KTLA News: "Mayor Tom Bradley gives press conference on proposed budget cuts" (1973)

[No audio] [Mayor Tom Bradley] I am proposing to the City Council that we can save, over twelve million dollars, if we move now to effect these cutbacks. That can be done without firing people. That, it can be done without affecting, the level of service which the citizens of this city have come to expect. It can be done without, seriously affecting any department. Essentially these cuts, are in the areas of new programs that were, authorized under the new budget. Some of which have not yet been initiated. [No audio] [Thumping noise] [Bradley unintelligible] [Bradley clears throat] We have just entered the new fiscal year in 1973, '74. And as we finished our budget, as I have observed before. We had a multi-million dollar, one-time windfall, that spells troubles for us next year as we approach the budget preparation. Unless we begin now to cut back. I therefore, asked the department heads to examine their own budgets and to suggest their priorities as to what cuts they thought, they could accept, ah, could live with. That was then reviewed by the City Administrative Offices. I then spent two days with the entire staff of the City Administrative officers, ah, Office and we came up with a number of recommendations. I have proposed to the council that they examine these proposals and that they act upon them. They have scheduled their, Finance Committee hearings for September 3rd and 4th and the entire matter will be before the council on September the 6th. I am convinced that we're gonna have to do much more in the coming year than we have in the past to try to live within our revenue, ah, means, in order to avoid any further, tax burden, on the people of this city. And, [KTLA Reporter, Dick Garten?] largest, just single item of an operating department is the police department with two and three-quarter million, ah. [Garten?] Where will that cut be felt by the department? [Bradley] In, every department, ah, we ask them to set their priorities. And we have taken across the board look at, at them. And in terms of percentages, I think that, ah, when you look at the total amount of the police budget, it is no different than other departments. The figure is simply larger because they are the largest single department in terms of their budget needs. The cuts are in a number of areas. Some of the major cuts for example, deal with some salary savings which we expect that they're going to be able to make. Half million dollars in civilian and uniform salary savings. Some cut and ten percent cut and overtime, pay that was a part of the budget. That's a substantial amount. [Female Reporter, partially unintelligible] there would be cuts made, [Bradley] Well, when we talk about salary savings. This is money they were not going to spend, but it is allocated in the budget. There's no point of it being allocated if we think that, and they think, that these savings can be made. We are not cutting back on the, on the number of personnel. We haven't cut a single police officer. As a matter of fact, we expect to expand our Police Department in the coming years. And some of the areas they were simply matters of upgrading, ah, giving, promotions and therefore higher salaries for these special programs. And we are simply, ah, cutting out these kinds of changes. [Garten] Mr. Mayor, was this a demand made by you or did you talk to the department heads and kind of determine where cuts could be made? [Bradley] I talked to the department heads. Told them that we wanted to make these cuts. Asked them to submit their own recommendations. They came in with something like five million dollars worth of proposed cuts. I asked the CEO to look at the entire program again line by line. They did. And they came in with a set of figures. It said well, it's possible to cut eighteen million, perhaps. Ah, and then there was a question of a balance between these two, extremes. And we came in with a figure that's about twelve million dollars. [Reporters talk over each other, unintelligible] Mr. Mayor, [Bradley] Well, the twenty four million, [Camera noise] one-time windfall of the revenue sharing, that will not be available next time, and so, [Camera noise] [Reporter, partially unintelligible] are you gonna have a small [?] you'll have to deal with, or, how does that work? [Bradley] You know the problems of the moment are sufficiently severe that, ah, we're preoccupied with that instead of trying to look three years or two years down the road. Ah, but it's very clear just in the general trend of things with the increase in the cost of living. Increase in salaries that occurs each year at the rate of almost five percent. That our, our demands are going to grow. And our source of revenue is simply not growing fast enough to meet those demands. That in and of itself will mean that we're going to have continuing problems with regard to, revenues to meet those kinds of services that the people want and are asking for. [Reporter] Is it going to become a more severe problem than it is now? [Bradley] I hope that, [Camera noise] I think there's a question, [Reporter] a number of civilians.