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UPDATE ON THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES NEWS FOR THE LAST WEEK-REVISED JULY 13

Monday, Jul 12, 2010

July 12, 2010 – Various – What Happened to the TRANS? - [CAO Miguel Santana is said to have reported his trip to New York to sell the TRANS was a success.  He stated that this sale got the city "the highest short-term debt ratings"  from Fitch.  That is certainly true as reported June 30 on this website.

However, that is not the entire story.  About ¼ of the TRANS were not sold.  $252 million had to be purchased by the by J.P. Morgan, company handling the sale for Los Angeles, at much higher interest rates. This probably had little to do with the city's ability to meet the repayments on the May and June TRANS, but more about the City‘s potential to borrow from Special Funds after April 30, 2011 in order to meet those payments. (REVISION: That potential is diminished because a special Council action is required after April 30.  Read more in this interdepartmental memorandum from the CAO.)   In other words, the investors still do not see that Los Angeles has solved its structural deficit and are concerned about bad news during the course of the fiscal year.]

July 8, 2010 – EAA Website – What do Investors Believe About LA’s Fiscal Condition? – Appearing as ‘Other News’ this week, we are also linking this article here for its relevance to the overall City News and the preceding article.

July 6, 2010 – EAA Website – City Announces ADA 20^th Anniversary Celebrate – Announced earlier this week, we are re-linking the article for its importance to all employees.  We have also placed in in our calendar.

July 6, 2010 – City Watch – Who Is City Hall Trying to Fool? – “We have one of the finest library systems in the country . . . the Library Commission approved a $39 parcel tax to be placed on the November ballot, designed to raise $30 million, of which $10 million would be used to restore library services . . . two-thirds of the tax . . .  going out the back door to the City’s General Fund . . . [Library] overhead was almost $50 million, representing 37% of the entire Library budget?”  “Why . . . November ballot . . . [cost of] $4.2 million . . . [when] March or May ballot at very little extra cost?”  “Why . . . delete the proposed “sunset” provision?”  “burden of a parcel tax falls disproportionately on homeowners and condo owners”

July 2, 2010 – Los Angeles Times – 911 Operators Stage Sickout to Protest Furloughs and Pay Cuts, causing LAPD Personnel to Cover Shifts – “wildcat sickout Thursday at two Los Angeles call centers . . . effect was minimal . . . administrative and training staff were able to cover” [Since their MOU has a ‘no-strike’ clause, a sickout was one alternative to show their displeasure.  It appears this action has not spread and has had little effect.]

July 2, 2010 – Downtown News – Park Powers Forward – “Grand Avenue project’s Civic Park, setting the stage for work to begin July 12 on the $56 million project.” [Jobs and activity in downtown LA.  This should ultimately be good for all.]