News
Government
Apr. 22, 1999
Hahns Office Happy About Proposed Budget
A proposed $4.2 billion budget for fiscal 1999-2000 for the city of Los Angeles released Tuesday includes funding for City Attorney James K. Hahn to continue a new program to evict tenants engaging in narcotics-related activities, but does not allow for the expansion of the office's efforts to fight gangs.
Hahn sent a letter last November to Mayor Richard Riordan highlighting his priorities and asking for money for programs ranging from expanding his gang unit to buying new office furniture.
Matt Middlebrook, Hahn's chief administrative officer, said Tuesday that the office is "happy with the positions we got."
"We have some other priorities in our proposed budget," he said. "We'll use our opportunity to speak to the City Council and see if we can get a couple of other positions provided."
Middlebrook said his office does not expect to get everything it asks for, but he anticipates Hahn will ask the council for more attorneys for the gang unit because increasing staff is the office's top priority.
In his budget released Tuesday, Riordan allocated funding for a new Unlawful Detainer Unit that was established earlier this year to enforce a 3-year pilot project allowing Hahn's office to bring eviction actions against tenants engaging in drug-related activity.
Riordan also is proposing that the City Council, which is expected to have its ad-hoc budget committee review the mayor's proposed budget in the next few weeks, provide two attorneys and one legal secretary to augment the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program.
Under the mayor's proposal, all of the city's nuisance property programs would be consolidated, with all cases entered into a centralized database. A panel chaired by the city attorney's office would determine the most effective way to solve programs in conjunction with the building and safety, housing and police departments.
Riordan's proposal also provides funding for two attorneys, one paralegal and one legal secretary to implement a new charter if the proposal on the June ballot passes. In addition, the budget proposal recommends funding for one deputy city attorney to handle bond projects and two systems analyst positions to help with automation.
The budget proposal, which would hike Hahn's budget from $62.5 million to $67 million, also calls for one attorney and one paralegal to work with an abandoned buildings task force, which is committed to destroying or rehabilitating 400 abandoned properties during the next two years.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer Roth and Budget Director Steve Rubin said that although there is no city money in the mayor's budget to augment the city attorney's gang efforts, Hahn's office will get more money to fight gangs through the expansion of CLEAR, the Community Law Enforcement and Recovery Program that is funded by the federal and state governments.
"Between the expansion of the gang unit last year and the expansion of the CLEAR program this year, which includes significant resources for city attorney staff, we believe that that's an appropriate augmentation and investment," Roth said.
Rubin said the CLEAR program currently funds four attorneys and four support staff. A proposal with an additional $12 million in federal and state funding calls for adding six more attorneys and three legal assistants, he said.
In his November letter to Riordan, Hahn also had asked for three attorneys and two support staff for his gang unit, five staff members for automation, and one position for personnel services. In addition, he requested five paralegals, five law clerks and three witness service coordinators to increase his pretrial and transactional support. He also had asked for an increase in his library budget and for new office furniture.
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Lauren Blau
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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