Multi-family units will see the fee increase from $17.16 to $24.33.

"Make no mistake, the national recession, rising gas prices and tanking housing market made these promises and commitments difficult to keep. The very reason prior administrations, prior councils have tried but failed to expand the police department is because it's not easy," Villaraigosa said.

The council's Budget and Finance Committee deliberated more than 50 hours over the mayor's budget.

One of the plans that came out of those hearings was a motion by City Councilman Richard Alarcon to recoup uncollected fees on 217,000 "extra- capacity" garbage cans.

City staffers also agreed to review a proposal to double the fee for 30- gallon cans from $2.50 to $5 for green containers, and from $5 to $10 for black containers. Those actions could bring in about $18.8 million a year, according to the councilman.

Still, city officials must address a $23 million shortfall through mandatory furloughs, buyouts or early retirement plans.

The 2008-09 budget is $193.3 million more than the adopted budget for the current fiscal year. In the coming year, 71 percent of the budget will be allocated for public safety.

City Councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, did not attend the budget-signing ceremony. One of his colleagues said Parks' second-place finish in the race for county supervisor was a result of his commitment to the city budget.

"There was an election last night and in that election the budget chairman was involved. He put in 52 hours in front of the camera, in front of the public and he put in countless hours behind the scenes in this (budget process) and as a result of that he didn't come in first," said City Councilman Tony Cardenas.

"But I will tell you, to me, he came in first because he put the public first."

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