10:30am | Tonight, the Long Beach City Council will be faced with increasing pressure to cut spending in order to approve a balanced budget by next Tuesday’s meeting. The City Charter forces the Council to pass a balanced budget by September 15, and decision-makers are trying to patch up an $18.5 million deficit in order to do so.

At 2:30pm, the City Council’s Economic Development and Finance Committee will hold a closed session to be updated on four lawsuits that the City is involved in, which could hold important financial ramifications. They are:

  • 21st Century Insurance Company v. City of Long Beach,
  • Capili v. City of Long Beach,
  • Shalonica Patton v. City of Long Beach and
  • Workers’ Compensation Claim of Janet Harris.

Committee Chair Rae Gabelich and Vice Chair Gary DeLong will be present while fellow committee member and Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal is out of town.

At 3:30pm, the City Council will hold an open public meeting to recommend a Budget Hearing to receive direction on funding for the Long Beach Municipal Band, funding for the Arts Council and rental fees for tenants of local homeless services centers. Public comments are encouraged. The Council has already agreed in principle to solutions for funding some of these items but must finalize the terms.

At 4:30pm, City Manager Pat West will conduct labor negotiations with ten City employee unions, likely in an effort to have them agree to pay cuts or freezes. Last week, three City employee unions agreed to forego scheduled raises and apply them to their own pensions costs so the City would be spared that expense. The Long Beach Police Officers Association have already stated that they will not agree to such a plan, and it could mean that the Department will face layoffs as a result.

Then, at 5:00pm, comes the main Council meeting. An item to pass a balanced budget is on the Council agenda but there will likely be extensive discussion that could pass the item on to next week. As the Press-Telegram‘s Paul Eakins explains it [PT]:

The council could decide just to sign off on both City Manager Pat West’s “Plan A” cuts and much of his deeper “Plan B” cuts, approve only part of the budget, or hold off – and hold out hope that employee associations will agree to pay freezes to avoid Plan B altogether.

We’ll know much more about how the proposed cuts in each plan will work after tonight’s meeting, where West will surely outline his strategy and provide updates on the unions’ willingness to cooperate. Of course, nearly everything hinges on their decisions to agree to pay cuts or freezes or not. If not, the Council will have very difficult decisions indeed ahead of them, and City services and departments could still face a ruthless chopping block if that becomes the case.

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