Emergency Community Budget Meeting

Councilmember LaBonge convened a public meeting to explain and answer questions about the city's budget woes. The meeting, held last night at the Hollywood municipal building, covered the city's current budget shortfall and its impact on many departments, including police, fire and water and power.
"This city is facing the toughest financial challenges in my 36 years of public service," the Councilmember said. "We have difficult decisions to make and I want to hear how the public feels these issues should be resolved."
Assistant City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna presented a Power Point Presentation on the $212 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year due to rapidly declining revenue over the past year. To view the presentation, click here. Hollywood Police Captain Bea Girmala discussed how she is managing her division with a smaller staff and Greg Black of the Department of Water and Power explained the reason for the proposed electrical rate hike.
Residents expressed frustration with the budget problems during the three-hour meeting.