United mayors plead for more funding
By Duke Helfand, Times Staff Writer
12:15 PM PDT, March 27, 2007


WASHINGTON -- More than 200 of the Los Angeles region's top civic and business officials -- many of them adversaries back home -- delivered a unified civic message and pleas for more dollars to members of Congress and federal bureaucrats today.

The delegation sought funding for gang intervention programs, port security, education and affordable housing.

"All of us are coming together with a common message," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference next to the Capitol. "Southern California's challenges are America's challenges."

Villaraigosa was joined by several members of the Los Angeles City Council, Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, Los Angeles Unified School District Board President Marlene Canter, schools Supt. David L. Brewer and David W. Fleming, chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

These officials and scores of others, including Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and a gaggle of Villaraigosa staff members, fanned out through the halls of Congress this morning to plead their case for more federal aid.

In one of the meetings, Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, Fleming and Councilwoman Janice Hahn met with Los Angeles Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters and Howard Berman. They were joined by Rep. John Conyers Jr.(D-Mich.) and Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Va.). In the meeting to discuss anti-gang initiatives, they urged the federal lawmakers to focus not only on suppression but also on prevention, job training and other efforts keep young people from joining gangs.

Villaraigosa and Canter, who have sparred over the mayor's bid to exert authority over the schools, met with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to discuss the pending reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind education law. They asked for greater flexibility for local schools and for the federal government to fully pay for what the law requires.

The delegation is focusing much of its attention on lobbying for greater federal investment in transportation and security for the region.

The local officials came armed with facts and figures about Southern California's contribution to the national economy. They noted that more than 40% of the nation's imported cargo comes through the sister ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. And they asked that money for port and rail security be allocated based on risk rather than on population.

The officials brought along a breakdown, by congressional district, of the value that goods that come through the two Southern California ports add to a region's economy. For example, goods coming through the local port complex to Minnesota's 5th Congressional District added $2.2 million to the district in 2005.

The delegates got no promises but said the trip is laying important groundwork.

"We are the ATM for the United States and we're coming here to get refilled," Fleming told the gathering at a breakfast meeting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein. "It's time we put a few bucks back in."

Others said they didn't necessarily expect to come home with dollars in hand but to press the region's contributions and needs to federal lawmakers who are distracted by the war in Iraq and other matters.

"Sometimes you get immediate gratification," said L.A. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. "Other times it's laying the foundation for votes that will take place in a few months. We're doing a little bit of both."

duke.helfand@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-na ... -headlines

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I THINK LA AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EXACERBATED ITS OWN PROBLEMS, DON'T YOU? MAYBE THEY SHOULD MAKE A DEAL i.e., THE REVERSAL OF LAPD SPECIAL ORDER 40 or EMPLOYER CRACKDOWNS ON ILLEGALS. AS FAR AS I KNOW, SO FAR LA HAS DONE NOTHING TO CURB ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND THE MYRIAD OF PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH IT.
NO, LA SHOULDN'T GET ANY MONEY UNTIL IT GETS IN LINE WITH ENFORCEMENT.

Contact Mayor Villaraigosa:
E-Mail Address: mayor@lacity.org