So, there’s this big fuss in LA right now because Mayor Karen Bass just dropped a budget proposal that would cut over 2,700 city jobs to patch up a billion-dollar hole. This plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year would let go of about 1,650 workers through layoffs, which is a lot of people to kick to the curb.
The Fire Department gets the good end of the deal though, with a bunch of new hires coming in after the Palisades fire wrecked a bunch of homes and killed 12 people. But, everyone else isn’t so lucky. Some of the other city agencies are getting the short end of the stick with layoffs hitting 5% of the workforce, all thanks to rising personnel costs and a sluggish economy.
At the LAPD, over 400 folks are on the chopping block, and they’re all civilians. And to top it off, they’re not even hiring enough new officers to keep up with the ones leaving. By next year, the LAPD will be down to 8,639 officers, the lowest number since 1995.
So, Mayor Bass is out here calling these layoffs a last resort, but she’s also been begging Gov. Gavin Newsom for some cash to save these jobs. She’s heading to Sacramento again this week, so let’s see if she can work some magic.
But here’s the kicker — most of these positions that are being cut are already empty, which is a little weird. And if the city doesn’t get any money from the state, they’re gonna lay off a bunch of folks at Animal Services, Transportation, Sanitation, and Street Services.
The union isn’t happy about this at all. They’re all fired up and ready to fight these layoffs, especially since it’s gonna slow down city services. One councilmember even thinks this whole thing is a sneaky move to make the unions give up some cash.
So, we’ll see how this all plays out, but it’s not looking too good for the city workers in LA.
