Subj : Re: LA Fires To : poindexter FORTRAN From : Gamgee Date : Tue Jan 14 2025 08:02 am -=> poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Gamgee <=- pF> Re: Re: LA Fires pF> By: Gamgee to poindexter FORTRAN on Mon Jan 13 2025 10:31 pm > Okay, but it's a matter of priorities. Why were the fire department budgets > slashed under Mayor Bass? To the tune of MILLIONS of dollars. Where did tha > money actually go? pF> https://www.ocregister.com/2025/01/09/factcheck-was-the-lafd-budget-cut- pF> no-it-actually-increased-heres-how/ pF> "On Thursday, a spokesperson for L.A. City Councilmember Bob pF> Blumenfield, who was budget chair last year, said the city increased pF> the fire department's overall budget by approximately $53 million in pF> the current fiscal year. However, $76 million - intended to pay for pF> fire department personnel - was placed in a fund separate from the fire pF> department's regular account when the budget was adopted because pF> contract negotiations with department employees were still taking place pF> at the time." pF> As a result, if you just compare the LAFD's budget last year to this pF> year's, it looks like it went down $23M. But that's because when the pF> budget was adopted last May or June, the city was still negotiating pF> those new contracts. The $76M that was set aside in a separate account pF> ultimately was moved once the MOUs were finalized. Yeah..... Interesting article. However.... (as is your tendency) - you left out some important parts. In FACT, you quoted the first couple of paragraphs of that article. I'm wondering why you stopped after only that much... So I'll quote the *REST* of that SAME article, that you didn't want to include. Did you do that by "accident"? Here's the "rest of the story": (the below is *QUOTED* from the same article): **************** Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley lashed out at city leaders on Friday, Jan. 10, saying that budget cuts to her department hampered firefighters ability to respond to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged Southern California. How money was allocated seems to be what is now called into question. While the budget increased to support salaries, LAFD Chief went on CNN to say the city had failed her and the department with cuts to certain areas, such as civilian personnel. Let me be clear. The $17 million budget cut and elimination of our civilian positions like our mechanics did and has and will continue to severely impact our ability to repair our apparatus, Crowley said on CNN, adding that more than 100 fire apparatuses are out of service. Having these apparatus and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped, she said on CNN. On Friday, Crowley told a Fox 11 reporter that there were cuts to her department. Yes, it was cut and it did impact our ability to provide service, she said. In social media posts this week, L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia jumped in, posting: Seeing City officials in the press ignore the severe impacts of these budget cuts, especially the ones covering for their poor budget decisions to cut a majority of departments budgets & even AFTER Chief Crowley told them about the impacts these cuts have had, is DISGRACEFUL. | Btw the money that they keep saying is being held for LAFDs raises are in this separate account HASNT even been transferred to the LAFDs operating budget as of this date! How do we know all this? Because were the Citys Accountant! We know the Citys budget and finances. We didnt want to get into the Citys budget and finances during these times, but to see City officials come out and ignore the Fire Chiefs warnings/impacts of the departments budget cuts made us jump in. ************* What do you have to say about *THAT*, Poindexter Fortran? .... He does the work of 3 Men...Moe, Larry & Curly === MultiMail/Linux v0.52 --- SBBSecho 3.23-Linux * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138) .