A private commission’s recommendations on how to fiscally stabilize Los Angeles and spur job growth drew a mixed reaction from the City Council at its May 6 meeting.
Recommendations in the report – titled “A Time for Action” – by the Los Angeles 2020 Commission included merging the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, hold City elections on State and Federal balloting days, and creating a city Office of Transparency and Accountability.
The council heard a presentation from former U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and businessman Austin Beutner, co-chairs of the 2020 Commission.
“There are things I agree with and things I don’t agree with, but what’s great is you’re moving the conversation forward,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield said.
The council did not take action on the report, but council president Herb Wesson, who convened the 2020 Commission last year, said he will refer each of the recommendations to the appropriate council committees.
Council members were particularly intrigued by the panel’s recommendation that the city team up with Long Beach to run the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district includes the Los Angeles port, said the seaports are a “huge issue” and the idea has already generated much conversation since the report was released on April 9.
Beutner, a one-time Los Angeles deputy mayor, told the council that as competition from other ports intensify, Los Angeles and Long Beach officials should consider forming a joint powers authority in which each city retains 50 percent control.
“We don’t win when Los Angeles steals a shipper from Long Beach and Long Beach steals a shipper from Los Angeles,” Beutner said.
Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents several communities on the Westside, expressed interest in the idea of collaborating with other cities on tourism issues, noting that beaches in the city of Santa Monica are “marketed a lot better” than adjacent ones in Venice, which is in his council district.
Council members questioned whether the proposed Office of Transparency and Accountability would duplicate the role of the City Controller and other existing city agencies.
Other recommendations by the 2020 Commission include:
– Establish an independent oversight and rate-setting body for the Dept. of Water and Power;
– Require the City to create three-year budgets that reveal more about how decisions play out over a number of years than is revealed in one- year budgets;
– Form a commission for retirement security to monitor the City’s retirement obligations;
– Create economic clusters around areas such as bio-science and manufacturing; and
– Update building plans that govern development and construction projects in communities throughout the City.
