LA County Supervisor Yaroslavsky blames term limits for LA, state govt. budget crises

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Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky speaks at the grand opening of the Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach on April 25, 2009 in Santa Monica.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky believes he knows one reason why the county is "at the top of our game" while the city of Los Angeles and state government face major financial crises

That reason, according to Yaroslavsky, is term limits.

In a wide-ranging interview with a local wire service, Yaroslavsky – who will be termed out of office after one more four-year stint if he is reelected as expected this year – said experience in office means officials "don't panic" and know how to make difficult decisions with a view for the future.

Because of shortsighted policies in the city and state, officials are being forced to cut expenses and workers, setting up conflicts with employee unions, according to the supervisor.

Yaroslavsky said it's a lot easier to work with unions when government is delaying new benefits – as the county has done – than getting unions to agree to give up benefits they've already been awarded. But while he did acknowledge that the county will be forced to make cuts of its own, and there are no "sacred cows" that will be protected, he believes the county has still done a better job than many other government entities.

"You look around at the other governments, the state government, the city of Los Angeles, other cities and counties throughout California who are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy," Yaroslavsky said. "This county ... is in much better shape financially."

Yaroslavsky told City News Service that he thinks there's a clear reason for the difference.

"People say, `Why is the county in better shape than the city or than the state?' Up until recently, we didn't have term limits, so we have the benefit of experience ... we take a longer view of our jobs and we don't panic.

"... We have the benefit of perspective and experience and I think that has helped us navigate these waters much more successfully than others have," he said.

Term limits were imposed on county supervisors in a 2002 ballot measure, and Yaroslavsky and Gloria Molina are the first supervisors forced to end their tenures under the new requirements after one more term, assuming they are reelected as expected.

Yaroslavsky didn't restrict his critical comments about the city of Los Angeles to the budget crisis. In addition to financial problems, he said the city has created "little tiny ticking time bombs" of development when it gave "carte blanche" to numerous real estate developers, who are waiting for the recession to end so they can begin building "horrific" projects.

But even though he criticized the city's economic and development policies, Yaroslavsky avoided blaming any specific city officials, and he refused to speculate about any possible role for himself in city government.

"I've never had a five-year plan and I'm certainly not going to start having a five-year plan at this stage of my life," he said when asked what the future holds. "I'm somewhat spontaneous ... although I've only held two jobs in my life."

When asked whether he'd like to take his own shot at fixing the city's problems as mayor some day – Yaroslavsky served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 to 1994 – he declined to fuel any speculation.

"There hasn't been a quadrennial election in the city of Los Angeles where my name hasn't come up ... Only once [in 1989] did I make a serious effort to [run] and then I decided not to do it," he said.

"Really, I haven't given it any thought. I expect to be here for the duration of my term. If my plans change, I'll let you know."

Yaroslavsky, interviewed late Monday in his office on the eighth floor of the downtown Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, seemed to prefer talking about the county's successes in financial management.

"The fact that we have managed our fiscal affairs prudently, responsibly over these 15 years that I've been here, I think is a singular achievement."

He said there's a clear, easy way to tell how the county has been doing financially.

"The best critique of our fiscal stewardship is the Wall Street bond ratings that we get. We're at the top of our game," he said.

While the city's general obligation debt was recently downgraded by Standard and Poor's to a "AA-minus" from a "AA" and by Moody's from "stable" to "negative" on its Aa2 rating, the county has maintained ratings that are as high as any it has enjoyed in the last 15 years, according to the county's assistant treasurer, Glen Byers.

But some bond rating services don't appear to agree that the county is in much better shape economically than the city. The county currently has an implied general obligation bond rating from Standard and Poor's of "AA-minus" and from Moody's of "Aa3," which puts it on par and just behind the city, respectively.

Byers, explaining the bond-rating differences apart from current financial operations, said the city has taxing authority which the county lacks, giving it greater control over its revenue stream.

The county will face its own tough decisions as it seeks to close a budget gap that Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka has preliminarily estimated could reach $600 million. However, some of that shortfall is related to big cuts in state funding. More than half of the county's budget comes from state and federal funding.

"The state ... spent like the good years were going to last forever. They undertook programs which were not financially sustainable," Yaroslavsky said. "The city did the same thing. They gave their employees huge pay raises, far more than we gave our employees. They were not sustainable.

"Now what they're going through is ... a song and dance to try and get their employee unions to give back some of those things ...," he said. "It's a lot harder to take away something from employees than it is to ask them to partner with you and defer pay raises to a future time. Our employees will have gone for two years without any pay increases, without any cost-of-living increases."

Whether that "good partnership" with the labor unions will survive any cuts to come is not yet clear. The county has implemented a hiring freeze, but has not yet had to lay off workers. But all county departments have been asked to project what changes they would make if faced with a 9 percent budget cut as Fujioka prepares a draft budget for next year. That budget proposal is scheduled to be presented to the board on April 20.

"My philosophy on this, and it may be different than others, is that every discipline, every one of our missions, needs to bear some share of the burden. I don't have any sacred cows and I don't think that we can have any sacred cows, as we go into a budget-cutting exercise," Yaroslavsky said.

"Everybody bears a fair share of the burden, nobody is put out of business. But if some departments say, `we're special, you can't touch us at all,' then somebody else is going to have their core mission compromised, because we've got to get to the bottom line."

The county has established reserves of nearly $200 million as a buffer in difficult times. But those "rainy day" and economic uncertainty reserves are already being drawn down, "because we are in a hell of a rainy day situation now," Yaroslavsky said.

But the county has yet to lay off employees. The Los Angeles Superior Court system, which recently announced plans to lay off more than 300 employees, is controlled by the state. State government has furloughed workers, made numerous cuts in programs and made headlines by missing budget deadlines. The Los Angeles City Council has said it will lay off 4,000 employees by July 1.