City unions, advocates and residents urge alternatives to mayor’s proposed budget cuts at LA budget hearing

Katie Arslovsky, chair of the City Council Budget and Finance Committee, opened a second day of public comment and presentations as the committee began a weeks‑long review of the mayor’s proposed budget.

The hearing featured 10‑minute presentations from a coalition of city unions and the Engineers and Architects Association, followed by neighborhood budget advocates and more than 200 public speakers. Union leaders said the mayor’s plan would reduce core services and urged the committee to seek alternatives to mass layoffs.

“This budget eliminates 2,721 positions,” Janita Aguilar, regional director for SEIU Local 721, told the panel in the coalition’s opening presentation. “Two thousand seven hundred and twenty‑one eliminated positions will inevitably absolutely result in essential public services to your constituents being cut.”

The union coalition and the Engineers and Architects Association (EAA) warned the committee that the proposed staff reductions and vacancy eliminations would disrupt sanitation, public works, planning, transportation, policing support, and cybersecurity work. Marlene Fonseca, executive director of EAA, said the union’s membership faces “848 jobs that are proposed for elimination, 547 of these are filled positions,” and that the cuts would delay housing and climate initiatives, undermine grant‑funded projects and forfeit future revenues tied to those grants.

Why it matters: Committee members will make choices that determine whether the city addresses a projected shortfall by reducing headcount and program capacity or by finding alternative revenues and cost reductions. Speakers repeatedly linked staffing cuts to increased liabilities and degraded public safety and services.

What unions and budget advocates asked for - Pause layoffs and conduct transparent impact analyses. Union presenters said the budget shifts money into reserves and liability accounts while shrinking the workforce. - Explore revenue options, efficiency measures, and grant writing to replace cuts. Neighborhood council budget advocates urged the committee to create a fiscal manager or office of transparency and accountability and to pursue multiyear budgeting. - Preserve targeted and revenue‑generating positions. EAA said department cuts include roles funded by grants or that generate revenue for the city, which would forfeit future spending if eliminated.

Public comment highlights and program impacts Public commenters included nonprofit executives, union members, neighborhood advocates, and dozens of city employees and service recipients. Themes repeated throughout the afternoon and evening: protect the Youth Development Department, maintain animal shelters and LA Animal Services staffing, preserve climate and biodiversity programs, fund day labor centers and the Office of Wage Standards, and protect front‑line civilian positions in LAPD and other departments.

- Youth services: Speakers from Legacy LA, youth interns and staff pleaded with the committee not to merge or deeply cut the Youth Development Department (YDD). Youth speakers described paid internships, leadership summits and tutoring programs they said would disappear under proposed reductions.

- City planning and permitting: Multiple planning department staff and EAA members said cuts to planning would delay affordable housing, zoning updates and Olympic‑related projects. “You cannot rebuild LA without city planners,” Marlene Fonseca said.

- Animal services: Volunteers and rescue organizations warned the committee that proposed reductions to LA Animal Services — including a plan the mayor released that would close multiple shelters — would overwhelm rescues and increase euthanasia and public‑health risks.

- Wage enforcement and worker centers: Worker‑center representatives and labor advocates urged the city to preserve and expand the Office of Wage Standards and to restore funding for day labor centers, saying those programs prevent wage theft and provide employment pathways and public‑health services for immigrant communities.

- Climate and emergency preparedness: Environmental groups and staff urged protection of the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office, arguing the office coordinates resilience work after the January fires and is needed for heat, wildfire and decarbonization programs.

- Represent LA and legal services for immigrants: Immigrant advocates asked the committee to fund Represent LA at $4 million, saying the program provides life‑saving legal counsel amid increased federal enforcement.

- GRID and violence prevention: Community violence intervention providers said cuts to gang‑reduction and youth development programming (GRID) would reverse decades of progress; speakers cited a 40 percent decline in gang‑related violence where GRID operates.

Fiscal details cited in testimony - The coalition said the mayor’s proposal would eliminate 2,721 positions, a mix of filled layoffs and funded vacancies. - EAA reported 848 positions in its membership proposed for elimination, including 547 filled positions. - Budget advocates noted a $187 million allocation for liability payouts in the proposed budget and urged clearer, earlier accounting of liability trends rather than mid‑year adjustments. - Advocates asked for specific restorations: $4 million for Represent LA; $2.7 million cited for LA RISE by workforce partners; and preservation of multiple departmental staff lines that planning, sanitation, transportation and public safety officials said are grant‑funded or revenue‑generating.

No votes were taken during the hearing. Chair Arslovsky said the committee will continue departmental presentations and labor, budget analyst and city attorney briefings at subsequent meetings.

What’s next The committee scheduled presentations from the mayor’s office, the Chief Administrative Office and department leaders at upcoming sessions; staff and council members will review alternatives to layoffs, revenue proposals, and program restorations over the coming weeks before producing a budget the council will consider at a final hearing and vote in June.

Ending: At the close of the day, Arslovsky recessed the hearing and reminded speakers that public comment would continue in later sessions and that written comments could be submitted at lacouncilcomment.com.