TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager and City Council to include with all agenda items a jobs impact analysis or discussion to the fiscal impact information on all City Council Agenda letters.
DISCUSSION
On October 29, 2002 the City Council adopted a Budget Evaluation Process that was "designed as an inclusive process, with a goal of minimizing the impact of cost reductions on core services to the public.1I Included in the Budget Evaluation Process was a Budget Oversight Committee recommendation to include a "fiscal impact" analysis in all City Council letters to guide the decision making process during implementation of the Three-year Financial Strategic Plan. In recent months the practice of assessing fiscal impacts has been overlooked on agenda items coming from City Council particularly those surrounding art and technology initiatives.
The California Employment Development Department (EDD) reported a seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate of 12.5% in February 2010, compared to 10.2% a year ago in February 2009. For the Los Angeles County Metropolitan region, the unemployment rate in February 2010 was 12.4% with Long Beach reporting 13.5%. EDD reported trade, transportation, and utilities documented the largest job losses (down 1,700) over the month. The City Council makes decisions weekly on issues that affect the unemployment rate of our city and we need to understand the impact of our actions. For example, recently the Redevelopment Agency, the Agency responsible for eliminating blight and poverty, brought a budget transfer to City Council for approval; however, the agenda item did not mention the elimination of up to 30 local jobs as a result of the action. It is our responsibility to seek ways to generate jobs to stimulate the economic recovery by providing good jobs in Long Beach.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
TONIA REYES URANGA
COUNCILMEMBER, SEVENTH DISTRICT