TRASH FEE HIKE ALMOST DONE DEAL SMITH'S DISSENT MEANS ANOTHER VOTE TO BE NEEDED.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer City Councilman Greig Smith Greig Smith is a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 12th District, which includes Granada Hills, Northridge and other parts of the Western San Fernando Valley. Smith is also a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. cast the lone dissenting vote Tuesday as his colleagues voted to raise the city's trash fee in order to allocate money to hire more police officers. After listening for nearly half an hour to public comments, including calls to reduce the size of the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . ,
the council gave its preliminary approval for the fee hike. Because
support was less than unanimous, the measure will be brought back next
week for a second affirmation.
Smith had also voted against the fee hike during the city's budget hearings, saying it was being phased in too quickly. On Tuesday, he argued the council needs to be more honest with the public about how the money will be spent. ``We said in the budget that we are going to collect $23 million this year with this tax. We're going to hire 135 new police officers; that's only $13 million. Where is the other $10 million going? ``We're collecting a lot of money right now that is ostensibly os·ten·si·ble adj. Represented or appearing as such; ostensive: His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity. for police. But really it's just padding Bits or characters that fill up unused portions of a data structure, such as a field, packet or frame. Typically, padding is done at the end of the structure to fill it up with data, with the padding usually consisting of 1 bits, blank characters or null characters. See null and bit stuffing. the general fund of the city of Los Angeles
Trash pickup has been financed out of the city general fund for decades. The new fee will cover that cost, allowing the council to shift money to beef up the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. . Chief Administrative Office analysts said the fee increase will actually generate around $30 million this year. The cost of 135 new officers is higher than $13 million when health benefits, pensions and recruitment are factored in, but will not take up the entire $30 million. The rest of the money will pay for police overtime and buy video cameras for police cars. Activists from the Labor/Community Strategy Center and the Bus Riders Union were the most vocal opponents, claiming the fee is a tax, not simply an increase. ``You need to be true to the public that it's a tax, and it's going ... directly to the police, and it's circumventing voters,'' Manuel Criollo Criollo native Spanish-American light horse or riding pony. Includes a number of ethnic varieties, e.g. Argentine Criollo. Any color, 13.3 to 15 hands high. Originated from a mixture of Arab, Barb and Andalusian. told the City Council. The trash-fee increase applies to single-family residences and some small apartment buildings served by the city Bureau of Sanitation sanitation: see plumbing; sanitary science. . Monthly trash rates will rise from the current $11 to $18 in September, $22 next July, $26 in July 2008 and $28 in July 2009. Larger apartment buildings, condominiums and businesses hire private trash haulers and already pay full cost for trash collection. kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
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