COUNCIL APPROVES STUDY OF POVERTY.Byline: RICK ORLOV Orlov (Орлรณв) is the name of a Russian noble family which produced several distinguished statesmen, diplomatists and soldiers. The family first gained distinction in the person of four Orlov brothers, of whom the senior was Catherine the Great's Staff Writer An effort to look at the causes and potential solutions to poverty in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. was approved Wednesday Wednesday: see week. by the City Council, with the goal of developing proposals before next year's presidential primary election. Councilman Richard Alarcon, who chaired a similar panel when he served in the state Senate, won council approval for creating an Ad Hoc Committee ad hoc committee A committee formed with the purpose of addressing a specific issue or issues, which theoretically is disbanded once its raison d'etre is finished on Poverty, which will draft proposals to address the issues affecting the poor. "What I hope to see is us working with the business community, the faith-based community A faith-based community is a community with members who all believe in the same religious concepts, or at least they did when it was founded. Many faith-based communities are communes, although this is not a requirement. and others to address the issue of poverty and what we can do to help people," Alarcon said. "This is not about the poor against the rich. I am not against people getting richer. What I want is to see it not at the expense of the poor." Councilman Bill Rosendahl Bill Rosendahl is a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing Council District 11, including the communities of Brentwood, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, West Los Angeles and Westchester. said the panel needs to do more than talk about the issue, but come up with concrete proposals that can be used to spur a national debate. "We have all these presidential candidates coming out for the primary election next February and I would like us to have something we can use to hold their feet to the fire on these issues," Rosendahl said. Alarcon said he hopes the panel will be able to develop a master plan on a variety of issues -- from pay to health care and housing -- that affect the poor. In Los Angeles, it costs $54,000 for a family of four to be above the poverty level, Alarcon said. Alarcon said the traditional formula for determining poverty levels is three times the cost of food. "That is fine for rural areas, but it doesn't apply to a city like Los Angeles where the costs are so much higher," Alarcon said. rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
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