Public hearing on mayor's budget continues to special meeting after speakers urge funding for planning and Griffith Observatory

The Los Angeles City Council on May 18 held a public hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget, heard three public commenters pressing the council to restore specific positions in the Department of City Planning and to add capital support for Griffith Observatory, and continued the budget item to a special meeting the following Monday.

Why it matters: The council’s budget timetable will determine whether requested staffing and one-time capital proposals can be added before final adoption. Speakers said increased planning staffing would speed reviews and protect hillside design standards, and that delayed city support for Griffith Observatory could imperil state matching funds and project timing.

What speakers asked: Barry Reed, executive director of Mulholland Tomorrow, urged reinstatement of two positions proposed earlier by the Department of City Planning: a city planner focused on implementing the Mulholland Scenic Parkway specific plan and an additional public counter staffer for the Valley planning office. Reed said the planner is the "fulcrum position for the success of this specific plan" and that current planners are overwhelmed.

Joan Lux, vice president of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations, echoed the staffing request, saying understaffing had led to incomplete reviews and instances where homes built should have gone before the Mulholland Design Review Board.

Camille Lombardo, executive director of Friends of the Observatory, told the council Friends of the Observatory had raised about 68% of a $63 million renovation and expansion project and asked the city to consider a capital contribution that would help secure $5 million the group was pursuing from the state. Lombardo said the observatory had never received direct city capital improvements in its 66-year history and asked council support to keep the project on schedule.

Action taken: The council left the public hearing open and continued Item 1 (the mayor’s proposed budget) to a special Monday meeting at 9:00 a.m.; staff said the council would take up the committee report and the budget then. The hearing was continued so additional speakers could appear at the special meeting and to allow the council to consider committee recommendations before final action.

Quotes: "This is the person on whom the success of the plan rests," Barry Reed said of the Mulholland planner request. "We need to raise $10,000,000 in order to award the construction projects in this coming fiscal year," Camille Lombardo said of Griffith Observatory fundraising needs.

Next steps: The council signaled the budget item would be discussed in detail at the Monday special meeting, when the committee’s approximately 34 recommended items would be considered.